NUFORC Sighting 76410

Occurred: 2010-07-04 21:30 Local
Reported: 2010-07-10 23:34 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Topeka, KS, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object

Orange object of July 4, 2010 in Topeka, Kansas

On July 4th, 2010, I witnessed a bright orange object moving west to east over Topeka, Kansas. I observed this at approximately 9:30 pm CDT.

I live in an area where air traffic is common (near Forbes Field) where the 190th Air National Guard Refueling is located. It is not uncommon to see Refueling aircraft fly over, as I live close to the flight path. I know what an aircraft looks like at close range and what I saw was not an aircraft (plane or helicopter). I first observed this object and quickly noticed it was unusual.

At first it appeared to be a meteor. I called to another family member to come see this object. It was a bright orange and appeared to be somewhat triangular to diamond shaped. It was hard to distinguish an exact dimension or shape because it appeared to be flying in a haze or smoke from fireworks.

Our weather that evening had been stormy/humid and there appeared to be some fog or haze in the sky. However, the object was first vis! ible many miles away, and was clearly seen, so I am not sure why there appeared to be this "haziness" to the object when it was overhead.

As I stated earlier, the object was moving from due west to due east. It flew directly overhead. It was hard to determine its height, because I really couldn't determine its size and make a relationship guess, but it appeared to be 800-1000 feet high. Again, because it was difficult to determine size and height, its speed is only an estimate...approximately 300-400 mph.

Again, I watch aircraft coming and going from Forbes Field (mostly shortly before landing and after take-off), and I'm judging the speed of this object in relationship to those observations. I heard no sound from the object at any time. I observed the object for 30-40 seconds, then went to a different location and watched it continue moving east for another 15-20 seconds.

It appeared to go into a cloud bank because it disappeared quickly and somewhat unexpectedly. ! It didn't just fade away but disappeared abruptly, either int! o a cloud bank or whatever. It did not quickly change directions...just disappeared suddenly.

When I first observed it, I thought it might be a meteor. It's speed, however, was too slow and it was relatively close to the ground. There was no tail or anything that trailed behind.

My immediate impression was that I had seen something I couldn't explain. I thought, because so many people were out with fireworks that evening, that I would here something about this on the local news that night or the next day. I've heard nothing...until out of curiousity I "Googled" it.

I had been thinking that all those drugs as a kid finally had taken its toll and I was seeing things..lol. Anyway, I was somewhat releived to see that other shared the same experience.

Hopefully this description will help you.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will try to better explain my observations.

Good luck.....

Posted 2010-07-19

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