NUFORC Sighting 132267

Occurred: 2017-01-18 21:00 Local
Reported: 2017-01-21 21:00 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Sumter, SC, USA

Shape: Triangle
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Triangular object with blinking red light at bottom of craft with a smaller object ahead of it

Was outside walking my cousin's dogs with her 11 year old son. We were marveling at Orion, as he was pretty high in the Eastern sky. We turned and walked with our back to Orion, and I looked up (towards the West) and saw a triangular object moving EXTREMELY slowly towards the N/NW in the direction of Charlotte, NC (I'm 2.5 hours from there, but just trying to give some perspective of its movement). We were able to observe it for 15 minutes before the dogs and the 11 year old got restless. I came back outside, but the object was beyond the far tree lines. I live with open fields around me in a rural area close to an Air Force base (Shaw AFB).

The object was definitely an equilateral triangle with a slow-blinking red light in the middle. It was low enough that I would be confident in saying the light was at the bottom of a convex/downward dome. The points of the triangle had white lights that were not blinking. I would estimate the width of the craft to be on par that of the wingspan of a Boeing 747.

Ahead of the object and to its left was a much smaller craft that was simply a red light as though it were "towing" the larger craft--definitely guiding the path for sure. The light on that smaller craft was not blinking. I could not make out the shape of this object, but the red light appeared as a dot from my vantage point.

I heard zero engine noise. Since Shaw AFB is home to an F-16 fighter wing, so I know what F-16 engines sound like, even at idle. This object wasn't making any noises that any aircraft would make, much less an F-16. I was stunned at how slowly the craft was moving and amazed it was able to stay in the air without me hearing any engine noise.

Posted 2017-01-26