NUFORC Sighting 167205

Occurred: 2022-03-21 19:30 Local
Reported: 2022-03-22 22:03 Pacific
Duration: About 30 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Location details: Just south of Saigon River, west of Hanoi Highway in District 2 HCMC

Shape: Chevron
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

Dark, silent chevron-shaped object crossed sky with constant speed and bearing

My 8 year old son and I were out for a walk outside our apartment in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. We stopped to look up at Orion in the clear night sky at about 7:30pm. No wind, temperature about 76 degrees Fahrenheit.

Suddenly my son pointed and exclaimed “Dad! Look at that!”

It took me a moment to make it out, but distinctly against the night sky there was a dark gray “V” chevron shape to the south moving north towards us, pointy end leading. To the southeast of Orion. The object was hard to spot because it closely matched the color of the night sky, but it was just a bit darker. Once we made it out it was quite clear though. Totally silent.

The leading tip of the chevron had an angle of about 90 degrees. The rear of each arm of the V cut off perpendicular to its direction. All parts had a defined shape and sharp angles.

It shimmered around the front, side and trailing edges, kind of like if I were looking it through a hazy mirage like light being refracted differently immediately around it. The shimmering began on the leading edges of the object and kind of rolled around it in a ripple. This effect trailed the object for about half to full width of the object, like a wake in water.

I’ll try to describe in more detail the shimmering, roiling ripple effect around and behind the object because it was so odd. Maybe the closest thing is the bow ripple and roiling water in the wake of a ship, but that's not quite right. It gave me a distinct impression of light being refracted differently in the ripple, like looking at a mirage or the way faraway objects refract when looking through hot air over a hot road in summer, or the way an object refracts when looking at it on the bottom of a pool. This effect was only immediately around the leading edges and trailing the object, not present on the body of the object. It appeared around leading edges like a ripple, rolled around the outside of the object and trailed like a roiling turbulent wake that quickly dissipated.

My son claimed to see fewer than 10 dim pinpoint orange-ish lights on the underside in the outline of the V. I didn’t see any lights, although his eyes are sharper than mine. He also said he saw a cube-shaped object closely trailing the chevron, maybe a part of it. I didn’t see a cube, but the shimmering, roiling wake effect I described may have contained another object close to the chevron or otherwise account for the cube my son reported.

We watched the object pass over just to the west of us and cross the Saigon river moving north. It moved in a straight line and uniform modest speed. It faded out on the other side of the river. I couldn't tell if the light angle changed such that we lost sight of it, or if it just faded and disappeared. About 30 seconds total viewing time.

I have no idea how far up it was because there was no reference point. My gut told me it was not close to the ground, up at least a few hundred meters and probably more. If that’s true it was big. The wingspan (if you can call it that lol) was about the width of 3 fingers held together at arm's length. Much larger than I am accustomed to seeing jetliners.

Really no clue what this was, other than highly unlikely it can be explained by weather phenomena. I earned my private pilot's license and enjoy amateur sky-watching. I am familiar with aircraft and things in the sky. This was like nothing I've ever seen.

I've attached sketches my son and I made independently after viewing the object. His is on the left, mine right. His shows placement of lights on the V and the cube-like object trailing the V. I also attached a photo I found online that looks very similar to the object we saw, except that our object was darker than the sky and the ends of the boomerang didn't taper but ended in sharp angles.

Posted 2022-04-22