NUFORC Sighting 53196

Occurred: 2000-01-10 22:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2006-11-01 11:42 Pacific
Duration: less than a minute
No of observers: 2

Location: Erie (area), PA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object

dark object with strobe/beacon.stationary over Interstate 90 near Erie,PA

We were driving eastbound on I86 (then called NY route 17) one January night around 10pm.We had just turned onto I86 from I90 near Erie,PA. On the westbound side of the highway there are two steel frame towers (communication towers I assume),right up near the road,that each have a light at the top that slowly flash like the lights on radio towers.I've seen these towers many times while driving through the area. So when we got another half mile or so down the road,I was surprised to see what at first looked like a third tower.Actually I assumed it was another tower because of the strobe/beacon that I saw flashing.

As we got closer I noticed that the light was flashing much more quickly than the lights on the towers.(and,by the way,flashing about twice the speed of a normal aircraft strobe that can be seen in the sky on any given night.) I said to my wife,"What the hell is that?" She only glanced at the light.(We were returning from the Erie,PA veterens hospital because her dad was there recovering from a collapsed lung...so she was thinking about her dad and not a light flashing along the expressway) As we got closer,still...almost beneath this thing,the strobe was obscured by the 'body' of the object.It was a very dark night with no moon.Whatever this thing was,it was as black as the sky.I couldnt really tell how big it was as it was invisible against the dark sky.No outline was visible at all.

Now here is the thing that tells me this was not a stationary helicopter or something...and also the part that scared me. As we passed the object I kept looking up at it through my drivers side window. I saw a rectangular opening on the bottom of the object. The opening was about the size of a small car. I could see a grate or screen up inside there through which was visible a pulsing,glowing orange/red light which sort of looked like the pulsing glow of the hot coals at the base of a campfire. I've seen lots of helicopters and they all have lights and numbers on the bottom or say police or sheriff and have visible landing wheels or skids on them.I've never seen a helicopter a with pulsing,glowing rectangular opening on the bottom.

By the way,the object was close up to the road...just over the tree line.The opening was about as high as the top of a 4 or 5 story building.We heard no sound as it was January and we had the car windows rolled up tight...and we were driving around 60 miles an hour.

I have to admit that I began to panic a bit on the inside! My heart began to race as I realised I was looking at something very different than anything I had ever seen before in the sky! For some reason I had the feeling that whatever it was,it 'knew' I was looking at it...as if all the other cars that were going by didnt notice anything strange...as if I was the only one who noticed that this was NOT another communications tower! For a moment I feared this thing would come after us!My panic began to subside as we left the object further and further behind. I watched it in my side mirror and glanced over my shoulder at it as we continued down the road. It may have been an illusion,but I thought it looked like it moved back away from the road about 30 feet in an instant! ...like it moved in a wink! ...but it could have been an illusion because all I could see over my shoulder was the strobe blinking in the dark sky...and we were driving.

As we rounded a bend and passed under a bridge I was not able to see the object any longer. My wife said it seemed weird but like I said she was preoccupied with thoughts of her elderly father we had just left back at the VA hospital.

This whole thing happened in less than one minute as we drove along the highway.Just for the record,there were plenty of other cars driving in both directions...I'd say light to moderate traffic for the area...so others must have seen it.If anyone else thought it was strange I do not know.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the event is approximate. PD

Posted 2006-12-07