NUFORC Sighting 83014
Occurred: 1968-06-01 21:00 Local - ApproximateReported: 2011-08-08 14:35 Pacific
Duration: 2 weeks
No of observers: 2
Location: Monmouth Junction, NJ, USA
Shape: Orb
Object orbiting Jupiter
During stargazing, I aimed my 1.5 inch refractor at Jupiter, and while viewing, I saw a light slowly fade in over (north pole of Jupiter?) the disk of jupiter 2 disk diameters to the right. It remained in sight for ~20 seconds then faded out at the same distance as it had appeared.
I remained watching and found that this ball of light, approximately the same brightness as Jupiter's closest moon, had a period of approximately 5 minutes. The site I viewed from was very dark and isolated, near the edge of a forest.
This phenomenon lasted for about 2 weeks where I viewed it from several different spot.
The only other person to have witnessed this event passed away 15 years ago. I was 15 yrs old when we saw this object and I did not report it to anyone.
My naieve thinking was that Jupiter had captured an asteroid.
Whatever it was it had to be moon-sized in order for me to see its reflection.
NUFORC Note:
Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. PD
Posted 2011-08-21
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