Freeport, TX being encounter — March 20, 1966

In March 1966, crew members of the United States Coast Guard cutter Legare reported an unusual object near Freeport, Texas. The imported catalogue places the observation at about 1:30 a.m. on March 20 and specifies three Coast Guardsmen using binoculars. NICAP’s contemporary UFO Investigator instead gives the night of March 19–20. The catalogue describes an orange, glowing oval with apparent figures moving behind portholes. A NICAP chronology also mentions an initial blue flash before the hovering oval was noticed. The available descriptions do not establish the figures’ number, anatomy or clothing; they concern movements or silhouettes viewed from the cutter, rather than beings encountered on deck or ashore. The contemporary NICAP report states that house lights on shore blinked while the object was present and that Freeport had experienced a substantial power failure about two hours earlier. It said the report remained under investigation. These electrical events belong in the source history, but their timing does not by itself demonstrate a connection to the object. The Atlas retains the shipboard observation and distinguishes it from the accompanying reports of power problems.