NUFORC Sighting 13087

Occurred: 1998-07-04 23:00 Local
Reported: 2000-06-13 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 4

Location: Boston, MA, USA

Shape: Sphere


Large spherical object floating over the Charles River amid the smoke following a Fourth of July Fireworks display.

It was July 4th 1998, and I was at a roofdeck party on Beacon Hill in Boston with many friends. We had just heard the Boston Pops play from the Esplanade (a large park area that borders the Charles River on the Boston side) and had seen the fireworks display. The show ended approximately 23:00. I was standing with three other friends looking out over the river and noticed that there were two spotlights on the Cambridge side of the river waving across the sky. One of them stopped moving so I was wondering who was operating them. Students perhaps? An old MIT prank? Anyway, that was what made me look in that direction. While I was observing this I also noticed all the smoke from the fireworks slowly drifting over the river toward Boston Harbor. While I was observing the spotlights and smoke, I noticed a spherical shape floating discreetly among the clouds of smoke. The sphere had no lights, no sound, and when one of the beams of the spotlights hit the object I noticed it was silverish metallic with a raised ridge going around its equator. I called my friends' attention to what I was seeing and we all began to discuss. We had time because it was moving rather slowly. We first thought, "It must be a balloon". But, judging by the distance between our location on Beacon Hill and the Sphere's position in the smoke over the river, the balloon would have been the size of two automobiles. Also, it's movement was extremely steady and straight. It didn't move up or down or sideways, just straight toward the ocean. We watched it as it passed over the Museum of Science and then it just disappeared. I've never seen anything like it, and I would find it hard to believe that no one else noticed it, aside from the fact that not too many people watch the smoke after a fireworks display is over....everyone is looking to make their way home instead. I would love to find out if anyone else saw this. My friends and I are still puzzled to this day.

Posted 2000-06-21

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