NUFORC Sighting 129237

Occurred: 2016-08-12 21:00 Local
Reported: 2016-08-13 14:01 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Albuquerque, NM, USA

Shape: Light

Bright red light in the sky moving ENE disappearing in mid flight.

On August 12, 2016, at about 9 PM Mountain Time, I was sitting in an open patio with a friend in NE Albuquerque. I was gazing up at the night sky during a relatively clear night, with only a few broken clouds north of the city.

I noticed a jet airplane flying west, directly over Albuquerque, with blinking lights clearly visible. As I followed the path of the jet, my eye was drawn to another object in the night sky moving from WSW to ENE. It was a steady bright red, about the size of the planet Mars. I knew it was not a jet, or a helicopter, because it had no blinking lights.

At first, I thought perhaps it might be a satellite, but then I realized it was moving faster than a satellite and was too bright. The intensity of the light seemed to brighten and then dim.

I mentioned the light to my friend, and as he found it in the sky, the light made a sudden 90 degree turn to the north, and then faded completely out in just a matter of 2 or 3 seconds.

Posted 2016-08-16