NUFORC Sighting 102251

Occurred: 2013-08-31 21:00 Local
Reported: 2013-09-12 19:42 Pacific
Duration: 1-2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Grand Traverse County, MI, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Changed Colo

Bright orange light drifting northward over Grand Traverse County

The sighting occurred Saturday August 31st during twilight. We were driving east on Hammond Road coming back from dinner in Traverse City, and if I remember correctly we were between 3 and 4 mile road, when my companion noticed a bright orange object (not a star!) out of the side passenger window. She called my attention to it, so I turned right onto the nearest road, put the car in park and got out for a better look. What we both observed was an unusually bright orange “object” (about the size of a star and approx. 2-3 times as bright as the planet Saturn has recently been), that seemed to be slowly drifting in a northerly direction towards Cherry Capital Airport. However there were none of the blinking navigation lights that one would expect to see on an airplane, and as hard as I listened I could detect no motor noise, either jet, prop, or horizontally rotating. The object was in full view for perhaps a minute or two in its northerly drift, suddenly it se! emed to flash red and then just disappear. I looked for some kind of structure or fuselage where the “light” had been, but saw nothing. Since neither one of us could figure out what this thing was we couldn’t estimate the height but we guessed maybe a mile up- at least it didn’t appear to be up higher in the sky, and except for the lack of noise, and navigation lights, it could have been an aircraft on approach to the airport had I only given it a passing glance.

I'm a technical writer by trade my companion is a graphic illustrator

Posted 2013-09-30

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