NUFORC Sighting 74524

Occurred: 2009-04-08 22:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2010-03-02 08:27 Pacific
Duration: 40 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Holden Beach, NC, USA

Shape: Light


Holden Beach NC - Big Orange Light Over The Ocean In The Night Sky

I was 50 years old at the time we saw this light, and my two sons were 19 and 23. We were enjoying an evening of surf fishing, but not catching much of anything. The weather was warm, and the sky was mostly clear with only a few thin, sparse, low lying clouds, and a full moon. Standing on Holden Beach, NC looking at the ocean you are facing south. We saw the light to our left a bit, in a south easterly direction. I estimate it to have been approximately 25 or 30 degrees above the horizon, and most definitely over the ocean. I did not notice the time when we saw it, but I estimate it to be sometime between 9:30 and 10:30 pm.

What we saw that night was a huge, sort of light-orange, maybe even amber light. It was not a perfect circle, but rather it was a kind of very soft, square shape with long, sweeping, rounded corners. The first time I saw it, it appeared for only a few seconds, then faded out. I asked my sons if they saw it, but they did not. I told them what I saw and where I saw it, and, of course, they got a kick out of picking on the old man for “seeing things”. After what seemed to be about 4 or 5 minutes it appeared again, for only a few seconds before fading out again. We all three saw it this time, and the next two times that followed. After about 8 or 10 minutes it appeared again, and again for only a few seconds before fading out for about 15 or 20 minutes. It reappeared once more for a few seconds, faded out one last time, and that was the last time we saw it.

The light maintained the same altitude and exact location in the sky during the entire observation. I used the end of channel marker light from the Lockwood Folly Inlet, and the Oak Island Light House Beacon as my landmarks for pinpointing the light. At first I questioned whether it was possibly a ships flare, but there is no way it could have been. It was too high, too big, and did not fluctuate at all in its position or attitude.

I did some research before deciding to file this report. I know we saw it, and I know it was not an airplane, helicopter, blimp, or anything else I have ever seen in my life time. I am not 100% convinced, however, that it was anything out of the natural realm. But still, I do not know for sure what it was.




NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that date of the sighting is approximate. PD


Posted 2010-04-13

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