NUFORC Sighting 22085

Occurred: 2001-07-23 22:40 Local
Reported: 2002-03-03 10:34 Pacific
Duration: 1-2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Escondido, CA, USA

Shape: Diamond
Characteristics: Lights on object

Second sighting of a craft near Escondido, CA the night of 7/23/01

I came across your report of a "triangle" sighted in southern California via a link on the site "www.rense.com". I am reporting a different shape, but in such a close time-frame and geographic location that it tends to make me think we probably saw the same craft, about a half hour later.

Date: July 23, 2001 Location: Del Dios, just southwest of Escondido, CA, on Lake Hodges.

Weather: Clear, starry sky.

At about 10:40 PM (22:40), we (two of us) were alarmed by a loud, relatively high-pitched whine overhead outside of our house-- apparently an aircraft, on a descending path from the west. The impression of "descent"-- increasing volume, i.e. sound from an incoming source-- was fast enough for my friend, who is an experienced pilot, to say that it sounded like it was in trouble.

I went outside and spotted the craft to the north-northwest of us, at an apparent altitude of about four thousand feet, about 1/3 mile to the north of us, moving almost due east. The whine of the engine had stabilized, and the craft was cruising slowly to the east. My friend put shoes on and came out too. What was visible were four blinking red and four continuous white lights in a kite-shaped pattern (I chose "diamond" <> shape out of your menu choices, but it had a shorter point to the front than to the back). The craft filled the pattern of the lights-- that is, it was not an airplane body with wings sticking out. Stars were blocked out (and reappeared) as they crossed the "line" from one pair of red & white of lights to another.

The span "across" was at least comparable to the wingspan of a 737, with the length about one and a half times what would be expected. My impression is that it was more like 1-1/2 times that size, but size and distance are tricky to estimate at night. The craft was moving distinctly slower than a 737 on final approach, however-- i.e. at what should have been well below "stall speed" for any plane of its size.

It was in sight for about a minute and a half, in level or close to level flight, going almost due east, before it disappeared behind trees and a low ridge northeast of us. That path would take it over the city of Escondido perhaps a mile north of the central downtown area. It traversed one and a half to two miles of sky while it as visible, so its apparent speed was about 60 or 70 miles an hour.

The sound it made was like the whine of a turbine, with a "beat" in it on about a one to two second interval. The beat was not, however, like the beat caused by wave interference from two or more sound sources slightly out of phase. (I'm a musician, with a decent knowledge of physics.) I am reasonably sure the whine was from a single source, not multiple engines.

It made me especially curious because of the many reports of "triangles", whereas this was apparently kite-shaped.

I mentioned it to several friends the next day. One of them said they had been on the coast highway around ten, and had seen something out over the ocean that they couldn't identify, but didn't pull over to get a better look.

Regards, ((e-address deleted)).com PS: Since this is an "old" sighting, you may contact me if you wish, but I am not requesting it.

Posted 2002-03-19

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