NUFORC Sighting 69018

Occurred: 2009-03-01 00:15 Local
Reported: 2009-03-01 16:45 Pacific
Duration: 1 minute
No of observers: 3

Location: El Paso, TX, USA

Shape: Changing
Characteristics: Lights on object

Cluster of lights over western Franklin Mountain Range in El Paso Tx, within seconds diamond shaped blue light formation appearing.

I am a twenty six year old Army Spc. stationed at Ft. Bliss, TX. My Fiance is a twenty five year old accountant major studying in her final semester at the University of Texas in El Paso. My friend is a twenty year old Army Spc. stationed at Ft. Bliss as well. My fiance and I were at this friends apartment in central El Paso between the hours of 1830 and 0200.

The electricity in El Paso was disrupted due to a vehicle collision with a power transformer approximately around 0015. Clear skies with stars brightly visible with a low smoggy haze in the south western end of El Paso. We stepped outside to determine if other neighboring apartments had lost power along with my friends apartment when my friend noticed an unknown number of white/yellow lights traveling across the Franklin Mountain range above the western end of El Paso. Pointing our attention to the western skies of El Paso, my fiance and he both witnessed the cluster of lights disappearing over the mountain traveling east. I did not witness the lights due to a highway sign obstructing my exact view. Not able to see the lights in the western skies I turned my attention directly to the skies above me and on an angle looking towards the east. I then witnessed four dull blue/white balls of lights in a diamond shape pattern approximately two to three miles above me traveling east to west at an unknown high rate of speed. The pattern of lights then slowed and came to a stop directly above me. At that time I grabbed my fiance's arm and pointed directly to the lights above us. She witnessed the formation as well. The four lights then seemingly holding its pattern turned directly straight to the ground the forward light now at the bottom of the diamond (creating the pattern of an upside down diamond), this all taking maybe two to three seconds. It within seconds of repositioning itself continued moving towards the west at a high rate of speed. As the pattern was heading west, the far left light darted directly out of the formation to a dis! tance ap proximately a half of one mile to the north east and then snapped back into formation within one second. The formation continued to the west until it was no longer visible. My friend did not witness these lights as he was still scanning for the lights that travelled across the Franklin Mountains. Five to ten minutes passed while we continued watching the sky above us as well as the skies above the mountain range. My friend then witnessed and called our attention to a dull dark orange ball that was only noticeable due to the street and parking lights below it. It was approximately the size of a seventy five centimeter exercise ball hovering one hundred yards above the ground, two hundred yards to the west of where we were standing, above a one story building. The ball darted slowly one or two feet to the left, then up one or two feet, then right one or two feet, it then slowly traveled away from us moving west at an very slow speed, possibly three to five miles an hour, until it was no longer visible due to the smoggy haze or beyond the street lights that were illuminating it. We continued watching the sky for an additional ten minutes until retreating back inside the apartment and out of the forty five degree night air.

Posted 2009-03-19