BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Newly released government documents detail several reported UFO sightings over Bakersfield dating back to the late 1940s.
As the government releases once-classified files and videos on unidentified anomalous phenomena — better known as UFOs — Bakersfield is showing up in those records.
According to the files, one sighting took place near Buena Vista Lake in March of 1948. Witnesses described glowing objects falling from the sky, smoke trails, and what appeared to be parachutes drifting over Kern County. Many of the reports were never fully explained.
For Rupert Guy, a UFO researcher based in Tehachapi, the recent release of these files is fascinating.
“The documentation and the videos that have just been released, they are, some of them, genuinely interesting,” Guy said.
Guy says the Bakersfield report from 1948 could have a more ordinary explanation.
“It may have been unidentified at the time, it may have been a secret military craft that they didn’t want to acknowledge, depends on what it was, but to me that one doesn’t seem of particular interest to people who are interested,” Guy said.
Another sighting from 1947 caught his attention. That document references a pilot reporting a formation of flying discs over Bakersfield, shortly after the infamous Roswell incident in New Mexico.
“So from that perspective, it has the possibility to connect Bakersfield and this new release of documents and Roswell in quite an exciting way,” Guy said.
Even as interest in these reports grows, Guy says it’s important for people to approach the topic carefully.
“We need to be wise, we need to be peaceful, we need to be skeptical, and we need to be open-minded all at the same time,” Guy said.
Not everyone is convinced the reports point to extraterrestrial life.
“I haven’t seen anything to make me believe in aliens,” AJ Rodriguez said. “There is a lot of AI nowadays, so you can’t believe everything.”
Others are more open to the possibility.
“I think there is something out there. There might be something in Bakersfield. I believe there might be something out there; they might be hiding something like Area 51,” Momo Laaribi said.
“I feel like they are real, but I feel like if they are, it’s very, very old, like it was probably before we were even here,” Lily Magallanes said.
The mystery surrounding UFOs continues to capture attention across the country.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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