NUFORC Sighting 20513

Occurred: 2001-11-20 02:55 Local
Reported: 2001-11-20 11:42 Pacific
Duration: 5-7 secs
No of observers: 1

Location: Panama City Beach, FL, USA

Shape: Chevron
Characteristics: Lights on object

At 02:55 I saw a glowing orange object (approximately chevron shaped) which moved rapidly across the sky from west to east.

I am a sane, sober 51-year old professional who has always been skeptical of UFO sightings. However, last night I saw something which I cannot explain.

As I was walking my dog at 2:55 a.m. (this is not my custom, but I had fallen asleep on the sofa earlier), I looked up to the sky to see if I might get lucky and see a straggling meteor from the Leonid showers of November 18th. The night was clear and calm, without a cloud in the sky. A beautiful, starry autumn night in Florida.

Suddenly, I noticed a glowing pale orange "shape" rapidly moving across the sky from west to east, very faint so as to be barely discernable. I couldn't see an actual body per se (such as an aircraft), just the unbroken shape of orange light which seemed almost translucent, as if I could still see the stars through the shape.

The shape was somewhat like a boomerang or chevron, except the leading edge was straight across (as opposed to "V" shaped on this front edge). It was perfectly symmetrical across its width. I have difficulty determining the true size or speed, because I couldn't judge the altitude. However, I observed it across a radius of approximately 100-120 degrees and it covered this distance in approximately 5-7 seconds. This seemed to be an unbelievable rate of speed.

The object made no sound at all, moving with absolute silence which defied my mind's ability to comprehend. The moon was not visible but if it were, I would judge the width of the object to be about 5 or 6 times a full moon's diameter. The length of the object from front to rear was perhaps 1X a full moon's diameter.

It bothers me that I will probably never know any answers to this event. I only know what I saw and am 100% convinced that the object was not a natural phenomenon such as a meteor or a cloud.

NUFORC Note:

We spoke at length with this witness, and we found him to be exceptionally credible. We suspect this was a very interesting sighting, very similar to others that have been reported to NUFORC recently of objects very similar in description. PD

Posted 2001-11-20