NUFORC Sighting 29383

Occurred: 1999-08-07 02:00 Local
Reported: 2003-06-24 20:01 Pacific
Duration: about 20 seconds
No of observers: 0

Location: Titusville, FL, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object

Gigantic Low-Flying Craft Moving Slowly, Flat Bottom with Lights, Dissapeared When I Turned To Follow Its Flight Path

I'm a 23 year old female from Titusville, FL, about ten miles from Kennedy Space Center and one mile from the Indian river which is the most popular vantage point for watching space shuttle launches. I'm not sure if NASA has anything to do with my sighting, but I thought it might be pertinent information. I consider myself a very level-headed, skeptical person not given to delusions or hallucinations. I have always had an interest in the so-called 'paranormal', but UFO's were never really a huge interest and my approach to unexplained phenomena is that of an open-minded skeptic, seeking out logical and most probable explainations before launching into metaphysics and talk of aliens or elaborate government conspiracies. At the time of the sighting I had been attending community college for graphic design, and working at a bookstore. I am currently between jobs and college, and plan to attend Flagler College next year to major in psychology. I have no respect for people who tell tall tales just to get attention or for laughs at other people's expense and at the expense of legitimate investigation of this phenomena, and I have nothing to gain by reporting this other than adding to the body of information you are collecting that might lead to finding similarities and patterns in sightings for better understanding this phenomena.

My sighting happened three years ago, in 1999, but it is still burned into my memory, it was so shocking and out of the ordinary, like nothing I'd ever seen or expected.

Sometime in August, in the early morning (around 2-3 am) I awoke from sleep in the condo I live in with my parents. This wasn't a usual occurance for me, as I usually sleep soundly through the night...but this of course might not be directly connected to the sighting and just a coincidence. I went into the kitchen to get a glass of water, and I sat down on the couch for about 5 minutes, sipping the water.

For some reason, whether it was on my own whim or something else that compelled me, I felt that I wanted to step out front. Maybe it was a completely self-willed decision, simply a desire to enjoy the night air, or the more unlikely scenario which has crossed my mind a few times that something/someone else compelled me...I don't rule that out but I find it the more improbable of the two possibilities.

I remember opening the front door, closing it behind me, and just as I stepped away from the door I heard an extremely loud sound, exactly like or very similar to the whine of a jumbo jet. A split second later I looked up to where the sound originated, and above me was a huge craft which seemed to be flying very low, coming towards me from (I think) the east. Incidentally, it was coming from the direction of the indian river lagoon, across which is Kennedy Space Center. It was so large and that I couldn't get a proper perspective on its exact proportions relative to how low it was flying. My best estimate is that it was at least one and a half or twice the size of a jumbo jet and only 100 to several hundred feet overhead. It seemed to be going rather slowly at first. It blocked out my entire feild of vision of the night sky and covered the roof of my condo unit which was to the left of me with its shadow. I couldn't tell what shape it was, it seemed flat on the bottom with lights, which I think were white. I only had about 10 seconds to take it all in, and it galvanized me, I just stood there dumbfounded. As it went over my head, I turned around...and this is the most puzzling thing...it had completely dissapeared! I have heard that certain UFO'S can dart from place to place with amazing speed and precision, so maybe this is an explaination for the mysterious 'dissapearance'. I also cannot rule out the possibility that it was all a hypnogogic hallucination since it had been about 6 minutes since I woke up, but as I said I am not normally given to visual or auditory hallucianations, especially of such a vivid nature.

After the incident, I was literally shaking, and I went in the house. I expected my mother (not to mention the whole condo complex) to be awake by then since the jet-like noise the craft was making was loud enough to wake everyone within a block or two of me. But my mother, and everyone else it seemed, was either sound asleep or still in their house. I found that very odd, because it would logically follow that whatever it is I saw would have woken people up, it was so loud. One detail I do not recall is whether I felt a vibration or not...for a craft of this size and loudness, if it was following the known laws of physics, it would have shaken the windows and I would have been able to literally feel the vibration in my bones. I was so astounded and shocked in the few moments I encountered it that I simply cannot recall if I detected any vibrations. But I tend to think there wasn't since if there was, as I said, it would have woke people up, possibly even shattered some windows.

I debated whether to wake up my mother, and decided not to. I also debated with myself whether to call the police or not, I was curious if anyone else had reported sighting this craft. At the time I thought NASA might be test flying something but it would have had to have been using technology only science fiction writers dream of, and that didn't seem logical to me. I didn't report my sighting to the police because I felt kind of absurd about the whole thing, and couldn't picture myself calling in the wee hours to report a UFO sighting with lights and all, I was afraid they would assume I was a prankster, and there is really nothing they could do about it anyhow.

Living so close to the Space Center, I am familliar with the effects of the space shuttle launches, especially when it breaks the sound barrier...our windows shake and you can hear and feel the vibrations. When the shuttle lands here in Florida, one can hear a very loud sonic boom. Of course, this craft was not traveling at any speed great enough to break the sound barrier, and it was flying low, but it should have been equivalant to one or two jumbo jets flying very low overhead, as if they lifted off moments earlier. I am thouroughly puzzled by this and its one of the main reasons I cannot logically rule out that it was a hallucination.

So there is my report. I swear by all that is sacred to me that this is not a lie or a joke. I respect what this organization is doing to collect information on legitimate UFO Sightings without dismissing us all as cranks and lunatics.

Ever since I experienced this sighting I have always been curious if anyone else has had a sighting similar or identical in nature to mine. I've heard and read about several types of UFO sightings, but have never come across details of any sightings that completely match mine. Most of the sightings I have heard/read about involving craft of the gigantic size I saw (perhaps it was one of those triangular shapes?) was not accompanied by any loud high-pitched jet noise, but were completely silent. If anyone reading this knows of similar sightings or has experienced one themselves with many or all of the same characteristics, I would be interested in being informed of this.

NUFORC Note:

Date may be approximate, although witness does not indicate that fact. Time indicated by witness is illogical. PD

Posted 2003-07-16