NUFORC Sighting 51418

Occurred: 2006-07-13 23:45 Local
Reported: 2006-07-18 07:44 Pacific
Duration: 30 seconds
No of observers: 0

Location: Clarklake, MI, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Bright pulsing light stops, shoots off at an amazing speed

At approximately 11:45pm I noticed a rather bright, orangish light to the north of my home periodically peaking through the treetops. The night was clear and commercial aircraft could occasionally be seen flying from east to west. This orange light was at an altitude of approximately 35-40 degrees above the northern horizon and appeared to be moving from north to south...towards my location. It flew slowly. The light itself, however, seemed to pulse arhythmically. The deviation in the intensity of the light wasn't extreme but was enough to catch my attention. I noticed no navigation lights, no beacons, nothing one would expect to see with FAA-compliant aircraft. The color of the moving light was an orangish-golden-amber. About ten seconds after I began to closely observe the light, it disappeared at about 45-50 degrees elevation. I looked closely for the aforementioned FAA-mandated lighting but could see nothing. I also noticed no clouds in that particular portion of the sky which would've obscured my view. Approximately three seconds after it's disappearance, the light suddenly flared again to twice it's previous intensity, about 50 degrees elevation and still to my north. The light seemed to be sitting in the sky, still pulsating arhythmically. It sat for approximately five seconds before it began to move again southward, over my position. Approximately 5 seconds after it's reappearance, it immediately shot to the west at an amazing speed and disappeared from sight. The pulsations seemed to quicken and brighten just before it shot off to the west. I did not see anything else out of the ordinary in the skies the following hour.

Posted 2006-10-30