NUFORC Sighting 84602

Occurred: 2011-10-14 02:30 Local
Reported: 2011-10-17 22:00 Pacific
Duration: 30 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Carterville, MO, USA

Shape: Other
Characteristics: Lights on object, Electrical or magnetic effects

Follow up to a report I just submitted

I did not check a box I wanted to, so I am resubmitting my report. Thank you.

While sitting on my front porch in Carterville and talking on the phone to a friend I noticed an unusual object moving slowly through the sky in between Carterville and Carthage Missouri. I mentioned it to my friend I was speaking with in a sort of nonchalant type of way and continued my conversation. I observed it for about 5 minutes before my suspicions were raised due to the size, shape, and lighting of the object. My interest was sparked, so I told my friend I would call back once I got on the road. I got in my car and drove to the edge of town, then north on I 71 highway. Aside from the thirty or so seconds of driving down my street to enter the highway, I maintained visual contact with the object for the full duration of its appearance.

I exited the highway at the Brooklyn exit and parked my vehicle on the edge of the overpass. The object appeared to have a lower altitude than regular air traffic. It moved in a slow manner and did not have a predictable trajectory. The object itself was dark and was the shape of an equilateral triangle. There were three stationary lights visible to me, all white with a yellow hue to them. I attempted to call my friend to tell him what I was seeing, but my cell phone experienced problems establishing a signal. The phone is an LG G2x phone, less than two months old. It hadn't malfunctioned prior, nor has it done so since. I have never completely lost signal on this phone. There was no signal. Yet there are several towers in the area and I can usually maintain 3G and 4G coverage. I did not attempt to capture video or photo footage of the object because the quality would have been so poor as to offer no significant gain and would most likely do nothing but draw spec! ulation. The object did not seem to be moving at all for the final few minutes of my observation. At the end, the lights went out and the dark outline of the object could be seen moving and an increased pace in a northwesterly direction. The speed appeared to be faster than commercial air traffic. If it did travel faster than the sound barrier I couldn't hear the signature sound.

I spent four years in the United States Navy, stationed overseas the entire time, first in the Middle East, then in Southwest Asia. I was exposed to a wide array of civilian and military aircraft. Helicopters, Commercial and private jets, fighter jets, etc... This object displayed no characteristics of flight that any of these aircraft did. There are only two types of helicopters in my area. Emergency Medical Service helicopters from the hospital located in Joplin, and an occasional National Guard (UH-72A). They make a noise when they fly and do not hover at that altitude without search lights. They also have running lights and are not triangular in shape. There are no nighttime hot air balloons in the area, and even if there were, they are not triangular in shape and are incapable of rapid acceleration. After the deduction process I went through I can only conclude that the object was either an unknown military aircraft, or something which remains unknown. There! are no testing facilities close enough for me to think that anything would be tested, and not at this time and location.

Posted 2011-10-19

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