NUFORC Sighting 53470

Occurred: 2006-11-17 19:00 Local
Reported: 2006-11-17 23:33 Pacific
Duration: About 30 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Nevada, MO, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Changed Colo

Strange stationary light. Increased in brightness, became faint, moved to the right, and vanished.

I work at a steak house about 2 miles outside the city limits of Nevada, MO. We had just finished our dinner rush and I was able to slip out the back door for a quick break. I immediately noticed a bright star high in the Southern sky.

Nevada, MO is a small rural community. Not much interference with town lights and the night's sky. The sky was dark and clear.

As I began observing this object, I quickly realized it was becoming brighter...It was white, but baby blue in color as it increased in brightness. This object was very very bright in contrast to the stars in the sky and much larger, however it appeared to be a "star".

It was very high in the sky and was stationary. It hadn't moved once. The object became very bright and then gradually decreased in brightness. It eventually turned into a small ball of light.

The object at this point was very faint. It then moved to the right(west) (first sign of movement) and then disappeared.

The whole incident lasted for about 30 seconds. It frightened me. I ran inside and told my manager about it.

(Extra Info) I am an Astronomy buff and I view the night sky regularly. I know the difference between a plane, a helicopter, a falling star, a satellite, etc. I’m not sure what it was…but I can say with certainty that it wasn’t any of these things. I’ve never seen anything like it before.

((

NUFORC Note:

We suspect that the witnesses observed the flare from Iridium #84. Information below:

16 Nov 17:32:04 -6 32° 199° (SSW) 5.9 km (E) -7 Iridium 91
16 Nov 17:34:06 -6 33° 197° (SSW) 6.3 km (W) -7 Iridium 34
17 Nov 19:04:22 -4 32° 155° (SSE) 11.4 km (E) -8 Iridium 84

PD

Posted 2006-12-07