NUFORC Sighting 82137

Occurred: 2011-06-28 20:30 Local
Reported: 2011-07-04 12:47 Pacific
Duration: 1 hour
No of observers: 3

Location: Ocean Isle Beach, NC, USA

Shape: Light

Strange Lights over Ocean Isle Beach,NC

My family and I have been spending a lot of time at Ocean Isle Beach, NC, recently.

On three separate occasions since June 9th, I have seen strange orange lights blink on and off and sometimes maneuver in various patterns.

I am an FAA licensed pilot that flies regularly and I am always watching the skies since I also love astronomy. I have read multiple other reports lately from nearby Myrtle Beach, SC, and Holden Beach, NC of similar orange lights appearing.

Let me describe my 3 recent sightings:

6-9-11: I saw at least 4 stationary orange lights blink on and off a few miles out over the ocean around 8 PM. When I saw the first one , which was due South at about 25 degrees elevation, my first thought was it was plane switching on its landing light as it was nearing Ocean isle airport. The light was only on for about 10 seconds and then went out. Over the next 15-30n minutes, I saw the same thing repeated at least 3 more times in different spots in the same vicinity over the ocean.

6-28-11: This was the most interesting sighting, which was also witnessed by my 15 year old daughter and 13 year old son. Around 9 PM , my daughter comes inside the house to say she thinks she saw a UFO. When I go out, I see an orange light near the spot of the one on June 16th and we watch it until it fades out. For the next hour between periodic orange lights appearing, we also see faint twinkling lights similar to aircraft strobe lights which randomly twinkle in different spots in the southern sky over the ocean. They looked similar to aircraft strobes that you can see on various high altitude aircraft traffic 5 to 10 miles away that are visible on any clear night. But these lights were so jumping around so much in the distance, that I was not one aircraft on a set course. The last sighting that night, was of two orange lights slowing rotating around each other before fading out. The motion of the two lights resembled what you would see if a small aircraft was banking its wings at night, except of course both lights were orange instead of one red and one green. Those two then faded out completely

6-30-11: While sitting outside alone around 9 PM, I am watching the sky over the ocean, but don't see anything until I glance behind me to the North toward Ocean Isle airport ( which is only a mile away). Just in an area where you would see an airplane on downwind leg to the airport, I watch a steady orange light cruising over the airport , no sound, for about 15 seconds before fading out completely. That was the only sighting that night.

Posted 2011-07-04