NUFORC Sighting 82091

Occurred: 2011-07-03 01:00 Local
Reported: 2011-07-03 02:40 Pacific
Duration: 1 min
No of observers: 1

Location: Steger, IL, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Multiple luminescent reddish radiating lights in a line pattern that each changed course then faded into distance.

I opened my patio door that faces south at approximately 1:00 AM. In the southern sky I saw what at first I thought was an oncoming plane with bright reddish light. The light was not completely steady but not blinking either. It seemed to be radiating like a twinkling star but much brighter. It was a very luminescent light with a definite shade of red. I think it was at least as bright as the planet Venus as it appears in the summer sky. It got a little brighter as it got closer. I estimate the altitude to be 1000 to 2000 feet but that is hard to tell without knowing it's size and it's distance from me. It was moving from south to north northwest. The object was moving steadily but I'd have to estimate the speed because it depends on it's altitude and size to be accurate. The object seemed to change direction and turn straight west. As it did it's luminescence grew fainter and fainter as it kept going west. It was fading from sight and it's view was going to be blocked by the treeline west of my house so I began to step up onto my deck bench. I had no lights on so I looked down a few seconds to be sure footed as I stepped onto the bench. Now on the bench I looked back up and now to the south and I saw three more lights exactly like the first one and they were on the original course as the first object when I first sighted it, seemingly coming from the south going to north northwest. They were in a line one behind the other and evenly apart. Then one after the other they all turned west and followed the first objects course and as they did they too began to grow faint. I tracked them until they faded. I got the impression they were gaining altitude slightly as they proceeded west, but I'm not positive. The estimated speed is hard not knowing their distance from me. There was no real point of reference. If they were 1 mile from me and at 1000 feet they were possibly a meter in size and traveling at around 50 mph. If they were ! 5 miles from me and at 5000 feet they were much bigger and goi! ng much faster. There was no sound coming from the objects. I did see a couple of flashes like a heat lightning not near the object but more to the west. There were sounds of explosions like fireworks in the distance, it is close to the 4th of July and the local yahoo's are blowing them off even at this hour. There appeared to be some clouds to the south and southwest of me and definitely more distant than the ufo's.

After the objects faded out of sight I then checked the radar online and saw there was cloud cover at the time of my sighting approximately 10 miles to my south. So logically these objects were less than ten miles from me. There was some pretty severe storm activity to the south at the time of my sighting but at it's closest it was just south of Kankakee, IL approximately 40 miles south. There was sporadic but small rainclouds (according to the weather.com radar maps) in the area.

I don't know what these objects were. I tried to come up with reasonable explanations. They were not like any kind of fireworks display I'd ever seen and I'm well past 50 and seen quite a few . I don't know if the sound of the fireworks and or the distant storms were coincidental or related. I tried to reason that they might be flares suspended under a string of helium balloons somehow tied together to remain in a straight line. But the last three appeared so suddenly and how would they be ignited? I've seen many aerial fireworks displays. This didn't seem to fit. I'm almost positive the wind was blowing in the opposite direction too. How to make balloons travel single file and turn uniformly following an exact path that the first like object took sounds like an improbable task. I've seen my share of meteors. I've seen the really fast small streaky kind and the slower fiery kind. These were not even close. They were much slower than a meteor and held a course, held a pattern! and then changed course in pattern. They were objects for sure, I cannot identify them and they were flying. I hope there were others who reported this. I was going to call the police but I wasn't sure what they'd do or say, so I did a search on who to report sightings to and found your site. I was just going to forget about it and go to bed, but someone has to at least know about what I saw.

I am a professional musician. I am well over 50. I am a reasonably logical person. I do not take drugs. I only drink occasionally and then only one or two. I am not given to flights of fancy. I do not hallucinate. I have a very credible and reliable reputation both professionally and personally. I do not frequent any ufo websites or follow anything related as a hobby or as a way of life, I am too busy with my everyday business. In other words I'm not a big ufo fan or anything I'm just an everyday Joe.

Tonight I finished my job and drove the 40 minute drive home and just after I got home, and opened up the sliding door I spotted these objects. I never saw anything like these before.

In my long life I've seen a couple of things in the sky that I still can't explain. I told a few friends or family and I was not the only witness on those occasions. They were never reported just tucked away.

Posted 2011-07-04

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