NUFORC Sighting 124854

Occurred: 2015-12-25 21:00 Local
Reported: 2015-12-25 20:29 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 6

Location: Cape Coral, FL, USA

Shape: Light

We had spent an couple hours enjoying a very small fire in a rock fire pit in our back yard. The fire was out down to embers, and the moon and the street lights in front of the house were the brightest light sources in the area.

We saw(4) lights at maybe 5*-10* west of due south. The lights were pumpkin orange and brighter than the handful of stars visible facing south at the time. They were as bright or maybe slightly dimmer than the north star (opposite direction in the sky so a true visual comparison was not possible. However, I did look briefly behind me to use it as a general basis for comparison).

The lights appeared out of no where and appeared to move independently for the first minute we saw them. They all shifted position both vertically and horizontally 2 or 3 times rather quickly.

They then adjusted position relative to each other and formed a perfect square in the sky. It maintained this for about 3-5 minutes. Then one light (upper right ! of the square) disappeared suddenly like turning off a light. With the two left lights maintaining position, the lower right moved out and up, the three forming an equilateral triangle pointing west. It maintained this formation for 5-7 minutes or so. Just floating there. During this time, a commercial flight crossed between us and the lights while traveling west to east. From our view point it passed directly between us and the lower left light blocking it out completely in passing with the light reappearing in it's location after passing. The plane's lights were on and was likely either circling or on final approach to Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW). The plane was visibly brighter (about 2 times), and much lower in the sky, with both solid and flashing lights on. The lower left light looked like it descended suddenly out of sight. The lower right light appeared to travel due west and out of sight. Neither of these had a trail of any kind, just a qu! ick moving point of light. The upper light appeared to remain! in plac e but just got fainter and fainter over about 30 seconds and faded out once the other two had gone. It was like watching a light traveling directly away from you until it disappears.

Posted 2016-01-05