NUFORC Sighting 10254

Occurred: 1999-10-16 19:00 Local
Reported: 1999-10-18 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 1.30
No of observers: 2

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Colo

The object was in the northern sky for approximately 1.5 hours on the evening of 10/16/99. It was saucer-like shape with a very bright glow in the middle. It had red and green lights circulating around it.

I was sitting on my deck and was on the phone with a friend of mine. I saw an object that seemed as though it was not moving. It was just becoming dusk and the reason I noticed this object is because it looked like it was twinkling. As I continued the conversation on the phone, approximately 25 minutes, dusk turned to nightfall and the object was getting to be more defined. It seemed like it was moving very slowly towards the north. At the same time, there was jets flying a southernly pattern. They were very high--you could not hear their engines and they were going in the opposite direction of this object. The interesting part of these jets is I counted the time it took these jets to pass the same area that this object moved in. The jets took approximately 12 seconds. This object, at this point, was up to about 40 minutes. The object briskly moved to the south for a very short period of time, probably 30 seconds, and then went back to its northerly path. The movements were quite sharp in direction. It did not turn, but it just moved in the other direction for a period of time. When comparing the distances between these passenger jets probably 30K feet, this object seemed a lot further away. I finally told myself that I was really experiencing something that I never have before and went and brought out my telescope to see it more clearly. I set the telescope up and saw it very clearly. It was a saucer-like shape with a darker space in the middle, outlined in white with red and green circulating lights that seemed to be flashing/twinkling. I called my wife who came out and looked in the telescope and she saw the same thing I did. I asked her to call NASA at Moffet Field, but we couldn't get through. We then called the FAA who switched us to the Oakland Tower. They gave us your number. We called Channel 5--KPIX News Room and asked if anyone had reported anything out of the ordinary in the sky. The gentleman told me that yes there had been some reports and he said he thought it was t! he re-en try of a satellite. I told him I had the object in the sights of my telescope and that unless there building satellites that look like flying saucers that hover in the sky, I don't think it's a satellite. He told me he would check into it. I watched the 11 o'clock and there were no reports of anything, which of course, I really didn't expect anyway. My wife and I have never seen anything like this before. We are in our 40's and don't typically follow this type of thing. However, this did catch my attention and I know what I saw. I continued to follow this object till it went out of my line of sight/horizon and it's attributes remained the same.

Posted 1999-10-19

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