NUFORC Sighting 126922

Occurred: 2016-04-18 21:28 Local
Reported: 2016-04-18 21:31 Pacific
Duration: 20 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Goodlettsville, TN, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Colo

Object with row of 6 or 7 lights, moving in sky with non-linear changes of speed and direction.

I looked up into the sky and saw an object moving around, appearing as a row of 6 or 7 lights across what I would say was the front of it. This appeared to be one object – not 6 or 7 objects. I got the impression it could have been round, but could only see it as a row or line of lights.

The lights were usually white, sometimes there would be a red light or two that would appear, and then vanish. At times it appeared the lights were rotating, but there was no consistent pattern.

The moon was bright in the sky and even though there was a very thin layer of haze from clouds, for the most part the sky appeared clear. It was possible to see the stars through the haze.

Size of the object was difficult to estimate. The “front” of the object appeared to be similar to what the length of a typical commercial passenger jet would be at that same position in the sky.

What caught my attention the most was the way the object was moving – up, down, side to side, back and forth, fast, slow, doing “turns on a dime”, and having such sudden acceleration to “hop” around the sky while it was changing its direction.

Sometimes it was moving fast, other times slower. No conventional aircraft – plane (jet or not), blimp, or helicopter – could have done these maneuvers, especially at speed. It displayed varying rates of speed, which were not linear, and it did not matter whether it was climbing, turning, etc. There was no correlation of direction of movement to change of speed.

It certainly wasn’t a balloon, either. The area of the sky in which it appeared is just west of the usual flight path of jets, yet there were no aircraft in the area that I could see until right before it disappeared.

I have lived near military bases and airports and have never seen aircraft do these types of maneuvers. I did attempt to video the object but there was too much ambient light for it to show up.

Posted 2016-04-22