NUFORC Sighting 40952

Occurred: 2004-08-19 01:20 Local
Reported: 2004-12-04 19:50 Pacific
Duration: 20-minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Metchosin/Sooke Area (Canada), BC, Canada

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail

Two Unidentified Nocturnal Aerial Lights in the Sooke Hills - Sooke Basin Area, Southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

In the early hours of this warm Summer night I witnessed two bright lights, white in colour, stationary, or moving moderately about the western sky. They were in the vicinity of the Sooke Hills - Sooke Basin area (close to the Strait of Juan de Fuca). I was viewing them from Victoria, at least 16km- (10-miles) away. I have been interested in astronomy and aviation for most of my life and I am familiar with observing the night sky and aircraft at night. I can state with certainty that the lights were not astronomical bodies (they were not planets, stars, meteors, bollides, etc.) nor artificial satellites. The lights did not exceed a height of approximately 610-metre (2000-feet) above sea level. The flight characteristics (speeds and motions) of the two lights were not beyond those achievable by a conventional aircraft that is capable of stationary and/or very slow flight (to appear as if stationary), and forward flight at moderate speeds. A helicopter obviously comes to mind. However, my observations (I viewed the lights for 15-minutes over a 20-minute period) were not consistent with that of aircraft lighting: neither the red and green navigation lights, the red anti-collision beacon, nor the white anti-collision lights were visible at any time (I specifically looked for these lights). Additionally, the lights I did see were always visible and constant in brightness, never flickering, wavering, nor being lost from my view as they moved approximately 14° across my line of sight. They appeared to be omni-directional lights and not the uni-directional lights I associate with an aircraft's approach-lighting. The lights, seven minutes apart, descended from my view behind the hills. The first light to descend may have been associated with a condensation-like cloud trail (a natural patch of cloud is also a possibility). It lit this up from below when it was behind the ridge lines, out of my direct view. Despite having spent a considerable amount of my time viewing the sky (in one form or another related to my interests), this is the first time I have observed lights in the sky that I cannot identify nor confidently explain. They were certainly not astronomical in nature, and they were certainly local to the Sooke Hills area. My observations were inconsistent with my previous experiences of conventional aircraft activity; sufficiently anomalous to warrant my writing a detailed report about my sighting. However, I cannot, at this time, rule out aircraft activity with certainty.

My complete, detailed report with annotated maps has been published on the UFO*BC web site, http://www.ufobc.ca/History/2000/sookehills2004report.htm I would be interested in reading reports of any other aerial activity (identified or not) that may relate to my sighting, whether around the date of my sighting or not.

Posted 2004-12-14