NUFORC Sighting 170649

Occurred: 2022-07-23 21:30 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2022-07-23 23:52 Pacific
Duration: 6 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Wichita, KS, USA
Location details: Backyard looking up at night sky.

Shape: Orb
Characteristics: Lights on object

Red/green/white from south to north of entire sky in 6 seconds.

I was laying on my back in my backyard as the twilight was setting in.

I was watching for satellites. I saw a few airplanes already and saw two satellites.

When I saw this "UFO" I could not believe how fast it was going. It was much higher than the very thin cirrus clouds, large enough to see red/green/white. Regular satellites (like Starlink) I have seen take 30 to 50 seconds to go by the sky, and all go NW to SE. Aircraft are very common over Wichita and can be seen pulsing.

What I saw went by so fast I was stunned by the speed that it crossed the sky. It appeared at least 10 times the size of a typical orbital satellite. I remember pointing at where I first saw it and where it was out of sight. It was a 90° arc of the sky from S to N, it zipped through that much of the sky in maybe 4 seconds. There were no streaks behind it, like a meteorite.

I don't recall the exact time but it was near the end of nautical twilight.

I have watched the night sky hundreds of times and seen thousands of satellites and planes, and "shooting stars". I have never seen anything go across the entire sky like this.

Posted 2022-09-09