NUFORC Sighting 79058

Occurred: 2010-11-26 21:30 Local
Reported: 2010-11-27 01:55 Pacific
Duration: 15'
No of observers: 1

Location: Tumacacori, AZ, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object, Electrical or magnetic effects

More Amber Lights and Lines of Amber Lights Seen In and Around Tumacacori & Rio Rico AZ

At about 9:30 pm, MST, on Nov. 26, 2010, I was outside with the dogs, about 3 miles due east of the Tumacacori Mission in Southern AZ, at elevation about 3650’. Weather was clear, the wind was still, and the moon not yet up. I noticed a very bright, stationary yellow-white light low over the Santa Rita Mountains, probably about twice as bright as Venus at its brightest, but a bit larger. It was at 25 degrees (about NNE) from my position, and appeared to be a few miles north of Mount Hopkins (elevation 8900’), but clearly above the horizon defined by the jagged mountain range. I would estimate the altitude of the light at about 8-10 thousand feet. The light dimmed quickly within 20 seconds of my going outside, and disappeared. About 10 minutes later, the light reappeared for about 30 seconds, then dimmed within a few seconds and disappeared.

While looking around the sky after I initially saw the light over the Santa Ritas, I noted two separate fixed dots of bright amber light to the SW, very low to the ground (less than 300 feet above the terrain, which is rolling) if not nearly on the ground. Each was of similar size and brightness as the light over the Santa Ritas. There are no lights so bright, nor of that color, in that direction normally. I could not readily discern a shape other than roundish. They were less than 4 miles away, as they blocked out the lights from cars on I-19 from my view. I estimate that the two amber lights must have been a quarter of a mile to a half mile from one another, using the light spread across a nearby residential area to judge the distance. After a minute or so of watching these lights, I saw them slowly dim, over a minute or more.

After the second appearance of the light over the Santa Ritas, and its disappearance, I looked back to the SW, and saw a line of at least 5 bright amber lights, between here and Rio Rico Villas 14 (about 1.5 miles away to the SW), but just to the south of both. The lights were not as bright nor as big as the two amber lights I witnessed just a few minutes before, but still startlingly bright for the area. They were still extremely low to the ground. I could see them moving in a perfect, unwavering horizonal line, apparently heading northward, and without changing altitude despite going across rolling terrain. The line of lights moved relatively slowly, probably under 50 mph (judging from how fast the freeway traffic in the far distance moved). I heard no noise (I can hear the UPS truck or a noisy pickup truck a mile away, and large trucks on the freeway 3.5 miles away, as this is a quiet area, and in a valley). I saw no other color lights, nor any sign of headlights. I! watched them for about 10 seconds. At this point I went inside (at about 9:45 pm MST).

There are some enclaves/military reservations to the north of the Santa Rita Mountains, near Green Valley, that might explain the light that appeared (from my vantage point) over the Santa Ritas. However, there are no military lands closeby to the West and Southwest (between here and the freeway). This latter area is a barely developed but platted and roaded rural residential area. A mile or so past it in the same direction lies the Coronado National Forest and mountain ranges.

I saw no helicopter lights near the Santa Ritas tonight, and that is odd. Usually, there are one or two stationary over that range and/or to the south of that range. This is the borderlands, and I presume some Federal Agency (military, INS, or DEA) has the helicopters in place. The presumptive helicopters appear small and dim, the size and brightness of a run of the mill star, but an occasional red flash gives them away, as well as their eventual movement out of position in a manner consistent with how a helicopter moves. Have spotted the helicopters nightly for years.

Two of my cordless phones did not work/could not get a dialtone when I tried to call in my observation at the time of the sighting. On average, I have trouble with my landline that is not attributable to a widespread outage on less than one day each year. I called in on my cell phone which functioned normally. When I tried my two cordless phones again about 15' later, both worked.

Note that on Sept. 23, 2010, I filed a report regarding a more extensive and lengthy sighting, in the same general region. Until that night I had never seen anything unusual in the sky, despite spending at least 20 minutes outside on most nights. Local TV stations received a flood of calls about the event in the Tucson Metro area on Sept. 23, especially from the South and West sides of town, but no one else filed a report. On that night, there were very clear conditions as well, and no wind either. Furthermore, on both nights (Sept. 23td and tonight) lights appeared at one location, followed by the appearance of lights at a second distinct location, and then again, as if some sort of back and forth signaling or communication is going on.

Observer is a retired research scientist.

Posted 2011-01-05

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