NUFORC Sighting 82916

Occurred: 2011-08-01 00:30 Local
Reported: 2011-08-03 12:55 Pacific
Duration: 1 Min
No of observers: 1

Location: Clinton, WA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object

Object with three lights hovering just above trees.

I work second shift as an Aerospace Engineer. I had been commuting on my motorcycle, and as I pulled alongside the driveway at around 12:30 AM I noticed what appeared to be the navigation lighting of a helicopter in the low horizon (approx. Latitude 47.97, Longitude -122.37).

My home in Clinton, WA on the remote south end of Whidbey Island is located in a cul-de-sac and there was no other vehicular traffic at that time.

The aircraft did not seem to move, hovering as a helicopter would and not wavering. I shut my motorcycle off to listen for the sound of an engine from the craft but heard nothing.

In my estimation the craft was about 100-200 yards away from where I stood and 30 degrees in the sky, 50-80 feet above the trees surrounding the neighborhood which are around 120 feet tall. It had two pure white lights which shone solidly and a third light to form a triangular pattern which was red, blinking on and off regularly about every second, and about one-and-a-half times the intensity of the two white lights. By my calculation I gauged the total length to be 35-50 feet and the width about 25-30 feet, assuming the lights were positioned toward the extremities of the structure since it was too dark to make out any silhouette.

The craft remained in the same position for approximately twenty seconds, then moved in a smooth South-to-West arc keeping a constant speed which I would guess to be about 40 miles per hour, maintaining a constant altitude and remaining completely level when making the turn. It was at this time, when the craft was moving away from me that I noticed the sound of some type of engine. It was a regular, single pitch drone and not very loud, somewhat like an ultralight engine but not fluctuating at all.

The air vehicle continued out of sight as it disappeared behind the trees and continued West.

Posted 2011-08-07

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