NUFORC Sighting 119893

Occurred: 2015-06-29 12:30 Local
Reported: 2015-06-29 17:53 Pacific
Duration: 5 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Shape: Cylinder


Disc or cylindrical craft moving at very high speed

On June 29, 2015, about 10 miles outside of Chapel Hill, NC, travelling south towards Charlotte, NC, I witnessed an object that looked very much like a disc or possibly cylindrical craft. It was apparently a considerable distance away, so it was difficult to ascertain whether it was truly a disc, or whether it was a cylinder; however, it appeared to have no wings and did not have any type of propulsion mechanism that could be seen. It was clearly a silver or gray color.

I cannot provide an accurate distance of the object from my vantage point, but it seemed to be somewhat equidistant between the locations of frequently sighted high-flying commercial jets and lower flying, small, private airplanes. I realize this estimate is not very helpful, but it was just too difficult to give a good estimate of distance. Although based on the uncertainty introduced by the distance of the craft from my vantage point, one could perhaps attempt to explain it away as some type of mundane craft; however, it was the observations regarding the apparent shape, coupled with the speed of the object that made me decide to report it. The speed truly caught my attention.

I originally sighted the craft directly ahead of my vantage point looking south and at about 30deg up from the horizon against a clear blue sky. From the time I spotted the object until it moved across the south to western span of the sky to below the tree line on the western horizon, only about 4-5 seconds passed, maybe a little less.

As I watched it move, it was clearly far faster crossing the sky than the apparent movement of a high-flying commercial jet (which appears to move very slowly as most anyone knows who has seen a high-flying jet followed by its contrail). Likewise, it was much, much faster than the apparent speed of low flying, small, private planes. It appeared to move across that expanse of the sky even faster than the speed of some lower-flying military jets that I have seen in the past. From the time I saw it until I could get my daughter's attention to try to look at it, the object was already out of sight behind the trees on the western horizon. If the distance I had estimated was accurate, then this craft was moving at an extremely high speed. It was truly moving faster than any conventional aircraft that I have seen.

So, in summary, it was not only the apparent disc or cylindrical shape of the craft that caught my attention, but also the speed that made me think it was something truly unusual.

Although I was unable to take a photograph, it looked very much like the object in the photo of the High Plains, Oregon, sighting of June 14, 2015, at 1230hrs (Pacific), which is shown on the NUFORC website (although the object I saw was quite a bit more distant and probably a third of the apparent size as seen from my vantage point).

Furthermore, I was in a car when the sighting took place, so I cannot make any comment about the possible sound of the craft.

((ADDENDUM #1 FROM WITNESS

Dear Mr. Davenport,

Thank you for your interest. Your work on the NUFORC site is admirable.

First, the size, as compared to the moon at that same location (on a hypothetical full-moon night), was estimated to be about 1/10th the size of a full moon (at a 30-35 degree location and not exaggerated by atmospheric effects). Again, I estimate this based on envisioning a cylinder/disc sitting over a full-moon and deducing the amount of the moon covered.

The following is my best estimate regarding movement:

As I stated, the object originally appeared to be about 30-35 degrees above the horizon, directly in front of me. When it went out of sight about 4-5 sec later, it was hidden because of the interference of the tops of trees on the western horizon. Those tree tops were approximately 10 degrees from the horizon. So, I suppose one could say the object traversed an expanse from 30 degreess to 10 degrees in about 5 seconds. Does this help answer your question? If you need more detail, let me know, and I'll do the best I can. Remember, I have a chemistry background, not physics. Ha! I will leave the heavy lifting to you.

And to the last point - no, my daughter was never able to see the object. It simply moved too quickly.

Best regards,

((name deleted

((END ADDENDUM #1

((ADDENDUM #2

Dear Mr. Davenport,

I hope my contacting you so soon after my response to your inquiry about my initial UFO report does not damage my credibility as a witness; however, the more I think about my response, I believe I have let that Oregon photo on your site cloud my objectivity. I simply do not believe the object I saw was as large as 1/10 of the full moon. Please pardon my excitement and erroneous description in response to your question.

To explain, I responded by saying that I thought the object I saw was 1/10th the size of a full moon, but the more I consider it, I believe this quick response is not accurate. Considering my difficulty in judging the shape of the craft (disc vs cylinder) leads me back to a more reasonable estimate of size as 1/20th the size of a full moon. I feel that this is a far more accurate reflection of what I observed. The object was quite small, but still clearly a disc or cylinder shape and apparently not a plane or commercial jet due to its speed.

It becomes clear to me, as I honestly endeavor to provide accurate information, how difficult it is to obtain reliable witness testimony, especially when there is only one witness. I so wish that my daughter had also observed the object, so that I would have some confirmation of my perceptions.

Please consider this updated information as an addendum to my initial report.

Best regards,

((END ADDENDUM #2

((BEGIN ADDENDUM #3

Dear Mr. Davenport,

I recently reported a sighting (Chapel Hill, NC on June 29) and was perusing the NUFORC database to see if any other similar reports had been made on that day. I noticed at the bottom of my report entry there was a

NUFORC Note:

NUFORC note saying that we had spoken by phone and that I describe myself as an aviation expert. That information is incorrect. I am writing simply to inform you that I believe you are mistaken and possibly have me confused with someone else. We never spoke by phone, and I am a chemist and polymer/chemical patent research professional - nothing to do with aviation.

I assume you might want to correct this data entry for the integrity of the report.

Thanks for all of your great work.

Best regards,

END ADDENDUM #3))






Posted 2015-07-03

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