NUFORC Sighting 135214

Occurred: 2017-07-14 21:40 Local
Reported: 2017-07-17 14:36 Pacific
Duration: 6 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Alexandria, VA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Seven very, very bright, blinking lights quietly crossed the sky above us in almost a single-file line.

Sitting with one other person on our balcony...looking east. Partially cloudy sky that night. Other person points and says "what is that?!!" I look up, seeing seven very bright lights, traveling in a nearly straight line, traveling in a north to south direction, at about a 50% angle from the horizon, above us.

The lights were much brighter than the brightest star in the sky--perhaps 10 times or more brighter.

My first reaction was one of being very startled and concerned. This did not look like anything I had EVER seen in the sky before...and I was at first concerned it was something dangerous. After it continued past us, I was less concerned, and just very curious at what it was.

The lights did not make any sound that we could hear...and the night was overall quite quiet. The lights continued on their path, coming in and out of the clouds in a southern direction, for about 6 minutes or so...as they faded out of view and into the clouds in the distance.

Hard to get a good read on their altitude, but they were significantly higher than the relatively low clouds that night, and perhaps a fair bit higher. If I had to guess, I would say 5,000 - 15,000 feet. But again, I'm no expert at altitude distances.

Unfortunately, both of our phones were charging in the other room, and by the time we thought to get pictures, the lights were out of sight.

To describe the lights in more detail: Seven (maybe 8) very bright, white lights, maybe 10 times brighter (or more) than the brightest star in the sky, traveling in a nearly straight-line formation across the sky. They were traveling in a nearly single-file line, with a couple of the lights slightly out of line.

The lights were very close together -- all 7 seven of the lights were approximately contained in the outline of my fist when my arm was completely outstretched. They seemed to be traveling at the approximate speed of an airplane. They were traveling at a constant speed. They seemed to be either twinkling or blinking... not all at once, but at a constant rate...maybe every second or so.

Posted 2017-07-23