Occurred: 2012-10-07 21:05 Local
Reported: 2012-10-07 19:38 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Columbus, OH, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

Four orange/red lights in changing formation viewed from the Short North

This evening I witnessed something out of the ordinary: I came out of my back door and saw four bright orange-red objects in the sky, moving from the west to the east. One was clearly in the lead, the other three lights moved behind at some distance.

They appeared to be moving directly over the flight path for the Columbus (CMH) airport's approach, however, they stayed at the same height. As the moved across the sky, the three that trailed the leader moved in different formations. At first they had no distinct pattern. Then they drifted to align in a straght line eventually forming a near perfect triangle.

Winds were from the west at 5 miles per hour, these were traversing the sky at a much faster rate - totally silent, not quite the speed of the many jets I see and hear taking off and landing each day. The lights did not flash or flicker, akin to the "chinese lantern" effect I've seen described in other reports. Quite bright, as if drifting across the sky (except for the various formations of the trailing three) until they faded into a hazy cloud layer.

I called the police, the dispatcher had no other reports of the sighting roughly ten minutes later. The lights left no trail but were very unique. I'm a fairly sane individual who enjoys watching the skies for meteors and space station sightings and can name several of the galaxies formations and objects upon sight. This was unlike any of those. They did not reflect, but produced their own light in a shade similar to sodium street lights with a bit more red, somewhat pinkish tint.

Within a few minutes, I could hear a jet approaching the airport. It was a quiet evening for this part of town.

Posted 2012-10-30

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