NUFORC Sighting 13753

Occurred: 2000-08-05 23:30 Local
Reported: 2000-08-11 00:00 Pacific
Duration: :30
No of observers: 3

Location: Maple Falls, WA, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Lights on object

Triangular formation (3 light points) sited traveling from north to south on a clear evening - east of Bellingham, WA. .

I was sitting outside enjoying the warm evening around a fire, while watching the clear skies and looking at stars. All of a sudden I realized that a triangular shaped group of stars were moving in what appeared to be a downward. I later realized instead of it moving from top to bottom, it was actually moving from north to south. I pointed this out to my friends who were outside with me and they were very skeptical at first but realized that this was something quite extrodinary. One believed it could be the space station or three satellites traveling in the same orbit, but this was dismissed when one of the "stars" moved out of formation and then sped up to regroup with the other two to form the triangle again. This was a very clear evening and we were watching the sky for some time, noticing many meteorites and lots of other sky "traffic". However, this was something that really surprised my friends though I have been aware of UFO possibilities since I was a child in Indiana. The three lights were white/pink in color and traveled at a relatively slow rate of speed, yet when one veered off course then sped up to catch the others - my suspicion grew deeper. These were traveling at a relatively high, but other stars were blocked when the object moved towards them...hence indicating that the object was lower in the sky than I originally thought. As for the backgrounds of the observers - 2 are in their late 30's and the other is 40 years old. 3 males, all professionals - 1 accountant (web based company), one salesperson with a masters in theater, and myself - computer/administrative support. All were coherent and alert...

NUFORC Note:

This may be yet another report of what we believe are three satellites flying in precise formation over several weeks' duration. They were first reported to us during the summer of 1996, and during several times periods since. We believe that they are satellites launched by the U. S. Navy for surveillance of the Earth's surface, but we are not certain. They were first identified by Mr. Terrence Dickinson, reporter for the Toronto Star. There are several other reports for the months of July and August 2000, I. e. 04AU00 and 05AU00. PD

Posted 2000-08-19