NUFORC Sighting 14266

Occurred: 2000-09-25 19:30 Local
Reported: 2000-09-26 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 30 minutes
No of observers: 4

Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Changed Color, Aircraft nearby

At twilight we saw through binoculars three bright lights arranged in an inverted triangle making small darting movements in place.

I am a physician. At about twilight my husband noticed a bright light in the southern sky. To my naked eye it looked like a large, bright star. When observed through binoculars, I saw three lights arranged in an inverted triangle. The bottom light appeared more red than the two at top, initially, which looked more yellowish in color. It appeared stationary to me at this point. We went outside (had been on our enclosed patio) and saw two neighbors, to whom we gave the binoculars to observe the lights. One (occupation unknown) noted that the lights were moving. I looked again, and noted that through the binoculars small darting movements could be observed, although the lights remained in the same relationship to each other and in the same general location. As we watched, the lights became more reddish in color, and gradually became smaller and smaller, until they were no longer observable. Neither my husband nor I have ever seen anything like this before and aren't sure what to make of it. We saw a plane in the general area.

NUFORC Note:

The report is somewhat reminiscent of the red lights that have been reported over Arizona, Illinois, and several other states since February of this year. Generally, when a stationary light at night is reported to us, we attempt first to eliminate the possibility that is is a "twinkling" star, planet, or other celestial body. However, such an object should not simply disappear from sight on a clear night, we feel. PD

Posted 2000-12-02