NUFORC Sighting 39100

Occurred: 2004-09-01 22:45 Local
Reported: 2004-09-04 09:03 Pacific
Duration: 5 Minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Arcadia, CA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail, Emitted other objects, Aircraft nearby

Approximately 10:45 PM on September 1, 2004 I observed an object moving from east to west while looking out my bedroom window which faces south. This object was following the usual flight patter for aircraft going to Los Angles International Airport. However, what caught my attention was the color and brightness of the object and that it had no flashing lights like many aircraft do. The object was an orange color and seemed to be about twice the brightness of the other aircraft in the sky. I observed it for 2 minutes as it moved from the east to west in the southern horizon. Approximately halfway across the sky the object seemed to have stopped.

I then observed the object though my window screen using 10x binoculars. The object didn’t appear clear due to my screen being dirty, so I went out to my balcony with my binoculars and observed it there. This time I got a much better look at it and could not see any aircraft or shape in the bright orange light of the object. It appeared like a bight star about 5 times the size of the surrounding stars. Its color was that of hot burning coal, being that of a light orange color. While I observed it, the object was motionless and appeared to be hovering in the sky. I observed very closely thought my binoculars and this object didn’t move or drift at all. I could tell that it did not drift due to its distance from the background stars.

After 2 minutes of watching the object hover, it ejected a much smaller object about 1/10 its size. The second object was the same color as the first object and appeared to be about half as small as the background stars I was viewing though my binoculars. It appeared to fall straight down from the first object and left a streaking orange trail as if fell which then disappeared the farther it fell from the first object. This smaller object looked like a falling hot coal or ash, like someone would see at a fireworks display except there was no smoke or flame, just an orange glow. It might have been possible that there was another object in the streaking trail when the first one was ejected. It was hard to tell due to the glow of the streaking trail. I followed this second object as it fell for about 3-5 seconds. In that time it fell about half the altitude of the first object. I then looked back up at the first object to see if it would eject more objects. The original object didn’t eject anymore objects but this time it appeared to move towards the northwest. It moved slower to the northeast than it originally moved when it was going east to west. As it moved it went over the roof of my apartment and I lost sight of it, so I went downstairs to the parking lot to see if can follow its movements. When I got down stairs and looked to the northwest it was gone.

The object when first sighted was probably 3-4 miles to the south of me over the cities of El Monte, CA or Temple City, CA and then it moved north over Arcadia, CA where I was located. It was very hard to tell the size of the object or its height. I estimate that it was about 3000 to 4000 feet in altitude. However, it was very hard to tell its true altitude or the size of the object since it had no shape except that of an orange glowing light. Its speed was from what appears to be 100 MPH to zero. It traveled about as fast as the background aircraft traffic when it was moving. There were numerous background aircraft traffic to the south of its position along the usual LAX landing patterns. Also there is the smaller El Monte Airport to the south about 5 miles away with mostly light private planes flying out of it. However, there were no background aircraft near the object itself, just in the distance several miles away. This object and the second object made no noise during the whole sighting.

When I first saw this object I simply thought was the standard aircraft that fly in the area. However, it was the brightness and the color of the object that got my attention. Observing it made me think that it was something other than an airplane or helicopter. First I thought that it was a balloon that was on fire, especially when I saw the other smaller object dropout of it. I thought that it was a burning ember falling from it and that it might land on someone’s house and set it on fire. Then I thought about it and realized that this light showed no flames and that if it was a balloon on fire that it would have burned up very quickly. If it was a helicopter then I would have heard noise from it and it would have drifted a little even while hovering. This object made no noise and didn’t drift in the slightest when hovering. The light it emitted hid the shape of whatever object it was. Whatever this object was I don’t believe that it was any conventional flying aircraft.



Posted 2004-09-09

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