NUFORC Sighting 59089

Occurred: 1987-10-15 20:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2007-10-04 14:52 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Bolingbrook, IL, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Thin black triangle, moving slowly over field in suburban Chicago.

I was in the passenger seat of a car headed west on Boughton Road. My mother was driving. I was gazing north, looking at the constellations but not paying special attention. Then I noticed something odd about one of the “airplanes.” At first glance, it looked like any small aircraft at night: a pair of red & white lights flying low, headed west, roughly parallel with the road. What struck me as odd was its slow speed. In fact, we seemed to be outpacing it. (I believe the speed limit on that road was somewhere around 40-45mph).

It would have been out of view soon, if not for the fact that my mother made a wrong turn, north onto Weber Road. We were headed straight across its path as it continued west. I didn’t say anything, but after a few seconds my mother noticed it too. I remember her asking, “what is that?” over and over, in an increasingly anxious tone. It was only about 20 feet above the ground, and moving so slowly that it just looked completely wrong, as if it shouldn’t be in the air.

We rolled down the windows and killed the radio. I’m not sure why we thought to do this, but we were duly shocked to find that it made no sound. By now we could see the shape of the object, and in a few more seconds it passed directly in front of / above us. We had a clear view through the front windshield of the car.

From the side, it had looked like a very thin wafer with lights front and back. From the bottom it was an equilateral triangle and each of the three sides curved inward. Each of the triangle’s three apexes terminated in a small rectangular “nub” with a light. (It was actually a very elegant-looking shape). The lights were red and white, but I don’t recall if they flashed or alternated in any way. The object itself was pure, unreflective black. My mother and I later disagreed somewhat on the size of the object. She felt that it was about the size of our car (a large sedan), but my impression was that it was slightly smaller – maybe about the size of a dining room table.

I won’t vouch for my memory of what happened next. (Not at a distance of 20 years, to be sure.) But what I remember is this: After it crossed Weber Road in front of us, it stopped in midair, hovered a second, then rapidly dropped several feet. Then it took off at a shallow upward angle, traveling east at a surprisingly fast rate. It was out of sight in a few more seconds.

A few final comments. If you look at a map of the area, you’ll see that the intersection of W. Boughton and N. Weber streets is just northeast of a small airstrip (Clow Airport). I’ve thought about the possibility that we saw a light plane – especially considering the red/white lights. I just can’t completely accept that conclusion based on the evidence of my senses that night. I should also mention that the terrain in the area was mainly uncultivated fields. I didn't know it at the time, but a stream runs parallel to Boughton Road right along where I estimate the object's flight path was.




NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the incident is approximate. PD


Posted 2007-10-08

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