NUFORC Sighting 130692

Occurred: 2016-10-17 07:30 Local
Reported: 2016-10-19 06:28 Pacific
Duration: 5
No of observers: 1

Location: Key Biscayne, FL, USA

Shape: Sphere

Observed a white, silvery sphere that held stationary, then moved east into the morning sky

I observed a silvery white object that appeared high in the blue, but partly cloudy morning sky. Its position remained fixed, by the rail of my balcony, for several minutes until it began to move steadily east southeast at constant velocity. The clouds were a mix of TCU, from ~ 5000-10000' at low level and high SCT Cirrus ~ 25000' (my estimates). The TCUs moved east to west in front of the object, which did not appear to reflect the morning sun, but softly, glowed organically. Through the binoculars it appeared textured and matted, and too far/ small to appear on the camera. If this object were at 10000' I would estimate the diameter to be about 5'. After watching it pass behind a few TCUs, it finally failed to emerge.

I considered this may have been a balloon at a level between the lower westerly flow and the higher easterly flow, moving easterly as it rose. If it was at 10000', I could hazard a guess of ~ 100kts.

Posted 2016-10-21