Carl Hart Jr.

Carl Hart Jr. was an amateur photographer from Lubbock, Texas, and a Texas Tech freshman when, on 30 August 1951 (some sources say 31 August), from the backyard of his parents' house he took a series of 35-mm photographs of a V-shaped formation of luminous objects over the city. His images became internationally known as the "Lubbock Lights" and were examined by Project Blue Book without conclusive identification.

• American amateur photographer from Lubbock, Texas
• Texas Tech freshman student
• Photographed the "Lubbock Lights" on 30 August 1951 (some sources say 31 August)
• 35-mm camera from the backyard of his parents' house
• V-shaped formation, 18–20 white lights reported, exact count varying by witness
• Three Texas Tech professors and other witnesses had observed similar formations over several nights from 25 August 1951
• Photos sold to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (10 dollars) and examined by the Air Force and Edward Ruppelt of Project Blue Book; no conclusive explanation

For the UAP timeline, Hart Jr. is the early photographic evidence case of American ufology: hundreds of witnesses, a serious photographer, several consecutive nights and an open-ended Project Blue Book file make the Lubbock Lights one of the earliest mass- and photographically documented UFO events in America.