NUFORC Sighting 101523

Occurred: 2013-08-21 21:40 Local
Reported: 2013-08-24 20:13 Pacific
Duration: 10-15 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: New York City (Brooklyn), NY, USA

Shape: Orb
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Brooklyn--8/21/13--Moving bright light vanishes.

On Wednesday 8/21/13, I saw a moving light in the sky over Windsor Terrace Brooklyn. Details follow.

At approximately 9:30pm, I decided to go for a walk and look at the large bright moon. I ended up standing in the center of a large blacktop area; the playground just northwest of East 5th Street and Ocean Parkway/Fort Hamilton Parkway (which borders the Prospect Expressway, situated east of the playground and near the Fort Hamilton Parkway subway stop). I chose this spot partly because the light pollution is a bit lower than in other parts of the neighborhood.

From this vantage point, there is a 360 degree panoramic view of a large portion of sky/partially blocked by trees to the west and structures near the ground. The sky was clear and winds were low, perhaps with some slight breeze. For a few moments I observed the moon, which was southeast of my position. I also turned to view other stars (the relative few that can be seen in Brooklyn), including Vega which appears to be visible at night (and was essentially directly overhead according to a sky map application I was using to assist me).

Looking slightly northwest towards Greenwood Cemetery, and the house I live in, I noticed a white light (no beam) moving in a curved trajectory southeastward towards my direction. If the estimated lateral distance from my position to the object (0.4 miles) is accurate, the light itself could have been between 2 – 4 feet in size.

The incident took place for about 10 - 15 seconds sometime between 9:40 and 9:43pm. This time includes the object’s approach (about 5 – 6 seconds) and several seconds of attempting to follow it with my eyes as it dimmed and disappeared (when near to my position).

Its altitude seemed to vary slightly. Though it is difficult to determine an exact average altitude, it was similar to or slightly below nearby commercial airline traffic (typically approaching JFK or LaGuardia Airports), approximately 1,500 – 2,000 feet. This ruled out the possibility of a very large satellite (though on 8/24, at 9:49pm when revisiting I noticed a high plane or potential satellite, that appeared far, far higher and more dim, traveling northward east of the same position where I was standing). Given the brightness and size of the light, it did not appear to be a small plane that was situated farther away than one may presume (lateral distance or altitude).

This white light varied in brightness and was not accompanied by any blinking FAA or navigation lights. There was no sound (unlike the helicopters and planes which could be heard in the area at different moments before and after the sighting). The curved trajectory of the light changed my view from looking northwest to slightly southwest, then almost directly south. When I attempted to view it through my camera phone, it did not seem to register, though lights from other planes or helicopters around the same time did register (so I attempted no pictures or video). During the 8/24 revisit, I noticed that lights from planes, etc. do show up more readily on my digital camera. As such, perhaps the 8/22 light in questions would have been visible had I had my camera (non-phone) with me.

I expected to gain a view of FAA lighting or hear noise from an object, or at least see its shape as its path took it near or directly over Public School 130 (situated about 100 meters away from my vantage point, south of Ocean Parkway / Fort Hamilton Parkway and East 5th). Instead the light increased in intensity, then simply faded out (with no visible clouds in the area to obscure it). Again, because of the ambient light in the vicinity, the silhouetted shape and possibly some detail of any helicopter, quadcopter, drone, plane, blimp or other flying object would likely have become visible (as with other air traffic I observed around the same time and in nearby airspace from the same vantage point), even if its lights were turned off or away from my view. However, to my astonishment, once the white light disappeared, no object could be seen in spite of my deliberate effort to follow it with my eyes. The light appeared to be moving far too slowly, and for too long in a h! orizontal fashion, to be a meteorite. Note that on the 8/24 revisit to the site, a meteorite / shooting star was observed at 9:46pm, traveling west on a trajectory that was slightly south of my vantage point (it seemed very different from what I saw on 8/22). Again, I estimate the visible length of distance travelled by the object to have been 0.4 miles (about 640 meters or 2,099 feet). Therefore the speed over the 5 – 6 second approach is estimated at approximately 238 - 286mph.

Based on the potential size of the light (2 – 4 feet) and potentially achievable altitude (1,500 – 2,000 feet), the most likely prosaic explanation I could determine was quadcopter. However, I am not confident that the approximate speed of the observed light (238 – 286 mph), or estimated distance of flight (0.4 miles) are achievable for this type of product. Note that I did not observe any object fall from the sky or crash, as might be expected if a quadcopter simply flew beyond its maximum lateral range..

Perhaps there is a prosaic explanation for this incident; however, I am not able to determine what it may be at this time. Perhaps others can shed further insight.

NOTE: In an attempt to determine if others in the area may have witnessed similar phenomenon recently, I spoke with several individuals who live in or near the neighborhood. One young man reported that on Wednesday 8/21 (same night as the sighting reported here), but at a later hour, he observed two lights in the same airspace (near the playground) move together and apart several times before departing in different/opposite directions! Another young man reported recently seeing a beam of light near Caton Avenue in broad daylight. While I cannot vouch for either of these accounts, I submit a summary of them to demonstrate that (a) it seems much easier than expected at this time to locate others nearby who feel they have seen something out of the ordinary and (b) there seems to be a number of incidents occurring over time (as I have observed lights /orbs in this neighborhood for years which cannot be easily explained).

The URL to view the approximate flight path of the light is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6057182 The URL to view the lateral distance from my vantage point to PS130 is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6057188 This is my seventh UFO sighting report to NUFORC. The other six were for sightings which took place on: 1. 2/6/97 (Mesa, AZ)---Close up triangle. Original report was updated with map.

2. 4/26/09 (Brooklyn, NY)---Orb 3. 5/14/11 (Brooklyn, NY)---Lights 4. 7/10/11 (Brooklyn, NY)---Brilliant light / orb 5. 7/23/11 (Western, US)---commercial flight / sphere 6. 7/30/12 (Brooklyn, NY)---Orb

Posted 2013-08-30

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