NUFORC Sighting 126525

Occurred: 2016-03-22 22:20 Local
Reported: 2016-03-24 19:39 Pacific
Duration: 25+ minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Ocean Isle Beach, NC, USA

Shape: Orb
Characteristics: Lights on object

6 "Strobing" Lights in Formation + 2 Large Orbs + 1 Slow-moving Red Light. Wow!

I stepped out onto my second-floor porch, facing 260 degrees West, at approximately 10:20 p.m. ET. Just to my right, I noticed 6 small, but bright lights, like “strobes”, the brightness of LED-type white lights. They were lined up one behind the other, not in a straight line, but in a broken pattern, still flashing quickly. I assume this was due to deviation in altitude or alignment on one side or the other. If you picture a straight line, then they would look like one above, one below, etc. They were not in a tight formation. There was some distance between them. I would estimate that they were no more than a quarter mile in front of me and an approximate altitude of 2,500 feet, give or take. (This is a little harder for me to establish.) They were moving from North to South, at a steady pace.

After observing for about 20 seconds, and questioning myself as to what they were, I opened the door and called for my friend to come outside. He came straight out and the last two were just to my left, and no longer right in front of me. All told, about 45 seconds. We watched them continue about 177-180 degrees South, toward the beach. It is about a .2-mile walk to the water‘s edge. (This island, the next to last on the southern NC coast is no more than one-half mile wide at any point, and actually runs East-West. It is less than 20 miles above the NC/SC state line and probably less, as the crow flies.) We watched them until they could no longer be seen from our vantage point. The street is lined with two and three-story houses on both sides and some with palms out front. I must add that the western atmosphere was completely clear, no clouds whatsoever. There is a street light outside, and, although the artificial lights do not allow the beauty of all the evening stars, it did not interfere with what we observed. It was about 63 degrees and the wind was approximately 10 mph, S to N/NW.

We then went through the house to the back porch, facing East, but turning our attention South. My friend went down the back staircase to the seawall and stood about 35 feet away from where I was standing on the steps. Within a minute we began to see the lights again, as they were now moving West to East. We did not have a great vantage point though, as they were emerging from behind rooftops and there was a slight cloud cover looking South. Now their appearance was in a “soup”. However, we continued to watch and in another minute or two, there appeared a large and somewhat muted yellow-orange orb or light, I expect due to the cloud cover. This was at approximately 160 degrees South and high above the rooftops. It wasn’t completely round…almost like a fat tear-drop…lighter, pale yellow, at the top and more of a light orange around the bottom. It was illuminated for about 2 - 2.5 seconds. In about 5 - 7 seconds, another one appeared to the right, but was somewh! at smaller, and appeared for about 2 seconds.

About 30 seconds later, my friend could see only 3 of the lights, now moving West, still in formation. The houses along the beach blocked his view. He then walked through the yard to the front and stood in the street. Still, the houses blocked his view. He stated that they were at a lower altitude. I continued to watch toward the South, but nothing. However, within about 3-4 minutes, a red light appeared from that area (about 140 degrees SE), from behind the cloud cover, and turned Southeast to North. It was at a higher altitude, and farther away. It was traveling very slow. I could not detect any other color than red. My friend had come back through the house to the back and I pointed out the red light that had appeared. I watched it off-and-on for at least 6-8 minutes. Nothing else happened. It was still traveling on a northern path when I came inside about 10:45 - 10:50 p.m. ET. At that point the red light was at about 30 degrees North. (My back door face 80 degrees East.)

Posted 2016-04-01