NUFORC Sighting 63468

Occurred: 2008-03-29 22:15 Local
Reported: 2008-05-21 22:12 Pacific
Duration: 4 to 5 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: London (Canada), ON, Canada

Shape: Light

2 dim lights at night, flying fast in formation, then independently in small arcs; then chased each other in a small circle.

Date: March 29, 2008, Saturday (the night of the Earth Hour) Time: 10:15 PM (+-5 minutes) Place: Argyle Mall parking lot (Clarke Rd. at Dundas St.), London, Ontario, Canada Brief Description Two dim orangish-white lights in close proximity, flying low (around 3,000 ft??) and fast, at first in formation, and then independently, in small arcs; all the while remaining in proximity to each other. Before the lights disappeared in the distance, they had "chased" each other rapidly in a small circle. The entire "performance" resembled a bravado-fuelled airshow, with rapid manoeuvres and (nearly?) silent engines. The event lasted 4 or 5 seconds during which the objects traversed one-third of the sky. Although there were brief and faint sounds (a vibrating rumble and a wooshing noise) associated with the phenomenon, they may have been coincidental.

Full Description After shopping at Wal-mart, I was walking through the Argyle Mall parking lot when a movement in the clear night sky induced me to look up. West of where I stood, some 50 degrees up in the sky, I saw two steady (non-flashing) orangish-white lights (the size of an average star, but noticeably dimmer) in proximity to each other, moving fast in formation in the southwesterly direction. I assumed this was an airliner with lights on both ends of its wings. The "aircraft" appeared to be flying very low, because the lights were moving very fast and the distance between them was rather large. (If I extended my arm, the length of my index finger would approximate the apparent distance between the lights. For what it's worth, I'd speculate that the altitude couldn't have been higher than 3,000 ft.) When the lights simultaneously veered away from each other in symmetrical arcs, it became obvious that they were two separate objects that had been moving in formation. The objects then performed some playful airshow-style acrobatics (lots of rapid turns in different directions) at high speeds, all the while continuing in the southwesterly direction. Before they disappeared in the distance, the lights had performed a spectacular manoeuvre: for at least one second they were "chasing" each other in a small circle (perhaps 5 degrees in diameter), as if they were attached to the blades of a rotating propeller. The revolution was so rapid (at least two rotations per second) that it drew a distinct circle of light against the night sky. (It's possible that what looked like circular motions from a distance were actually coordinated corkscrew motions along the axis of the southwesterly trajectory the lights were following.) The entire experience lasted only 4 to 5 seconds, during which the objects managed to traverse at least one-third of the sky (this indicates considerable speed). Although there were other people nearby at the time, I doubt anyone else noticed this brief and low-key phenomenon.

What struck me about the quality of the motion of the objects was the speed and peculiar fluidity and smoothness with which they changed directions. The thought that came to my mind was: they behave like living creatures, not aircrafts -- the motion somehow reminded me of bats in flight or fish swimming in water. The final circular manoeuvre brought to mind mosquitoes or flies swarming around. I've never seen airplanes performing such swift and tight acrobatics.

While I detected some strange faint sounds coinciding with the sighting, I can't be sure they were emitted by the objects, as opposed to, say, cars. When I first noticed the lights, I heard a brief (one second) and low, vibrating rumble, and then, a few seconds later, as the objects were moving further away, a brief (less than two seconds), soft wooshing sound. I'm positive I heard no ordinary aircraft noises from propeller or jet engines. (The event took place after 10 PM when traffic noise in the area was at low intensity -- it shouldn't have drowned down the sound of planes flying so low.) The absence of normal aircraft sounds seems inconsistent with the most likely mundane explanation of my experience -- that the lights marked low-flying (and improperly lit) fighter jets on a night mission. Had the objects been such aircrafts, they should have produced audible and unmistakeable jet-engine drones. (I'm not aware of an acoustic stealth technology that's this effective.) It may be relevant to note, however, that the Argyle Mall parking lot, where I had the sighting, is located only 3 km southwest from the London (Ontario) International Airport, and that, assuming they'd been following a roughly straight path even before I noticed them, the objects were coming from the general direction of the airport.

Posted 2008-06-12