William Shatner admitted that his widely-reported 1969 encounter with a UFO was a hoax.
In a video on Shatner’s YouTube channel, he was asked, “Is it true that you reported seeing a UFO in the Mojave Desert in 1969?”
Shatner responded, “That’s true. I lied.”
The legend had been in existence since the 1970’s when Shatner himself recounted the “sighting” on the pilot episode of the television show “One Step Beyond.” The story has circulated for years, such as the following version found in the the 1990’s Book of Lists:
Appropriately enough, the star of Star Trek claims to have had his life saved by a UFO. He and four friends were on a motorcycle trip in the Mojave Desert when he stopped to drink some water. His companions had gone ahead when he discovered, to his dismay, that his bike wouldn’t start. He had used up his supply of water, and eventually collapsed in the extreme heat. At that moment, a shiny, sleek craft passed over him, and he had an intuition that he should walk in a certain direction. This trek led him to a gas station and safety. He believes that he had received telepathic messages from the UFO.
Shatner explained that he did hit his head and could not get his motorcycle to start. He found a gas station, which repaired his bike. The UFO angle was added when he was asked by the One Step Beyond producer if “anything ghostly ever happened” to the actor.
“In all those years I’ve sort of gone with it and then I finally said, ‘No, I really made it up,’ and then I can’t get rid of it.”
Watch Shatner’s explanation of the hoax here:
Source
Book of Lists: The 90’s Edition (David Wallechinsy and Amy Wallace: 1993, p15)
