NUFORC Sighting 68390

Occurred: 2009-02-01 19:30 Local
Reported: 2009-02-01 21:32 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Rohnert Park, CA, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Emitted other objects

Reddish spheres spotted in Northern Califonia.

Sunday, February 1, 2009 Sonoma County, California 38 degrees, 20’, 47” N 122 degrees, 41’, 54” W

At approximately 7:30 pm PST, I witnessed a strange light in the western sky approximately 35 degrees up from the western horizon west southwest from my position. At first I thought it to be the planet Venus (as I am accustomed to seeing this planet in the sky at around this time of night during this season) but it was very reddish in appearance.

I then spotted Venus off to the right and lower in the sky than the object in question. I then went into the house to get my binoculars to have a closer look.

After retrieving my binoculars, I looked again and the object began to emit what appeared to be flare-like objects which were the same color as the object and they drifted downward, appearing to be affected by gravity but had some velocity to them as well. I could not resolve the object any better with my binoculars than I could with the naked eye. I could not see any detail besides the color which was an orange-red.

Finally the object began to wane and then it would come back brighter then wane again. Finally it disappeared altogether. During the episode, the object did not appear to move across the sky, but remained stationary. A neighbor saw it as did my daughter-in-law. The neighbor said he saw it change position in the sky but did not think it to be an aircraft as it moved very slowly.

When I first saw it, I thought it was Venus. Then I thought it might be a distant star undergoing some sort of change but when the flare-like objects started to emit from it I was reminded of a combat aircraft dropping flares to avoid heat-seeking missiles. However, there were only about six flare-like objects released from the main body of the object, and they were not brighter but rather they were the same color and brightness as the main object. There were no flashing lights or different color lights. The only change in appearance that I witnessed was the eventual fading of the object and the reappearance of the object only to fade again and finally disappear for good.

Posted 2009-03-19