NUFORC Sighting 86293

Occurred: 2012-01-01 00:30 Local
Reported: 2012-01-02 18:14 Pacific
Duration: 15-20 mins
No of observers: 10

Location: Louisville, KY, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Lights on object

Red/Orange fireballs over Louisville, KY, USA on New Year's 2012

Right after midnight on New Years Eve, I witnessed strange lights in the sky near Shenanigans Pub (Corner of Norris and Deerwood) in Louisville. Several other patrons saw the lights and I was able to snap a few photos (attached) and my friend was able to record some video. The lights were orange glowing balls and travelled generally south to north and appeared to be powered. Ambient noise from the bar was loud so I couldn't hear if the lights made any noise. They travelled one after another along the same path at erratic intervals, although usually around twenty or thirty seconds apart. They travelled in a straight flight path and that path generally drifted and changed to the northwest as the event took place. They were below the cloud cover, but one did go through the lowest clouds. I estimate I saw around twenty and that the whole event lasted 10 or 20 minutes. To recap, they travelled at approximately the same altitude and along the same path.

They glowed a dark orange and didn’t seem to flash. When viewing them through my camera phone they seemed to flash at a constant rate.

My friend who also witnessed the event is a pilot and called Standiford Field air traffic control (Louisville International Airport) and they said they had nothing flying in the area. Both of us called the police and the dispatcher said we were the only people to call it in. And we called a local news station tip line who told us we were the only callers to report the event. I also emailed all four local news stations with the facts and photos on January 1st and received no response.

Finally, in one of the photos some non-glowing spots are visible. I’m didn’t see those during the event so I’m not sure if they are due to reflections or some other camera error, or if they are related to the event.

Posted 2012-01-12

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