NUFORC Sighting 175332

Occurred: 2023-04-15 02:23 Local
Reported: 2023-04-15 03:03 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 1 - Pilot

Location: Cottage grove, OR, USA
Location details: Approx 20 miles facing heading 250, moving north east to within 5 miles.

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

Two unknown lights behaving strangely

I am a pilot and know what to expect to see in the night sky. I do not drink or use drugs. At 2:30 in the morning there should be almost nothing. But tonight I looked out my south facing balcony window to see two very orange lights in the south west sky. These lights were too orange or bright to be landing lights. My estimate would put them around 20,000 feet up and spaced roughly 3 miles apart. What really caught my eye was how they were in almost perfect formation as if intentionally. I opened foreflight, my app for tracking aircraft locations and there was nothing shown to be flying nearby. Then one would move more eccentrically. Until eventually the second more tame one disappeared. Possibly just turning off their light. I recorded a video of the transition to one. Then as the remaining one got to a distance that appeared to be within 5 miles I tried to run downstairs to see it from outside. However when I got outside I couldn’t find it again. I heard no sound of aircraft the entire time. Within 15 minutes the sky went from completely clear to a cloud front rolling in from the west. Concealing anything at high altitude.

Posted 2023-05-19