Brush Creek, CA being encounter — May 20, 1953

The Brush Creek story concerned miners John Q. Black and John Van Allen and alleged California sightings in spring 1953. Black told the sheriff on June 24 that a small saucer had visited on May 20 and June 20. Later catalogues attach a water-collecting occupant to both dates, but Gray Barker’s detailed chronology places Black’s close observation on June 20. Black initially mistook the short person beside the creek for a boy fishing. He described a broad-shouldered, pale, human-looking man in green trousers, jacket, tie and cap, filling a shiny pail. When disturbed, the figure reportedly hurried to a small polished craft and climbed its tubular support. The support retracted before the object rose and manoeuvred through the trees. Van Allen was not an additional close-range occupant witness in that account. A predicted July 20 return attracted reporters, cameras and a large crowd, but no saucer appeared. Air Force investigators recorded uncertain background information and conflicting trace descriptions; Project Blue Book classified the case as a hoax. That disposition is preserved without inventing a confession. The familiar hooded spaceman is a later variant, so the plate uses the earlier human-looking, green-clothed description.