1971 · About 15 miles from Edwards AFB, California
The acorn-shaped craft near Edwards AFB (1971)
An upright acorn-shaped craft in the desert near Edwards AFB, as the witness describes it (1971). · Illustration for uaptrail.com
When1971
WhereAbout 15 miles from Edwards AFB, California
In 1991 Debbie Clayton told Leonard Stringfield that in 1971 she and a friend's family drove to where something had fallen from the sky about 15 miles from Edwards AFB. They found an upright, seamless, acorn-shaped craft, still warm, that no desert dust would cling to. An Air Force car and truck arrived within 14 minutes and armed men ordered them off. UAP Gerb notes how closely it matches the Kecksburg object.
How plausible · Low
A named civilian witness with nothing to gain and a story that fits a fast Air Force cordon, but a single telling with no corroboration.
- ●●No gain sought Told privately to a researcher; no book or fee.
- ●●Fits secrecy practice Armed men arrived within 14 minutes and ordered them away.
- ●○Access She was at the landing site with a friend's family; anyone nearby could have been.
- ●○Cost of speaking Gave her name to Stringfield.
- ●○Fits the documented skeleton About 15 miles from Edwards, where an Air Force response within minutes is realistic.
Against
- −Lone source, no corroboration Only her account; the friend's family hasn't been found.
Plausibility weighs how well an account fits where secrecy hides the documents by design, so missing records never count against it. Strength measures what is documented. Assessed 2026-10-23.
Claims
She and her girlfriend's family investigated something that came down from the sky in broad daylight and found an upright acorn-shaped craft, dark greyish with greenish highlights, seamless as if from a one-piece mould, with old unreadable scratches, mild engine-like heat and no dust clinging to it; an Air Force car and truck arrived within 14 minutes and men with rifles ordered them away.firsthandSourced, unconfirmedDebbie Clayton (to Leonard Stringfield, Status Report VI, 1991)
The craft's description is very close to the Kecksburg acorn of 1965.UAP Reverse Engineering at Edwards Air Force Base [Redacted List Vol.2]Kecksburg, Pennsylvania: the fireball and the woods searchspeculationLeadUAP Gerb (Sam)
Where
About 15 miles from Edwards AFB, California
34.9°N 117.9°W