NUFORC Sighting 136374

Occurred: 2017-09-24 20:30 Local
Reported: 2017-09-25 21:19 Pacific
Duration: 1.5 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Dayton, TN, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Aircraft nearby

Apparently two round objects conjoined or one object comprised of two parts.

This is going to be one of the more unremarkable sighting reported to you, but I felt it worthy of sharing just the same.

On Sunday evening, 24 September, at about 8:30 PM, my wife and I were returning home from a restaurant when we observed an object in the sky traveling from approximately west, 15 degrees south toward the east, approximately 15 degrees north.

The object appeared to be comprised of two white lights connected to one another and moving at a speed of approximately 5 arc degrees per second. I have no idea as to its actual speed since I was unable to determine its altitude.

What I am reasonably certain of is the object was not an aircraft since there were no blinking lights, no red or green lights marking the wing tips, just a solid white light.

There were high clouds present in the sky and our view of the object was blocked as it moved over the clouds. I would estimate the altitude of the clouds to be approximately 15,000 feet.

The object emitted no audible sound as it passed us overhead.

We did observe an aircraft to our east, moving from the south, approximately 15 degrees west, toward the north, approximately 15 degrees north, which is the direction we would surmise as an aircraft going from Atlanta, to New York City. Given the aircraft we observed at the same time was likely traveling at ~30,000’, the object we observed also appeared to be moving at the same rate—5 arc degrees per second.

My first inclination is to surmise the object we saw was the international space station, but I hadn’t heard any announcements of its presence in our area, which is the usual case on our local TV stations, but if it were the space station there is one curious matter remaining unsolved: When the object we observed reached a point where it was some 30 degrees above the horizon, it was no longer visible to us. It seems to have disappeared at that point.

While I will not discount the possibility that the object was blocked by some clouds we could not see, or that it might have been blocked by some other atmospheric phenomenon, the fact that it disappeared from our view is what has prompted this communication.

If you do think we were looking at the international space station, I would appreciate your letting us know.

Thank you!

Posted 2017-09-28

© 2023 National UFO Reporting Center. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction within any application without written consent is prohibited.