NUFORC Sighting 178065

Occurred: 2023-09-04 21:10 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2023-09-05 09:18 Pacific
Duration: 1 minute
No of observers: 0

Location: Cotat, CA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Explanation: Starlink - Probable
Characteristics: Lights on object

It was a string of lights, not as long as the Starlink photos I saw. It wasn't moving, no noise.

I was walking from my car to my house. It was a clear night and the stars could be seen clearly. I suddenly saw a string of lights that I've never seen before. I thought to myself, "what constellation is that??". I stared at it trying to figure out what it could be, but didn't think it was a plane, drones, or anything similar. The string of lights weren't moving and there wasn't any noise of an aircraft nearby. I was walking while looking at them, but looked away for maybe 3 seconds to see where I was going (almost walked into a car). When I looked back up, the string of lights was gone. I looked around to see if they'd moved, but did not see them. I'd say there were about 10 lights in the formation.

I realize that perhaps what I saw was a Starlink satellite after reviewing the pictures/videos on your website. However, the lights I saw weren't blurry, they weren't moving, they weren't spaced out that wide, and the string of lights wasn't that long. In one of the videos of the Starlink, I saw that they just move across the sky, but the ones I saw did not. They just vanished when I looked back up. None of the lights I saw were blinking, there wasn't any haze around them, and they didn't change color. They were white, but noticed that one did have a little red, which made me think it was an aircraft at first. What caught me off guard was how quick they disappeared. I was so caught up on trying to figure out what the object(s) were, that I didn't even think of taking a picture or video.

This morning as I was leaving for work, I looked at the direction of where I saw the lights just to make sure there weren't any power lines that I might have forgotten were there, but there weren't. I apologize in advance if you believe I saw a satellite, but I honestly don't think it was.

Posted 2023-09-10