NUFORC Sighting 23925

Occurred: 2002-07-17 04:45 Local
Reported: 2002-07-23 20:58 Pacific
Duration: 6 min
No of observers: 2

Location: Cleveland, TX, USA

Shape: Flash
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams

My daughter and I were traveling on Hwy 105W between Moss Hill and Cleveland TX about 4:30 am. There was not much traffic on the road and we were late so I was ttravelling at 70+ mph. We had passed Moss Hill and were traveling toward Cleveland. I noticed a white 'strobe' light through the tops of the trees North of the Hwy. I just thought it was a radio tower strobe, and didn't pay much attention to it. Then I noticed that with one of the 'strobe' flashes there were about 6-8 bright lights 'attached' to the main 'strobe' part extending in an arched pattern (like 1/2 of a parabola: from 0,0 to 3,6). I thought it was strange, but continued to think it was a radio tower. I didn't even wake my daughter up. The next time the 'strobe' lit, I didn't see the 'tentacle' lights. Then on the 3rd or 4th strobe, the tentacle lights were there again, but this time they were vertical to the main 'strobe' light. I thought this was odd, so I kept watching it. Also, the 'strobe' was directly in front of the road, not behind the trees. I could see it without any interference from the trees. I still thought it was a tower. A few more 'strobes' and then the 'tentacle' lights were visible again- this time arched to the left of the main 'strobe'(again, 1/2 of a parabola: -3,6 to 0,0). The main strobe was now located to the left (SW) of the Hwy. I began to think this was odd because (1) I was driving at 70 + mph and the tower lights stasyed in front of me and (2)it was a fairly straight road and now the 'strobe' was on the other side of the road from where I had first noticed it. I slowed down, woke my daughter and told her to look at this. By this time I had reduced my speed to about 40 mph. The 'strobe' could be seen through the very left of the drivers windshield and the drivers window. My daughter saw the 'strobe' too. Although we didn't stop, we seemed to have 'passed it up' because we quit seeing the 'strobe.' It was strange but we decided that it must have been a tower. We were running late and t! here was still not much traffic, so I increased my speed back up to 70 mph. A few minutes later, we saw the 'strobe' light again. It was still on the left side (SW) of the Hwy but just out in front of the vehicle. It continued to 'strobe' with the tentacle lights showing up about every 3rd strobe ( it may have been every 4th or 5th strobe - I didn't think to count, but it seemed to be at regular intervals). In the main part of the 'strobe' the light was not all the same intensity. It was bright when it 'strobed' but there were duller sppots in it. Unlike the main 'strobe' part, the tentacle lights were all the same intensity - very bright. We continued to watch it as we drove until we 'passed' it up again. We wondered if the other drivers saw what we were seeing?! We kept driving on 105W and began to look for the 'strobe.' We didn't see it for a few more minutes. Then we picked it up - this time to the right (NW)side of the Hwy. It seemed to be closer than before. My daughter said that the bottom of the main 'strobe' had small yellow 'lights' around it. Actually, she had a better view because it was outside her window and I had to devote some time to driving. She was beginning to get frightened, because it continued to 'strobe' along side the car and we were traveling pretty fast. We were approaching Cleveland,it was getting to be daylight, and traffic was increasing (we were meeting 4 or 5 cars at a time instead of 1 or 2). Then the 'strobe' light went out and we never saw it again. We had the radio on (not loud) and never heard any static. Also, we did not hear any noise, even when my daughter rolled down her window. Because there was traffic at the time (albeit light traffic), I was hoping that someone else saw this 'strobe' light and can give us an explanation. Thanks.

Posted 2002-07-30