NUFORC Sighting 59016

Occurred: 2007-09-24 23:30 Local
Reported: 2007-09-30 10:58 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Punta Gorda Isles, FL, USA

Shape: Other


Dull silver-colored and soundless object descened at angle from clouds to about twenty feet above treetops, then traveled east.

There is so much going on in my life right now, that the last thing I’d want to do is spend even a moment doing anything that isn’t personally productive. However, I have a strong feeling that what I witnessed needs to be reported.

Because of a work-related assignment, I have rented a 1,500 sq. ft. condo in an area of Punta Gorda, Florida, called Punta Gorda Isles, since May of 2007, and will be here until mid-December of 2007. My condo is on the fourth floor of a building in a complex called Fountain Court. The condo faces the north, and it has a screened in balcony that faces north as well. The balcony looks out over a beautifully landscaped circular drive area, and beyond that is a street, then a complex of two story apartment buildings, then another building. For about a mile-and-a-half beyond that are tree tops and, low on the horizon, a couple of buildings, a few broadcasting towers and a high-rise construction crane.

The face of the balcony is approximately nine feet across. I work at home and, (though I wouldn’t want this known because I’m in the health field) I smoke. Therefore, several times during every day and night, I walk out onto the balcony, sit down, smoke a cigarette and think. I also make many business calls out there.

On the evening of Monday, September 24th, I was sitting on the balcony smoking a cigarette. The sky at the time was a grayish color, and it was a patchwork of clouds (in different shades of gray) at different altitudes. I was just staring forward as I always do, because there is nothing else to do. Anyway, while I was sitting there I noticed what appeared to be a dull silver-colored parachute floating downward out of the clouds at an angle headed directly towards me. However, there weren’t any lines/cords hanging from the parachute, nor was there anything or anyone suspended from what appeared to be the parachute. I remember wondering why there wasn’t anything suspended from the parachute, and I can remember thinking that maybe the parachute cables were clear plastic and just couldn’t be seen – but that didn’t make sense. I can also remember wondering how the parachute could be pulled towards the ground by gravity if there were no weight beneath the parachute to draw the parachute towards the ground. Nonetheless, I wondered why someone would be parachuting at night, and I wondered where they could land at night with all the trees and buildings in the area.

Punta Gorda and where I live here are the most boring places on earth and, therefore, what I was witnessing should have riveted my attention – but it didn’t probably because of the following reasons: 1. I am in the middle of some very stressful situations at work, with which my mind was preoccupied.

2. I was taking a smoke break while working on another book, and I was thinking about what I had been writing and what I would continue writing when I walked back inside.

3. There are so many technologically-advanced things that are happening these days that almost nothing surprises us anymore.

4. And, this may seem strange, but it seems like I wasn’t supposed to see it. No matter what else was on my mind, I can’t now understand why I wasn’t riveted to what was occurring in front of me.

As the object came closer I realized that the top of the object was flat, its sides were curved like a parachute, and its bottom was flat. For an instant I thought it may have been an odd-shaped advertising blimp that had broken free. However, there were no illustrations or writing on the object, and the object wasn't shaped like any blimp I'd ever seen.

In the middle of this, I stood up and walked about two feet indoors to get another cigarette off the table that is right next to the door. Then I turned back outside and stood there on the balcony watching the object come closer. I noticed that the wind was gently blowing to the west, however, the object was coming in towards me at a direct and seemingly determined angle – almost as if it were guided by a rail (which it wasn’t) – and it was totally unaffected by the wind. Therefore, I began to assume that it was somehow propelled.

I then turned inside again (this time to get a lighter – which took about four seconds) and, when I turned back out onto the patio, the object was traveling east at about thirty-five miles per hour. I didn’t see the object make the turn, but from its before and after locations and motions, it seemed that it would have had to have made a sudden left turn. Although the object was obviously propelled by something, there were no sounds whatsoever, nor were there any jets, propellers or other visible or audible indications of propulsion.

After the object made its left turn, it was traveling, as stated, at about thirty-five miles per hour. It was traveling about twenty feet above the tree tops, and I realized from my vantage point that the object was about the size of a compact to mid-sized car. I moved to the westernmost corner of my balcony and watched the object maintain a constant altitude and speed as it traveled east. I watched the object travel east for about fifteen to thirty seconds until it disappeared into the haze of the eastern sky.

I now realize how these types of things can happen and no one reports them. It was all quite inconspicuous, quiet, and it was over with so quickly that it wasn’t until it was over that I had time to really think about what just occurred. And, after it was over, I realized all the things the object wasn’t: 1. It wasn’t a parachute 2. It wasn’t an advertising blimp, and there was no advertising on the object.

3. It wasn’t like any kind of craft that I’ve ever seen or heard about before.

4. The object had no windows, no antenna(s), no wheels or pods, no propellers, jets or other visible means of propulsion and it was absolutely silent.

To me it strongly seemed that the object had a mission. It came down at an exact angle from the sky. It turned and went in an exact direction to the east. After it turned to the east, it maintained a constant altitude just above the trees and buildings. If it had been a government craft, it would have most obviously been a surveillance craft.

After the object disappeared, I became a bit upset with myself for not being totally focused on what had occurred from beginning to end. I wished, for example, that I would have witnessed the object stop its descent and make its turn to the east.

The next evening, Tuesday evening, September 25th, I was at a small meeting where I had to give a talk. A very level-headed woman, with whom I work, was there. I told her about what I’d witnessed the night before. She responded by saying: “That’s strange. My mother told me that she saw something unusual in the sky by Punta Gorda Isles last night at about 8:30 p.m.” I said, “That’s where I live, in Punta Gorda Isles, but I thought it was about 11:30 or midnight when I saw what I saw.” She said, “No, my mother said it was at about 8:30 last night. However, you know my mother is very intelligent but she is eighty-seven years old.” We all chuckled and that was it.

Anyway, I definitely saw what I saw and it was real and not imagined. It may have been a new type of government craft but, if so, it was unlike anything I’d ever heard or read about.

I've never before seen anything like this, nor have I ever seen or reported any kind of U.F.O. event. This all was totally unexpected.

Thank you for your time.



Posted 2007-10-08

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