NUFORC Sighting 33366

Occurred: 2003-11-20 17:30 Local
Reported: 2003-11-24 10:38 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 0

Location: El Rito, NM, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Left a trail

A bright yellow egg-shaped firey object suddenly appeared in the west on 11/20/03 at l7:30 hours, suddenly vanishing and leaving a smoke trail.

About 5:30 p.m., mountain standard time, I was driving home from work and was about 2 1/2 miles from my home in El Rito, NM (the one near Abiquiu) when a large bright yellow object suddenly appeared in the western sky. Venus was setting brilliantly in the west, and this object looked like it was one inch to the left, or south, of it, if you held up a finger and squinted.

It was an egg-shaped object but definitely had some jagged protrusions, particularly on the left side, and looked to be all on fire. It was about as big as the sun which had just set.

When the object first suddenly appeared, it was zooming toward Earth straight down and moving at the velocity of a shooting star. But unlike a shooting star, it never zoomed across the zenith of the sky or made any horizontal movements. Flames appeared to be shooting out from the jagged protrusion on the left, and from the top (the part pointing away from the Earth), although the whole thing looked to be on fire , and bright yellow.

As the object was zooming toward Earth, it suddenly vanished! It did not go down behind some mountains to the west of us--it just plain vanished, leaving a wiggly crooked smoke trail behind it. The smoke was blue-black or black, and it hung in the air for a long time.

By 5:45 p.m., I had arrived in El Rito. It was almost dark but I could still see a glimpse of the smoke trail through the trees. This entire incident lasted about 15 minutes.

I was travelling about 45 mph when the object first appeared and I slowed to 30 mph. I continued to watch it for at least another couple of miles. I didn't stop.

The most amazing thing of all is that the object suddenly vanished without hitting the Earth. The smoke trail in the air was most definitely between us, here at El Rito and the mountains to the west of us.

El Rito is about 55 miles northwest of Santa Fe, in the mountains of Northern New Mexico, in Rio Arriba County.

That's what I saw! That's my report. Weirdness! May we live in interesting times! I am a retired school teacher, a writer and a photographer who lives in Northern New Mexico.

NUFORC Note:

We spoke with this witness, and found her to be exceptionally lucid and credible. She insisted that she viewed the object of interest for several minutes, as she drove to work. It then suddenly shot off to the west. Please see other reports from California, and other states. If her report is accurate, the object was not a meteoric event. Meteors do not hover in the sky. PD

Posted 2003-11-26