NUFORC Sighting 144586

Occurred: 1997-08-01 05:40 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2019-01-20 15:17 Pacific
Duration: ±10 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Santa Monica & Brentwood, CA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

Bright light seems to follow my vehicle for several miles. Eventually a cloud develops around the light, it explodes and disappears.

This is a sighting I had in the late 90’s - possibly ’97 or ’98 in Los Angeles county, California. I wasn’t aware of Peter Davenport or of NUFORC at the time. By the time I did find out about NUFORC, I figured it was too long after the fact to bother. I decided to write this just because it seemed unlike any ufo sighting I’ve heard of and wanted to put it on record, for whatever it’s worth. Maybe now I'll be able to stop thinking about it.

It happened on an early August weekday morning around 5:30ish a.m. I had to drive several miles to Brentwood to pick up a prescription at my doc’s home, before going to work. I started off from my home in Santa Monica, heading north/west. After driving a minute or two, initially heading north, I noticed a low stationary light (no blinking lights), probably several miles off to the north/west (toward Pacific Palisades). It was low enough to be a helicopter, although for some reason it didn’t look like a helicopter (don’t recall now why I thought that). As I continued driving I kept my eye on the light. It started moving east and slightly south - in my direction. I began traveling due east toward Brentwood. The object continued its trajectory in my direction and was soon nearly parallel with my vehicle. I came to a traffic light and immediately turned left (north), stopping at a second traffic light, finding myself suddenly in a confluence of heavy, early a.m. commuter traffic. As I waited for the red light to change, I remember opening my window to look skyward for the object. I was surprised to see it very close, nearly overhead, extremely bright, stationary and silent. I couldn’t make out any shape of a craft. I was familiar with the variety of helicopters typically flying around L.A. having lived there for decades. This didn’t have any features of a helicopter. I wondered if the light might have been a search or flood light, but saw no evidence of that as I looked around me. When the traffic light turned green I turned my attention back to the road, disappointed I wouldn’t be able to keep track of the object.

A couple of minutes later I crossed Sunset Boulevard, continuing north into the dark foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. I was now the only car on a quiet residential road. I looked into the sky again and towards the west saw what I assumed was the same bright light that had appeared overhead minutes earlier. I pulled over and stopped to get a better look. It was a mile or 2 away from me, maybe more. It was stationary and low but well above the horizon. At this point the sky was still very dark, but moments away from the first light of daybreak.

Then I observed this: the bright light began to dim out. As that happened, fog or a cloud surrounded the light, obscuring the dimming light even more. Suddenly what almost appeared as an explosion of light seemed to burst behind the cloud. The explosion, which almost looked electrical or charged began to dim again before quickly disappearing completely. As I was staring at the spot, there was just enough daylight in the sky to observe the silhouette of a small cloud where the light had been. I remember holding out my arm trying to get an idea of its size. It looked like a cotton ball at arm’s distance. Within 30-60 seconds it too vanished, evaporated. The sky was dark and completely cloudless, with sunlight just appearing in the east. The sighting only lasted maybe 60-90 seconds total, as I recall. Another thing - as bizarre as it seems, I had a sense of communication or connection with the light when I first began observing it, maybe 7-10 minutes earlier, as I le! ft my home. I had the crazy thought that it was following me, but that could easily have been imagination. Also, for the record I’ve had numerous sightings since childhood. This was just the longest lasting and most dramatic. Later I checked to find out the moon’s location. It set around 11 p.m. the night before. One last thing - at the time of the event I assumed that the second object I saw was the same object which I first observed upon leaving my home, but in actuality I don't know that for a fact since wasn't able to watch the first object continuously. Thank you for your efforts and perseverance, Peter Davenport.

Posted 2019-01-24

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