NUFORC Sighting 76701

Occurred: 2010-07-04 21:45 Local
Reported: 2010-07-21 15:22 Pacific
Duration: 2 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

Shape: Rectangle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Three orange, flame "lanterns" slowly moving NNE over Chicago in formation on July 4, 2010, at 9:45pm

On the evening of July 4, 2010, my elderly father and I were watching a neighbor's fireworks display on the northwest side of Chicago. I was looking east at about 9:45pm when I noticed what looked like a lantern with orange flames in it up in the sky. It was slowly moving NNE. Then I noticed that there were 3 "lanterns" in formation moving NNE at about 20 mph. I thought they were part of some type of airplane until I noticed that I could see distant fireworks within the triangle formed by the 3 objects. My father's eyesight is not as good as mine and he did not see the objects clearly. He did report seeing "dim lights" but nothing clearly.

The objects were moving in the exact same direction and speed. One object was in the lead and the other two were at the same altitude following. All objects appeared to be like flames – orange and flickering. It appeared that the "flames" were encased in rectangles. The objects were bigger than stars but much smaller than the moon. I would estimate the objects to be 20 feet high by 15 feet wide, at about 500 feet altitude, approximately a half mile away. The objects continued to move NNE until they were out of sight. There was no sound coming from the objects.

I am a 50-something homeowner and have an MBA. I have never seen nor reported anything like this before. My eyesight is good for distance and I was not under the influence of any intoxicants.

Posted 2010-07-28