San Jose, CaliforniaFebruary 1960

# San Jose Sound Scare, February 1960

On February 15, 1960, residents across the central and eastern parts of Santa Clara Valley heard a loud cracking sound moving from north to south. The noise startled enough people that some called the local news to report it. No aircraft was sighted, even though residents suspected one was responsible.

A San Jose woman wrote to the Army the same day. She described hearing a strange sound at 4 p.m. that was different from typical jet noise. She said it seemed to wait between certain dates each month and could hover in one place. The experience left her with an unusual physical reaction, welts on her body and the sensation of intense heat. She mentioned a similar sighting in 1955, when she and her family saw a bright object moving back and forth over the nearby foothills.

The Air Force responded by March 15, 1960. Major Lawrence J. Tacker of the Public Information Division in San Jose explained that the sounds were almost certainly sonic booms combined with normal jet engine noise. He noted that the hilly geography of the area would amplify sound and create echoes that might make it sound unusual. As for the 1955 sighting, Tacker suggested it was probably light reflected from the dome of the Lick Observatory, which sits in the hills above the area.

The Air Force's technical analysis (found in attached documents) acknowledged the witness as reliable and seriously considered but ultimately rejected the idea that the sounds came from an unidentified object. Investigators could not explain why the incidents happened only between the first and fifteenth of the month, but concluded that the most likely causes were sonic booms, jet aircraft, and reflected light from the observatory. The case file notes that the witness became ill after her experience, but attributes this to stress rather than external cause.

The full case file, consisting of 11 pages as held by the National Archives, is reproduced below.