NUFORC Sighting 28743

Occurred: 2003-05-11 09:30 Local
Reported: 2003-05-11 14:20 Pacific
Duration: 30 Minutes
No of observers: 5

Location: Laguna Niguel, CA, USA

Shape: Disk

Shiny disclike craft floating above Laguan Niguel

We were having Mother's Day breakfast ouside on a clear, cloudless, relatively calm morning. We had observed vultures and small birds soaring earlier when we noticed a distant object overhead inland. A short time later we noticed it made a reflection from the sun that made us curious. From a distance it was speculated to be a glider, balloon, helicopter, or bird with shiny black feathers. Curiousity caused us to bet a pair of small 10 X 25 binoculars, and then determined it was a disclike craft "soaring" in the morning sky slowy floating toward the ocean from inland in a general Northward path. We all took turns looking, and it slowly drifted over our location. As it swooped and floated much like a bird in a thermal, we could determine the top was a dark refective shiny surface, much like a lense in a refective pair of sungalsses. As it turned, it was very thin, almost flat, becoming almost invisible from the side. the bottom side looked a lot like the turbine blades in a jet engine, but they were moving slow enough to see. The underbelly was either translucent, or reflected the light from the ground on the surface beyond the "turbine like" blades appearing on the underside. I was able to get several shots with a digital camera but at that distance the quality was less than marginal. We attempted to get a video but the camera had a low battery and by the time we got it charged the object was out of sight. It was difficult to determine the size. As a lay person I felt it could be some unknown kind of domestic unmanned survielance craft.

We are visiting friends here and will return to N. Carolina on 05/16/03. I will try to download the images I have when I return.

NUFORC Note:

We spoke with three of the several witnesses to this event, and we found them to be unusually well eductated, eloquent, objective, and therefore, credible, individuals. We are awaiting their illustration. Please see similar report from CHP officer in Goleta, CA, for the same time. We have amended the time above to 09:30 hrs.. The witnesses called at 10:22 hrs. on Sunday, May 11, and stated that they had first spotted the object some 30-40 minutes earlier. PD

Posted 2003-05-13