NUFORC Sighting 12280

Occurred: 2000-03-07 19:20 Local
Reported: 2000-03-10 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 15 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Gaithersburg, MD, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Three yellow/white lights moving in formation in north-south direction, then suddenly shifting positions within the formation.

The sighting occurred in an area of heavy air traffic, in the flight path for many transatlantic commercial airliners going to Europe from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia. This however was no aircraft I have ever seen before. The 3 lights were steady, not blinking in any way, and not red or green like typical aircraft lights. They were not traveling very fast, maybe between 300 and 600 km/h. At first it looked like one triangular object with 3 lights at each corner, but then one of the lights began to shift position rapidly, changing the appearance/angle of the triangular craft. This led me to believe that I was seeing three separate objects with one steady light each, flying in a very precise geometric formation, until they began to shift. The sighting lasted only 15-20 seconds because we lost sight of it as it moved further away. It was a clear night with considerable air traffic. There were several commercial airliners in the sky in various altitudes around the time of the sighting. This was definitely not one of them though. I would say that I know more about civilian and military aviation than the average person, having visited many airshow, having read dozens of books on these subjects, including aircraft recognition guides, and having actively searched the skies in Germany, Maryland, and even "Area 51" on countless occasions. I have no idea what I saw, so I think it qualifies as a UFO... (The second person, my mother, saw the exact same thing.)

Posted 2000-03-16