NUFORC Sighting 73982

Occurred: 2010-01-04 19:00 Local
Reported: 2010-01-04 19:27 Pacific
Duration: 2-3 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Ben Wheeler, TX, USA

Shape: Light

Very bright light, flying lower than a jet; appeared to be tracking another light flying outside our atmosphere

For many years I have observed what I refer to as “star dots” moving in the night sky. They are outside our atmosphere and appear as something similar in size to stars (as we view stars from Earth) but they move in every given direction. I’ve observed them stop and then start moving again, make 90 degree turns, suddenly increase speed until they appear almost a streak, stop just as suddenly, etc. I’ve seen as many as 9 of them at one time (about 2 years ago), with all 9 of them going in different directions and patterns and “performing” in a manner that I would liken to an air show. I’m so curious about them that I watch for them any time I go outside at night, just in case they might be there.

On December 30, 2009, at about 6:30pm I was outside smoking when I saw two of them toward the south-southwest and moving in a northerly direction. About the time I saw them, my husband joined me on the porch and I pointed them out to him. (I would note that my husband was in law enforcement for several years and is skeptical of nearly everything.) As we were watching them, one of the “dots” split off into two “dots.” I had never seen them do that before and it certainly got my husband’s attention. At almost the same time, a 3rd and 4th one appeared in a different area of the sky (slightly more westerly and also moving north). We noticed them at the same time. The 3rd one then turned hard toward the east and immediately became incredibly bright – something else I’ve never observed one of them do. It appeared to be banking in a turn and it grew even brighter as it banked and also seemed to elongate. It quickly gained speed as it went east; turned a soft red color and ! then faded out of sight. My husband asked if I had seen it get longer and I told him that I definitely noticed that.

Tonight (1.04.10) at about 7 p.m., I went out onto the porch and saw one of the “star dots” very far away and moving very slowly. I was surprised as I usually don’t see them that close together, with the previous sighting being just 5 days ago. As I watched it, I caught a bright light out of the corner of my eye. I called out to my husband “There’s one of them flying VERY LOW this time!” It appeared, of course, to be much larger than they usually appear because it was so low – somewhat lower than a commercial airliner would fly - but the light of it was too bright to allow us to make out its shape. It was not flying in a perfectly straight line; it wavered slightly from time to time. As we watched the low, bright one I remarked to my husband that it seemed to be tracking the smaller, more distant one move for move. He agreed that that’s what it looked like it was doing. We lost sight of it as it passed over our house.

NUFORC Note:

Satellites?? PD

Posted 2010-02-14