diff --git a/libraries/entities/src/EntityTreeElement.cpp b/libraries/entities/src/EntityTreeElement.cpp
index 3f73a05679..e18f79276e 100644
--- a/libraries/entities/src/EntityTreeElement.cpp
+++ b/libraries/entities/src/EntityTreeElement.cpp
@@ -516,17 +516,22 @@ bool EntityTreeElement::findDetailedRayIntersection(const glm::vec3& origin, con
                     
                         if (entity->findDetailedRayIntersection(origin, direction, keepSearching, element, localDistance, 
                                                                     localFace, intersectedObject)) {
+                                                                    
+                            if (localDistance < distance) {
+                                distance = localDistance;
+                                face = localFace;
+                                *intersectedObject = (void*)entity;
+                                somethingIntersected = true;
+                            }
+                        }
+                    } else {
+                        // if the entity type doesn't support a detailed intersection, then just return the non-AABox results
+                        if (localDistance < distance) {
                             distance = localDistance;
                             face = localFace;
                             *intersectedObject = (void*)entity;
                             somethingIntersected = true;
                         }
-                    } else {
-                        // if the entity type doesn't support a detailed intersection, then just return the non-AABox results
-                        distance = localDistance;
-                        face = localFace;
-                        *intersectedObject = (void*)entity;
-                        somethingIntersected = true;
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.cpp b/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.cpp
index f5b8eb27e9..12fdd7a8c4 100644
--- a/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.cpp
+++ b/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.cpp
@@ -93,3 +93,26 @@ void SphereEntityItem::recalculateCollisionShape() {
     float largestDiameter = glm::max(dimensionsInMeters.x, dimensionsInMeters.y, dimensionsInMeters.z);
     _sphereShape.setRadius(largestDiameter / 2.0f);
 }
+
+bool SphereEntityItem::findDetailedRayIntersection(const glm::vec3& origin, const glm::vec3& direction,
+                     bool& keepSearching, OctreeElement*& element, float& distance, BoxFace& face, 
+                     void** intersectedObject) const {
+                     
+    // NOTE: origin and direction are in tree units. But our _sphereShape is in meters, so we need to
+    // do a little math to make these match each other.
+    RayIntersectionInfo rayInfo;
+    rayInfo._rayStart = origin * (float)TREE_SCALE;
+    rayInfo._rayDirection = direction;
+
+    // TODO: Note this is really doing ray intersections against a sphere, which is fine except in cases
+    // where our dimensions actually make us an ellipsoid. But we'll live with this for now until we
+    // get a more full fledged physics library
+    if (_sphereShape.findRayIntersection(rayInfo)) {
+        distance = rayInfo._hitDistance / (float)TREE_SCALE;
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;                
+}
+
+
+
diff --git a/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.h b/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.h
index 21cb58223b..bb4f41726c 100644
--- a/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.h
+++ b/libraries/entities/src/SphereEntityItem.h
@@ -56,6 +56,11 @@ public:
     // TODO: implement proper contains for 3D ellipsoid
     //virtual bool contains(const glm::vec3& point) const;
     
+    virtual bool supportsDetailedRayIntersection() const { return true; }
+    virtual bool findDetailedRayIntersection(const glm::vec3& origin, const glm::vec3& direction,
+                         bool& keepSearching, OctreeElement*& element, float& distance, BoxFace& face, 
+                         void** intersectedObject) const;
+    
 protected:
     virtual void recalculateCollisionShape();