The 1960 “cube within a sphere” UFO sighting occurred on September 29, 1960, near Grand Junction, Colorado, and involved two independent pilots who corroborated each other’s observations of an unusual aerial object. One pilot was flying a commercial Frontier Airlines aircraft, while the other was operating a military jet, likely from a nearby base. The incident unfolded during daylight hours, with the pilots reporting the object at an altitude where visibility was clear. The UFO was described as a translucent sphere enclosing a dark cube, a shape that appeared structured and metallic, hovering or moving in a manner inconsistent with known aircraft. The pilots, who were not in communication with each other at the time, independently radioed air traffic control about the anomaly, noting its stationary position before it accelerated away at high speed without sound or visible propulsion.
This sighting gained attention in later years due to its striking similarity to modern UAP reports, particularly those from U.S. Navy pilots in 2014-2015, who described objects like a “sphere encasing a cube” during training exercises off the East Coast. In the 1960 case, the pilots’ descriptions were detailed in aviation logs and shared through military channels, though no official investigation report has been publicly declassified. The event predates widespread CGI or drone technology, adding to its credibility as an early example of structured UAP. Researchers like Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot, have highlighted this sighting in discussions on Lex Fridman’s podcast, noting the geometric consistency across decades as evidence of a persistent phenomenon.
The location near Grand Junction, a hub for aviation and military activity in Colorado, raises questions about whether the object could have been an experimental craft from nearby facilities, but the pilots’ expertise ruled out conventional explanations like balloons or reflections. No radar data was publicly mentioned, but the visual confirmation by two trained observers from different vantage points strengthens the case. The incident was briefly reported in local news and UFO literature, but it faded from public view until resurfaced in modern UAP discussions, such as in The New York Times articles on Navy sightings, where the shape was likened to the 1960 event.
Skeptics argue it could have been a misidentified weather balloon or optical illusion, but the cube’s distinct edges and the sphere’s translucency challenge this. The sighting aligns with a wave of 1960s UFO reports, including other geometric shapes observed by pilots, fueling theories of advanced technology—human or otherwise. As of January 13, 2026, no new evidence has emerged, but the case endures in UFO research as a precursor to contemporary UAP disclosures.
