NUFORC Sighting 11578

Occurred: 2000-01-05 04:15 Local
Reported: 2000-01-05 00:00 Pacific
Duration: approx.4-5 minutes
No of observers: 4

Location: Summerfield, (approx.1/2 mile west of), IL, USA

Shape: Changing
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object

After being dispatched to the north side of Lebanon, I saw two large, very bright white lights that changed into one, then when I got closer, it changed into a cigar shape, then when it flew almost directly over me, it was triangular. It made no noise as it flew overhead. I last saw it heading south-west towards Shiloh, and advised the dispatcher to let them know. A total of four police officers saw this. Myself (Lebanon PD), Shiloh, Millstadt, and Dupo,. All are in Illinois.

At 0415, I was dispatched to the north side of Lebanon, Illinois, in reference to a call received by the St. Clair County Sheriff's Dept. about an object that was described to be as big as a two story house with bright lights flying around the northern end of Lebanon. While heading east on Widicus Road, I saw what looked like two big, very bright white lights, very close together,in a stationary position,over the town of Summerfield. I called this in to the dispatcher,and advised that I was going over there to check on it. I also told them it definitely wasn't the moon or a star. While heading south on Rt. 4, it changed shape, and looked like the two lights merged into one big one before my eyes. After getting into the town of Lebanon, I turned eastbound onto Rt.50. While traveling eastbound, I watched it change into what looked like an elongated cigar. It was to the south-east of me at this time. There were a few cars on the road, so I turned on my overhead emergency lights, I was going approx.75-80 mph while heading in the direction of the object. When I turned onto old Rt.50, it started moving slowly north-east. I stopped my squad car, turned off the overhead lights ,and turned off the car. It then headed south-west at a very high rate of speed. It looked like it was somewhere around 2000 ft above the ground.It passed just south of my position, approx. 150-200 feet away from me. When I began to tell the dispatcher, it then accelerated, and headed south-west, towards Shiloh, before I could finish what I was going to tell the dispatcher, it looked like it was over Shiloh's south-east side. I told the dispatcher that if a Shiloh officer would look up, he should see it. Right after the end of my transmission, Shiloh advised he could see it, and that it was still heading south-west at a high rate of speed.Soon after that,the Millstadt officer told the dispatcher that he could see it. The next reporting agency was the Dupo police Dept., who said he was watching it through his field glasses. I couldn't discern what shape it was until it flew almost overhead. When it did,it looked like a large, narrow triangle, with the sides being longer than the base. It had three large, very bright white lights in what appeared to be the three corners. The lights were pointing straight down, with no oscilation. There was one red light that blinked near the base, just in front of, and in between, the large white lights. When it was moving away from me,the back end looked long and narrow,with white light coming from it. The light looked like it was one long unit. There were multi-colored lights spaning the length of the back. I could tell there was more than one color,but not sure which ones because they seemed to blend together. Total length of observation was approx. 4-5 minutes. Also, when it flew past me, it made no noise. I've drawn a total of five pictures of what I saw, and the Shiloh officer has drawn one. The Millstadt officer said he was able to take a picture of it, but that it turned out fuzzy due to the cold.

Posted 2000-01-07

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