NUFORC Sighting 30705

Occurred: 2003-05-19 00:10 Local
Reported: 2003-08-15 20:57 Pacific
Duration: 3 - 5 min.
No of observers: 2

Location: Fresno (near, I-5), CA, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Electrical or magnetic effects

Totally silent craft bearing three, bright, white lights observed crossing I-5 near Fresno CA on 05-19-03 at 00:10.

At approximately 00:10 on 05-19-03 soon after passing a Frenso, CA turnoff about 60 min. north of Harris Ranch our SUV (98 Explorer) was headed south on I-5 when the driver noticed some bright, white lights up and to our right. He wondered if there was a highway above us, because the lights seemed to be heading south parallel to I-5. Suddenly the lights turned and zoomed down toward the freeway rapidly. He guessed it covered 2 miles in about 10-15 seconds.

At this point the craft slowed down, and he alerted mo of its presence. We both thought it was a very low-flying, large airplane, and we watched as it crossed the freeway in front of us. It was so low, we were barely looking up. The craft turned left and headed north above the ground next to the north-bound side of I-5. It appeared to be trying to land, when suddendly this large craft (about 40-60 feet across) banked sharply, about 45 degrees. We were amazed that a craft that big, flying so low and so slow could have turned that sharply successfully. It seemed that there was no way without stalling. As it banked, the three bright, white lights seemed equidistant apart, one in the center and one on each end. The craft was TOTALLY silent.

It crossed I-5 in front of us again, this time it was heading west and was only about 100 feet in front of us, and about 40 feet off the ground. It was so low we hoped it wouldn't hit us. We thought it might crash in the field to our right, but it descended and decelerated, no noise, no noticeable dust. It seemed it would land safely as it almost skimmed the ground. At this time, we were looking out the side windows, to our right, down and slightly back. The craft seemed lower than our SUV. It seemed the bottom was flat, because the lights were skimming the ground.

The only lights we saw, were shining forward on the craft. However, from this oblique view, they seemed to be positioned at a slightly obtuse angle (approximately 150 degrees). It was very dark and neither of us saw any shape to the craft, except for the position of the lights. All three lights seemed to be in the horizontal plane, as it skimmed the ground, at about 15 to 20 mph, almost touching it for about 150 ft. Then just as I thought it was about to land, it suddenly tilted up and disappeared.

Soon after this the driver saw the three bright, white lights, in the rear-view mirror. I turned and watched out the back window as it made several more passes across I-5. The driver caught glimpses of these passes in the rear-view mirror. Eventually we lost sight of it as we drove out of range. At this point we noticed the car clock light was flashing -- nothing else. It continued to flash for a few more minutes. The time kept changing correctly as it blinked. Then it returned to normal without being reset.

We never heard any noise or saw any shape except for the lights. There were three other sleeping passengers, who never awakened during the incident. There were also other cars on both sides of the freeway during this sighting.

Posted 2003-08-28