NUFORC Sighting 126986

Occurred: 2016-04-23 03:32 Local
Reported: 2016-04-23 02:40 Pacific
Duration: 5-8 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Austin, TX, USA

Shape: Cigar
Characteristics: Lights on object

Cigar (?) shaped object with roughly 7 dim lights flies over North Austin

It is 4:28 AM as I type this right now.

At approximately 2:45 A.M. I decided to go for a late night walk on a nature trail near Walnut Creek in Nortwest Austin. I stepped outside my front door and noticed an acrid smell, which I would describe as being like burning copper wires. I could smell it for several yards until I got near to the trail, where the only thing I could smell was soggy Juniper and Live Oak bark.

While heading back home after a walk up the trail, I noticed something in my peripheral vision in tne sky, at 3:32 AM. I looked at it for 5-8 seconds. It was a very long, thin, and dimly-lit dark object with roughly 7 distinctly spherical lights on it. I watched it fly across the sky and out of view (trees obscured my vision). It appeared to be dropping lower as it zipped across the sky.

I have no training in how to discern the size and distance of objects that are far away, but my intuition tells me it was roughly 1200 feet in the air, nearly a half mile away, and maybe 400 feet long.

I must emphasize that this object was very dimly lit and that it would have been very difficult to see it the sky wasn't cloudless, and the moon as bright as it is tonight. It was a very bright night. The lights on this object were like weak LED lights.

The object was moving from South to North at around 300-400mph over Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park and headed toward 1-35. I was located near the St David's Medical Center building on the railroad tracks.

I am 100% certain this was not a plane because it made no noise at all.

The moment I saw the object I got an ominous sensation and the hair on my head and body stood up. After I lost sight of it I immediately ran out of the trail and on to Park Bend Dr, and sprinted home.

I would describe this object as being more like a drinking straw than a cigar.

Posted 2016-04-29