On 27 August 1995, the town of Salida, Colorado, became the centre of the UFO map when Tim Edwards captured video footage of an astonishing object sailing through the sky. The footage was shown on American news channels and multiple television shows.

 

According to Edwards: "The first experience was truly awesome. I felt deeply at the time that I was witnessing something of great scientific and historic importance for the world. I believe that the August 27 craft was sending a message to the world and wanted to be photographed, that its appearance was somehow just the beginning of more to come, and that I was really fortunate to be part of it."

The object Edwards filmed was cigar-shaped and apparently flying at a high altitude. Its behaviour was described as "unprecedented", even for a UFO, and included intense white lights that hurtled around its base.

Edwards also recorded several smaller UFOs, which appeared as bright "balls" that performed numerous darting manoeuvres around the "mother ship".

The UFOs were subsequently seen by hundreds of other witnesses in and around Salida. According to the National UFO Reporting Center, Edwards' sightings resulted in a nationwide wave of reports, numbering thousands.

The Salida footage was sent for analysis to Village Labs, a video and film design facility in Glendale, Arizona. It was also analysed by Dr Jack Kasher of the University of Nebraska, and other media technology facilities in San Antonio, Texas.

Watch The Full Salida UFO Video:

According to Vance Davies, a Village Labs staff consultant formerly with the National Security Agency (NSA), the object witnessed by Edwards and others was flying at around 10,000 mph, at an altitude of approximately 60,000 feet. Davies classified this object as an "Alien Visitation Craft" or AVC - apparently an NSA term to designate a vehicle that is "definitely not one of ours".

One of the most astounding aspects of this sighting is the sheer size of the UFO, estimated by Village Labs to be somewhere between 700 feet and almost a mile in length. It was also noted that the object must have had prodigious energy requirements - not only to keep it in the air, but also to power the gigantic lights around its base, each of which was estimated to be between 100 and 200 feet square.

According to Jim Dilettoso, the found of Village Labs, the power requirements of this object were equivalent to taking the twin towers of the World Trade Center, laying them end to end, and trying to make them fly up into the atmosphere.

The Salida footage was also described as unusually clear, with a large number of additional objects (such as a roof line, birds, and airborne debris) providing excellent frames of reference in the calculation of the distance between the object and the camera. By this means, the object was also shown to be definitely three-dimensional, and not a reflected image.

According to the British UFO Magazine (September/October 1995), an examination of the footage revealed photographic evidence for a "self-contained energy field" or "envelope" surrounding the large object. Features of this kind have frequently been suggested by ufologists to be the only way that genuine "alien craft" could defy gravity and perform the astonishing manoeuvres reported.

Since Edwards took the footage, he captured more video of strange objects over Salida, acquiring over 20 hours' worth, Tim Edwards entered the category of so-called "repeat witness", and has come in for some close scrutiny from sceptics and debunkers.

Undaunted by this attention, Tim Edwards told newspaper reporters: "This time, with dozens of witnesses here in Salida and many others that were hundreds of miles away that I have talked directly to over the phone, there is no denying that something very unusual has been going on up there."