Canary Islands luminous sphere
- Date
- 22 Jun 1976
- Place
- Gáldar, Gran Canaria (also seen from Tenerife, La Palma and La Gomera), Spain
- Record
- Curated case
- Assessment
- Contested
- Evidence strength
What was reported
On the night of 22 June 1976 a large luminous phenomenon was seen across the Canary Islands; newspapers the next day reported thousands of witnesses and a display lasting about twenty minutes. The most cited account came from a doctor and a taxi driver near Gáldar, who described a transparent sphere with two tall figures inside. The Spanish Air Force opened an investigation on 25 June 1976 and its report was declassified in 1994. Later analysis by Vicente-Juan Ballester Olmos and Ricardo Campo attributed the light to a US Navy Poseidon C-3 submarine-launched missile test off north-west Africa; others note the declassified file did not tie the sighting conclusively to a launch, and the close-encounter description is not explained by it.
What officials concluded
No conclusion stated
No official explanation has been given.
Strongest ordinary reading
US Navy Poseidon C-3 missile launch (Ballester Olmos and Campo); the close-encounter account remains unexplained
Evidence profile
- Yes: Visual
- No: Infrared
- No: Radar
- No: Video
- Yes: Photo
- No: Film
- No: Audio
- No: Night vision
- No: Other sensor
- Yes: Civilian
- No: Military aircrew
- Yes: Military ground
- No: Airline crew
- No: Sensor operator
- No: Law enforcement
- No: Scientist
- No: Astronaut
- No: Intelligence official
- No: Other
- No: Light only
- Yes: Orb or sphere
- No: Disc
- No: Triangle
- No: Cylinder
- No: Cube
- No: Other shape
- No: Physiological
- No: Physical trace
- No: Electromagnetic
- No: Sound
- No: Silent
Outside sources
On the map
28.14° N, 15.65° W, plotted at the town or city
Show on the map