| Sighting Report |
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| Occurred : 5/19/2008 12:20 (Entered as : 05/19/08 12:20) Reported: 5/19/2008 11:06:46 AM 11:06 Posted: 6/12/2008 Location: Surry Nuclear Facility (Surry County), VA Shape: Disk Duration:12-20 minutes |
| Disk Sighted Over Surry Nuclear Power Station, Surry Co., VA At about 12:20 pm, 19 May 2008, I observed what appeared to be a large, metallic disk hovering very near the Surry Nuclear Power Station. (This is a little more than hour from the time of this writing, so the memory is still fresh and vivid). I was on my bicycle riding east on the Colonial Parkway (James City County) when I spotted an object over the James River, moving from east to west at a very slow speed. At first I thought it may have been a kite because it was a very windy day (the winds were gusting out of the SW at 20-30mph) and people do come out and fly their kites from the beaches when the winds are good. But when I came to an open spot in the road unobstructed by trees I stopped to get a better look and decided it was much too large to be a kite. It is a about a mile across the channel to the Surry Station and what I saw appeared to be very near the station’s twin domes and it must have been at least as large as they are, and perhaps larger. Besides that the object was moving very slowly against the wind, left to right from my vantage point, and its upper surface caught the sunlight and reflected like a sheet of aluminum foil. Its underside was dark. Then I thought that it might be an advertising balloon or dirigible, but the shape did not seem right. This was definitely a flattened disk. And, because it was so windy it did not seem like a good day to take a blimp up. (And, with security so high these days it does not seem logical that anyone would be permitted to get that close to power station. I have seen military helicopters on training missions over the river, but even they keep a wide berth from the power plant.) I have eliminated the possibility of helicopters and small aircraft because, as I say, this object was hovering/drifting and appeared to be making a very leisurely circuit of the power plant. I walked down to water’s edge to see if I could get a better look, but without binoculars I couldn’t make out any other useful details. I watched it like this for a good 15-20 minutes. In that time it completely circled the station, moving against the wind. It appeared to correct its angle at times, very slowly rocking up and down. I then decided to hurry home, grab my binoculars and camera and see if I might get a better look. It took me about ten minutes to bike home from there and another fifteen to get back on the Parkway by car. But, by the time I returned to my original position the object was gone. I drove a few miles down the Parkway hoping that it might have drifted elsewhere, but the sky was empty except for a few white clouds. Now, I wish I had stayed until it left. It would have been interesting to see which way it went. |