NUFORC Sighting 32229

Occurred: 2003-10-11 13:00 Local
Reported: 2003-10-15 05:24 Pacific
Duration: seconds
No of observers: 0

Location: Nebraska (above?, or above South Dakota), NE, USA

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

rather large cigar shaped object photographed from airplane window

Saturday Oct 11 I was on a plane from Las Vegas to Minneapolis. About 1 pm the pilot put on the seatbelt sign and told us we were just on the edge of a cold front that was passing through Minneapolis and we may experience a "few bumps." I thought I would snap a picture of the clouds we were above just for a future screensaver. I must add that about 30 mins earlier I nudged my wife to see a passing airplane because I'm always in awe of seeing a plane pass in the opposite direction. The sense of speed one gets is amazing. The passing plane also produced a great contrail. Like I stated, I turned my digital camera to the window, and as I was framing the shot I caught a flash of what I thought was a reflection from the wing. I snapped the shot and immediately took the camera down and checked the shot in the camera's screen. The Sony camera (DSC-1) has a very small screen and since I was not wearing my reading glasses, I was only able to view the basic composition and exposure. Satisfied, I put the camera away and enjoyed the rest of the flight. The next day I downloaded all my shots from the trip (70+) with the flight shot being the last one. When it popped up on the screen I was shocked at what I saw. There in the distance was an object forward of the right wing. I describe it as cigar shaped, with 3 areas of brightness along its edge and what appears to be a darker area barely visible at its mid section along the top edge. The object also has a yellowish glow around it. For a fact I know there were no other aircraft (planes) within the area at the time, because after the few seconds it took to check the camera I returned to gazing out the window, I saw nothing. I have the shot. I am reluctant to show it beyond those I've shown it to already. I don't need to be suspect, however I would certainly rest easier if I knew what I captured with my camera. Thank you.

NUFORC Note:

Witness elects to remain totally anonymous. No contact information appears to have been provided. We would very much like to correspond with the witness, and review the video footage. PD

Posted 2003-10-15