NUFORC Sighting 102558

Occurred: 2013-09-23 19:30 Local
Reported: 2013-09-23 19:03 Pacific
Duration: 1 minute
No of observers: 1

Location: Miamisburg, OH, USA

Shape: Orb

A round object as bright as the Sun but smaller.

As I step out of a department store and was walking to my car I saw an extremely bright light in the sky…as bright as the Sun but smaller. The brightness only lasted about 10 seconds.

My first thought was that it was a metallic craft which was reflecting the setting Sun. After the first 10 seconds, the brightness started to diminish. The object was extremely high in the shy (Approx. 50 degrees up moving in the Southwest direction) and my thinking at that point was that I was watching the Sun reflect off the International Space Station.

As the brightness diminishes, I could see that the object seemed to be round in shape, but very small because of the distance. I was able to visually follow the object for about 60 seconds, as it got smaller and smaller until it went out of sight due to distance. I estimate that the object disappeared at about 30 degrees from the horizon.

I thought that I witnessed the ISS but was not sure because of the shape. When I returned home, I checked the orbital direction of the ISS. I found that it was not close to my location and that it was orbiting in the Northeast direction. The object I saw was travelling in the Southwest direction.

Posted 2013-09-30