Around 1 a.m. on June 5, 2024, a crew of stagehands was loading equipment into a semi truck at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, after an All Time Low concert. One of the workers looked up.
“Hey, what is that over there? It looks like a spaceship.”
They all turned. About a mile north of the venue, hovering silently over a hogback ridge, was something none of them could explain.
What They Saw
Michael Lehmann, a stagehand working his second-ever job at Red Rocks, described a massive, matte-black, metallic disc hovering a few hundred feet above the ground. No moonlight meant the sky was dark — the object blended in — but its own lights gave it away.
“There were about fifteen bright white lights, stacked three high, and they’re going around this thing, and the lights could help you see its shape.”
The craft appeared to be several hundred feet long — Lehmann compared it to “a really long three-story office building.” It featured what looked like three levels of windows with lights rotating around the circumference. It made no sound whatsoever.
Roughly a dozen workers stood watching from near the Trading Post building. Then someone grabbed a flashlight.
The Flashlight
One of the stagehands shined a flashlight toward the object. According to Lehmann, that’s when things got strange: the craft tipped at an angle, began moving “belly-first to the east” at roughly 5–10 mph, and started fading.
“It didn’t shoot off into the distance. It simply dissolved into the ether. We all watched it vanish.”
Lehmann described the disappearance as if the craft deployed some sort of “cloaking device.” The entire observation lasted approximately 30 to 40 seconds.
No Photos
The most common question: why didn’t anyone take a picture?
“We’re loading a semi, it’s dangerous. Our hands are full, and it happened so quickly. We really didn’t know what we were looking for. It was maybe thirty, forty seconds.”
The crew was handling expensive audio and lighting equipment in the middle of a load-out. By the time anyone processed what they were seeing, the object was already gone.
What Lehmann Did Next
Lehmann went home and texted his family. Then he started calling:
- Jefferson County Sheriff
- NORAD
- Denver International Airport
- Every agency he could think of that “had airplanes”
The next day, he filed a report with the National UFO Reporting Center (Report #181776). He also contacted MUFON and later met with a MUFON investigator at Red Rocks.
”This Was Not a Plane”
In his NUFORC filing, Lehmann was unequivocal:
“This was not a plane. It wasn’t a satellite, a drone, or anything like that. There was no mistaking what this was: We all saw a giant disc-shaped craft hovering a few hundred feet above the ground with three rows of windows and lights. Then we all saw it fade into nothing as soon as it knew it was being watched.”
Lehmann described himself as a “hopeful skeptic” before June 5 — someone who wanted to believe but needed personal proof. He isn’t claiming aliens. “It could have been the government,” he told Westword. “That’s why I reached out to MUFON.”
Since going public, Lehmann says a large number of friends have shared their own similar stories — encounters they’d never mentioned before.
Colorado’s UFO History
The Red Rocks sighting fits into a broader pattern. Colorado has logged over 3,320 UFO sightings total, ranking 12th among U.S. states. The Denver metro area reports 43.2 sightings per 100,000 residents — above the national average of 34.3, according to Axios Denver.
Southern Colorado sees even higher rates: Mineral County reports 377.8 sightings per 100,000 people, and Huerfano County 362.5 per 100,000.
Red Rocks spokesperson Brian Kitts had this to say:
“There’s no official protocol, but I think we all assume if someone sees something, they’ll say something — and, hopefully, next time take a photo.”
Timeline
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| ~1:00 a.m., June 5, 2024 | Crew loading out after All Time Low show spots object |
| ~1:00-1:01 a.m. | Object hovers silently for 30-40 seconds, then vanishes |
| Later that morning | Lehmann texts family, calls Jeff Co Sheriff, NORAD, DIA |
| June 6, 2024 | NUFORC report filed (Report #181776) |
| Late June 2024 | Denver Gazette publishes the NUFORC report |
| July 2, 2024 | Westword publishes follow-up interview with Lehmann |
Sources: Westword · Denver Gazette · USA Today · NUFORC Report #181776