NUFORC Sighting 08175

Occurred: 1978-09-20 16:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 1999-06-28 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 20--30 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Tampa (outskirts of), FL, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Changed Color, Electrical or magnetic effects

round object-big as about 5 hot air-realy big-- ballons-lights-windows-saw people aboard-spectators

My mother and I were travelling in the outskirts of Tampa, Fla------one evening-daylight-6:00pm?-summer, clear weather---hot, Tampa summer--------were in orange grove rural area-----mother was a salesman-------I was riding with her on an appointment-----I was late teens---- she was late 30's------------we were in the car-----saw a huge object------dark blue with an orange glow within------the glow was clearly from windows------we could see people, or whatever, inside------it was almost like a tourist thing----that was my impression.-----some of them waved--and seemed to be talking excitedly to each other --and seemed excited to see us------we lost track of the object several times------and tried to follow it with the car--it seemed friendly, the craft, not menacing---it seemed to float like a baloon in a lot of respects--no sound-----it came within about 50 feet of the ground at one point-----it was so huge that it almost seemed to have it's own gravity----or electricity----it floated like a baloon-----but it seemed to zoom up into a diminishing perspective very easily, like floating----it did this several times during the sighting it seemed very much metallic------and not like a plane, more like a baloon------my mother and I didn't really speak of this in any detail while it was happening----except to try to keep it in sight and follow it with the car--------there was a time loss of about three hours-----near the end of the sighting------I recall becoming aware of my surroundings standing by the car---we were in an orange grove-----not sure how the car got there, my mother was walking out of the row of orange trees--------dazed-----I was too-----we just got in the car and went home without talking----once home we decided to write seperate accounts of what we had witnessed----- they were identical------except that she was apparently abducted during the time loss---as far as I know I was not abducted------my mother has no real memory of what happened if she was abducted-------just of being alone in a srtrange place-----before my time loss I remember the craft zoomng straight up into the evening sky to a very pin-point, and then being gone. I am not entirely sure how this may be related to black helicopter sightings that have occured to various members of my family in the Charlotte area since the sighting described.

Posted 1999-07-05