NUFORC Sighting 35899

Occurred: 2004-03-22 20:30 Local
Reported: 2004-03-29 20:24 Pacific
Duration: 3 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Salida, CO, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Dull orange sphere above house

At about 8:30pm on 3/22/04, my wife and myself were in our hottub relaxing and about to get out for the evening. Directly at the zenith of the sky, this object caught my attention. It was a dull, fuzzy orange color, the shape and size of a basketball, perfectly round, moving from east to west making absolutely no sound. There was also no visible contrail such as a meteor would leave. It was about 50 feet above us. The sky this night was absolutely clear and the weather was mild, about 40 degrees F. From the point in the sky that I noticed it to the time it went over the roof of my house (the roof being approx. 45 degrees up from the west horizon) took approximately 3 seconds. There were no aircraft visible at the time of the sighting, nor afterward. My wife was facing the opposite direction and never saw it but apparently by the look on my face she knew something strange went over us. I am 44 yrs. old and have been an amateur astronomer and astrophotographer all of my life.

Posted 2004-04-09