Close Encounters of the First Kind (CE1) are sightings where the UFO, whatever its appearance, comes close enough to a witness—typically within about 500 feet—so that structural details of the UFO can be readily observed. There is no interaction with the witness or the environment.
Near Santa Barbara, California. A young couple was driving home from a dance at a small place north of Santa Barbara, California, at 2:00 a.m. one morning in June 1964 when a circular, glowing object silently appeared above their car. They stopped to watch. It was about 100 feet high and 40 feet in diameter and seemingly emitted some heat. It hovered for 2 minutes then sped off ahead of them, lighting up the valley as it went and apparently traveling about 1,800–2,400 mph.
Jessup, Pennsylvania. While walking home from a high school football game at 9:00 p.m. one night in September 1970, Frank Scassellati, 16, observed a glowing white, apparently metallic, silvery disc in the southeast sky moving from left to right. Around the dome on top was a row of rectangular windows; three spheres and a flat circle were visible on the underside. The object moved out of sight behind local terrain. Though he did not report the sighting to any authorities, Scassellati said that a few nights later he noticed a limousine parked outside of his house with four men in black suits and hats sitting in it. They reappeared for several nights but he had no interaction with them.