NUFORC Sighting 157762

Occurred: 2020-07-16 20:30 Local
Reported: 2020-07-19 19:33 Pacific
Duration: 2 events within one hour
No of observers: 2

Location: Death Valley National Park region, NV, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Stationary "planet" like Jupiter starts moving in straight line to north. Second light seen that night.

I may have seen two UFOs this evening over the southern Nevada desert. I live near to the Air Force Nevada Test and Training Range for decades, and am familiar with all types of military aircraft and drones. These observations did not match any aircraft I have observed flying around the area. The observations verged on natural phenomena so I was not alarmed, but these were unusual .

I work in the sciences and field biology, and am an active night sky astronomy fan for decades. I headed outside at early dusk just after sunset around 20:30 hours Pacific time, to check whether Comet NEOWISE was visible yet in the northwest sky, as I have doing all week. It was not yet visible. I have also been observing very bright Jupiter (magnitude -2.75) and Saturn rising in the lower sky to the southeast every evening. As I walked out into our rural driveway in the Mojave Desert I looked up and saw a bright “planet” which I first thought was Jupiter, as it was a similar bright white light high in the sky. Although I was somewhat confused as this seemed off the ecliptic and much higher after sunset –almost overhead—than Jupiter has been. I admired it for several seconds in the darkening blue dusk sky, just before stars were becoming visible.

As I walked a few steps further around some trees I then noticed the real Jupiter and Saturn rising on the SE portion of the sky above the horizon, glowing as they have been during the past week. I became confused and placed my iPhone camera skywatch app onto this Jupiter, and it identified as Jupiter. I then looked back at what I had supposed was a very bright “Jupiter” and was even more confused to see it moving in a straight line heading due north in what appeared to be high in the sky. It was like a bright star or planet moving at an even speed like a jet aircraft, but with no blinking airplane lights. It appeared to be high in the sky like a jet airplane would be, but there was no sound and no appearance of sunlight reflecting off a high metal airplane. But I wondered if it was a strange military bomber heading to the Nevada Test and Training Range which has a boundary 10 miles to the east of my location.

The object was similar in appearance to Jupiter as it is visible this week, but very slightly brighter. It seemed to move somewhat faster than a typical jet, but slow enough I could see it move clearly and follow it with my eyes. It continued “flying” at an even speed to the north until it was blocked by trees and I lost it.

I was confused and thought it must be a strange military bomber jet, although it was stationary when I first observed it, like a bright planet first appearing in the dusk sky just after sunset. The white light was circular like Jupiter appears through binoculars. This happened before the stars and night sky appeared, and there was still some sunset “alpenglow” on the desert mountains. I have never seen anything like it, although it was not large or flashy.

Later that evening around 21:40 my husband and I watched Comet NEOWISE for a few hours into the night, dark Moon so excellent viewing and no city light pollution in the Death Valley region. We were sitting in the yard with binoculars admiring the comet. The night sky was now very dark and full of stars. A small white light then appeared in our view in the northwestern sky, low, and traveled in a slow straight line to the east. It traveled perfectly straight and at an even speed. My husband asked what was that? I put my binoculars on it and saw no flashing green or red airline lights as was typical. Just a white pinpoint of light. I said I did not know what that was. I wondered if it was a satellite, although it was not rotating and catching sunset light as satellites often do, nor was it traveling overhead across the night sky, but low on the northern horizon from west to east, again towards the Nevada Test and Training Range. We both thought it was unusual and wondered if i! t was a military aircraft. It passed under the view of the comet. My husband said it was traveling faster than a normal commercial airline, but it was slow enough that I could fix my binoculars on it and see the white point of light, no apparent shape and not appearing to be something reflecting high altitude sunlight—but more like it was producing its own light like a bight star. It passed out of view to the NE and we were left wondering what that seemingly distant traveling light object was. No sound, no contrail, no tail.

Posted 2020-07-23

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