Silver Disc With Colored Lights Over Elmont School in Virginia, 1977

Background On May 15, 1977, a second-grade student at Elmont Elementary School in Hansford County, Virginia, had an experience he would never forget. He remembers being seven years old and arriving at the school grounds early one morning, before classes began, to borrow books from the library. He and a friend walked along a path lined with pine trees beside the school parking lot.

The Sighting As they walked, he looked up and saw a rusty-colored metallic disc above the parking lot, gleaming in the sunlight. Lights of different colors—red, orange, white, and even green—glimmered around it, sometimes seeming to flicker or change hue. He had a clear view of the object. It made no sound and hovered in one place above the treetops along the edge of a nearby pasture. He felt an “electric shock” and stood frozen in silence with his friend until the disc suddenly disappeared, without any visible movement.

What Happened Next The student told his teacher about the sighting that day, but the teacher dismissed it as a product of his imagination and punished him for lying. Several years later, when he asked his friend about the incident, she recalled seeing the display too, though not quite as clearly. Today, the witness is an attorney and a graduate of the University of Virginia. He emphasizes that he is presenting the account as a personal memory, not an invention.

Why the Sighting Is Interesting The report includes several familiar features of UFO sightings: a metallic, disc-shaped object, silent hovering, and lights that appear to change color. It also took place in a public setting—a schoolyard—with two children as the primary witnesses, adding complexity to any assessment of its credibility. The incident dates to the 1970s, a period when reports of unidentified objects increased significantly, and may offer a point of reference for research into urban light phenomena involving metallic objects.

Summary As with most reports filed with NUFORC, this sighting remains unverified. But its concrete details—location, time, shape, and description of the lights—give researchers and enthusiasts of unexplained phenomena grounds to consider the case and its context. Whether it was a natural phenomenon, such as a metallic balloon with LED lights, or something else remains open to debate.