NUFORC Sighting 176682

Occurred: 2023-07-04 21:00 Local
Reported: 2023-07-10 18:59 Pacific
Duration: 45 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Mission Viejo, CA, USA
Location details: Painted Trails Community near Upper Oso Reservoir

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted other objects

Red light and flashing green light moving rapidly across the sky too fast for a plane, and behaving unusually.

I was with my family a group of about 25 people standing on a path above Upper Oso Reservoir, at the southwestern most end, watching fireworks directly south across the canyon. I noticed a red light coming from the direction of the fireworks and rising into the sky. It had a green blinking light next to it. At first I thought it was an airplane, but I noticed it was moving very fast, much too fast for a plane, and appeared lower than a plane. It moved toward the group and crossed nearly overhead. Its arc appeared to break slightly to the west more than once, and this movement was unlike that of a plane. The most unusual behavior was this: when it was more or less overhead, the blinking green light split into two lights, which separated and moved forward and away from the red light in a "v" pattern before going out. This happened a few times before I lost sight of it behind a house. At that point I saw a that gentleman behind me watching it as well, and I said, "what was that?!" but he said nothing. I don't know if anyone else saw it. Everyone was watching the fireworks. I did not mention it to anyone, and have been looking for other accounts online, but have not found any. I do not believe it was an airplane, helicopter, or drone. It was most definitely not a firework. There was no sound that I could hear.

Posted 2023-07-29