NUFORC Sighting 65386

Occurred: 2008-08-24 22:40 Local
Reported: 2008-08-24 22:58 Pacific
Duration: 20 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Rolling Meadows, IL, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

2 Orange Fireball lights with random blinking pattern seen hovering 300 ft. above Woodfield Mall, Schaumburg Il

At 22:40, I had just finished shopping at Meijer's (a 24 hour store). While standing in the parking lot next to my car I looked up into the sky to see if there were any storms approaching because while I was in the store, I heard a lot of low flying airplanes. (typical being that O'Hare is close by, but still out of the ordinary on a clear night).

To my surprise I noticed a fire in the sky. I almost called 911 because it looked like one of the floors in the Zurich buildings were on-fire. From the distance it resembled a flickering orange fire (no other colors present). There were airplanes in the sky coming and going, and this orange flickering looked like sparks from a random flame burning in the wind. My Wife was standing right next to me also in amazement. She was rushing me to get in the car but I insisted on watching.

Then in an instant the 2 lights turned about face and flew upwards and diagonal and nearly disappeared. At 22:45 I got in the car, and drove west down Golf road towards home, watching the sky as I could (being that I was the driver). As we passed Woodfield Mall, I saw the red blinking light atop the Zürich Towers, and verified that the second tower wasn't taller. I googled the Zürich Towers height and discovered both towers are 270ft tall. This means that what ever those lights were, they were definitely not one of the floors on fire.

As I continued home and at approx. 22:50, I noticed a fast moving military jet (had a different shape than a helicopter, nearly silent, and a distinct trail behind it). This jet was flying faster than any commercial planes would appear at its height in the sky. It had a distinct shape that reminded me of a fighter plane, however it too was silent. The Jet was capable of making quick rounded arc turns. It appeared as if the Jet was scanning the sky (in the way it was traveling). The Jet headed in a direction south of Golf Road and appeared to be in the vicinity of where the fire lights would have been. Unfortunately we turned off and continued home and lost sight of it.

I do know that Scott Air force base has a Peoria branch and it's about 50 miles south of Schaumburg. If a plane were to be dispatched, it would take approximately 5 minutes at 600mph to reach This area.

My Wife, had reminded me that there have been a lot of recent sightings in the area, so the first thing I thought to do was check the internet then report it here. This is the first time I have seen something like this in the sky. I'll admit I was a bit skeptic of UFOs because I have seen my share of military aircraft as a civilian. I attended a college in the early 90's that was located near Whitman Air-Force Base.

Posted 2008-10-31