NUFORC Sighting 16517

Occurred: 2001-02-16 19:00 Local
Reported: 2001-02-17 00:00 Pacific
Duration: approx 2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Lemoore/Hanford, CA, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams

Unidentified Silent Aircraft near Lemoore AirForce Base

A friend and I were traveling back from San Francisco on Friday, February 16, 2001 and on our trip we both saw something that was really weird... We were on the I-5 going south and we realized we had gone to far south of Fresno (where I live) when we hit the 198 going east/west. Realizing our mistake we got on 198 heading east towards Hanford with the intention of transferring to the 99 Northbound in Hanford and heading back up to Fresno. However, about halfway there (not far from the Lemoore Airbase, I found out) I saw something out the window that made me do a double take. I saw several pale 'twinkle' lights like those seen on airplanes and helicopters, however they were all white (no red or blue or green) and there were several beams of pale light moving across the ground. My very first impression was that there were 3 helicopters flying in very tight formation using spotlights to look for something.... my next thought was that maybe it was a crop duster or something doing some sort of night job... but after a few seconds I realized that neither of these were correct.... I pointed it out to my friend (who was driving) as it was out his window (to the north) and I think maybe less than 100 feet off the ground... and it seemed to be moving very slowly and gracefully.... it then arced upward and turned back towards the freeway (coming south) that we were on and as it passed overhead I managed to see a really faint silhouette against the black night sky... I could barely make out an airplane shape with very long thin wings and large, ellipsoid shaped bulbs at the tips of both wings... and as it flew overhead there was absolutely no sound whatsoever... it then performed a very graceful but tight turn and flew back over the freeway again (this time heading north) and as it flew over the field to our left I saw again 3 faint, silvery nimbus's of light (almost like searchlights) coming from what looked like the underside of the nose and the 2 ellipsoid shapes at the tip of the wings, and the light app! ared to be sweeping back and forth over the ground. At this point I was really excited because I had never seen anything like it before. My friend told me to dig the camera out from the backseat and try and take pictures of it... so I dug around in the back really quickly and by the time I got it ready, the object had once again flown over us and was pacing us to the right (south of 198 heading east in the same direction as us) maybe a quarter of a mile out and a hundred or so feet off the ground... I then attempted to take several pictures... but as the craft was completely dark and there was no real light reflections the only thing I could see were its steady blinking lights... So I tried to time it as best I could to try and capture a picture when the lights were actually on instead of off, but as I write this I don't know how they've turned out... However I'm pretty sure its not a UFO but some sort of secret plane from the Lemoore Airbase... and I was wondering if I draw a picture of what I think I saw, do you know someone who might be able to tell me what I saw based upon its outline and its behavior...?? My friend thinks it was maybe an A-10 Tank-killer, because what he saw differs from what I saw by a little... however, I don't think this is correct because of the 3 lights and the fact that it made no sound at all... So anyhow, I am trying to find out if the plane is something common or if it is might be one of the top secret ones that you hear about (like the aurora)...

NUFORC Note:

We have corresponded with this witness. He seems to have ruled out most possible explanations for the sighting, and he apparently will speak with personnel from Lemoore Air Base in the near future. PD

Posted 2001-08-05