NUFORC Sighting 02655

Occurred: 1997-08-12 21:15 Local
Reported: 1997-08-13 00:00 Pacific
Duration: about 1 minute
No of observers: 2

Location: Canyon, CA, USA

Shape: Light

Summary : Two adults witness three dim yellow lights flying in rough triangle formation, moving from north to south. The three lights jockey for position, speeding ahead, falling behind, and crossing over each other.

My husband and I are working artists in the fields of traditional and computer animation. While meteor-watching in our backyard on the evening of Aug 12 he spotted three small lights moving just below the pole star. I saw them, then, and we both watched as they moved, a little faster than a commercial aircraft, from north to south, where they disappeared from sight behind the hills. The lights began in a rough line, from top to bottom, with the middle light slightly ahead of the others. As they crossed the sky, one would speed ahead, then fall behind as another sped ahead, and at intervals one would cross over another in almost a playful manner. The impression I received at first was that of a three-cornered object tumbling, but when the lights passed in front of stars it was clear they were distinct from one another and not part of a larger solid object, as the stars were clearly visible between the lights. The lights were about the brighness of the dimmest of the stars visible, and a warm yellow color. This same night we had observed several meteors and several commercial aircraft. These lights were at a lower altitude and exhibited vastly different behavior than the commercial craft we saw, and were definitely not meteorites, as they were neither bright nor fast enough and left no trails.

Posted 1999-01-28