NUFORC Sighting 04233

Occurred: 1998-07-11 13:35 Local
Reported: 1998-07-11 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 15 secs
No of observers: 3

Location: Hwy 30, heading west, PA, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Aircraft nearby

A black jet chasing a prop plane with unusually long wings at extremely high speed. Jet was right on planes tail a plane was twisting back and forth in an evasive manner. Plane fuselage was skinney almost non-existant. Both vanished in clear blue sky in 10-15 seconds getting smaller as thay went off in the distance.

My wife,2 children and I were on our way to visit relatives in Lancaster, PA. heading west on Route 30(Coatsville-Downington By-pass)about 7-10 miles east of Octorara Trail (Hwy 10)when I saw a very dark black jet chasing what at first appeared to be a propeller powered plane with an extremely long wing span. Both planes were heading almost due north from the south side of Hwy 30. I first caught sight of them when they were slightly off to the left and about 30 degrees above the horizon. They were about 1000-2000 feet away(and maybe at an altitude of 800-1200 feet) and moving extremely fast( I would guess at between 1000-1500 mph. My guess is based on seeing passenger jets go over at about 3000 feet and knowing their speed to be about 650 mph. However I am not too confident of my air speed estimates, but they were moving much faster than what I'm used to seeing. The black jet was right on the tail of the other craft( if my previous guess of their distance from us was correct at 1000-2000 feet then these craft were no more than 100-200 feet apart and maintained that distance thruout the sighting. The jet appeared to be chasing the plane. The plane's wings were rocking back and forth(twisting)giving me the impression that the plane was trying to evade the jet, however the twisting seemed not to effect the direction that the plane was heading. The twisting motion was as though its very thin fuselage was rotating on its axis which caused the wings to pivot up and down.Howver, that this did not effect its flight path! In fact the entire apparent pursuit was virtually a straight line from left(south) to right(north)where the 2 craft quickly receded into the distance. From the time I first saw them until thay disappeared 10-15 seconds had elapsed. They disappeared from sight to the right of my first sight of them and they had traversed about 45 degrees of arc(based on 360 degrees)during the 10-15 seconds.As soon as I saw the craft I called them to the attention of my family, my wife(43), daughter(11), and son (! 7). My wife and daughter saw it within a few seconds but my son didn't(he wasn't wearing his glasses and didn't immediately start looking when I called out to them.)I was driving and had to look forward several times during the sighting to make sure we were still on the road. Therefore I did not get to take in as much detail as I would have liked. My daughter watched from the time I called out until the craft disappeared. She atarted watching about 3-4 seconds after I did. I called out almost immediately after I saw the craft because they looked so odd. In fact when I first saw them I thought they might be models- but their speed and the distance they were covering ruled that out right away. Halfway through the sighting I started to doubt that the plane was a plane with extra long wings and a very thin fuselage but might be a long flat rectangle flying sideways! That seemed almost as absurd as a prop plane being chased at high speed by a jet! My wife had little to say about the event when we later were discussing the sightings later that afternoon. Her main comment was that the black jet was a shadow of the first craft. My daughter and I took her to task over that as planes don't cast shadows on the sky! I am a construction Project Manager with both feet firmly on the ground. I do have an avid interest in things scientific and paranormal-including UFO's. My wife does not share my interests even a little bit and the sighting left a little desperate for an answer-thus the shadow. The plane that was in the front had a metallic quality to it-more gray than shiney.

Posted 1998-11-21

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