NUFORC Sighting 138983

Occurred: 2018-02-27 00:00 Local
Reported: 2018-02-28 12:08 Pacific
Duration: 14 nights
No of observers: 4

Location: Yakima, WA, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams, Changed Color, Aircraft nearby




The first page of this report was submitted on 02/12/18 but I have been observing the lights for an additional two weeks now so I kept notes with the original statement and am now submitting notes on the entire 14 nights of observation. Please, if possible, do respond to me as offered in the Center's voice message, these appearances are growing disturbingly unsettling and no one else can offer any advice or explanation.

Last night, Feb. 12, 2018, I was watching television in the back room at about 7 p.m. When through the window I noticed an unusually bright star in an unfamiliar area of the sky. As I watched, the star seemed to move back and forth quickly and repeatedly. My curiosity was aroused, so I went out to the front porch and turning off the porch light, stood looking at the unusual star. In the full darkness (we live in a rural area) I could also see that the star was giving off faint alternating red, yellow and green glows. It would remain steady for a time and then suddenly, with no warning, shoot rapidly off to one side then without visibly stopping, shoot rapidly back in the direction from which it came. It did not turn around, it simply reversed direction midflight. And it was very fast, like a ball hit by a bat! My curiosity grew and I got a pair of binoculars to get a better look as the star was, of course, distant. Although it was very dark, with the binoculars I could see that the glow I was glimpsing was comprised of a double row of lights which appeared to encircle what I was beginning to suspect was an aircraft of some type. I went in and called the Sheriff's Dept. and reported the sighting and asked if anyone else had reported seeing the object. The dispatcher said they had received no other calls but suggested I contact the Military Training Center located near my home. I called them and was told that they weren't doing any aerial maneuvers that night and no one had mentioned seeing the unusual light in the sky. It was shift change and I was not able to get anyone to go out and look into the sky to see if they could see it. (I called again later and the person I spoke with just advised me to call local authorities as the light wasn't appearing over the base, so was outside their jurisdiction.) I continued watching the light until 11:00 p.m. During this time it became much more active, shooting rapidly from a motionless position sometimes straight up, sometimes horizontally, then, without pausing at all, reversing direction and returning to its original position. It never appeared to turn, it simply reversed itself on its existing plane without slowing, one moment it was going east and then suddenly it was going west! Eventually the light began traveling in a wide arc around my house, passing over the town of Selah and disappearing behind the leafless branches of the trees in my back yard. As it made these passes it seemed to come much closer, with the binoculars I could make out a faint gray shape, somewhat like a clamshell form with lights circling the middle. It didn't come close enough to see clearly even with the binoculars because it was very dark and I could only see the vague shape due to the illumination from encircling lights it carried.

Over the four hours that I observed it, I didn't watch it constantly, just kept checking every few minutes to see where it was and what it was doing as it had begun to make me nervous, it performed many odd maneuvers. A few times it would dart back and forth in an “invisible” perimeter, similar to a “superball” slamming wildly about in every direction inside a translucent globe. Other times it would unexpectedly shoot straight up until it disappeared and then suddenly reappear in the distance exactly retracing its upward path on its return. Sometimes it would suddenly disappear, like turning off a light bulb, then reappear somewhere else in the sky, usually at a distance but unmistakable because of its shape and colors. Once or twice two other smaller lights appeared and darted around the original for a few minutes and then disappeared. The smaller lights moved just as quickly and deftly as the larger but didn't give off any colors apart from their “starlight” glow. As the h! ours passed the original light seemed to grow larger and more vivid. By the time I went to bed at 11:00 p.m., It was much easier to make out without binoculars, looking like a tiny burst of fireworks high in the distant sky.

When I first spotted the light I called my sister-in-law and her husband outside to view it as well, they saw it and commented on how odd it was, how quickly it moved and we all wondered what it was. I also called a neighbor to see if she had a phone which could snap pictures or take video of this light. I walked over to her house and pointed it out to her, she commented that she had seen odd lights once or twice before in the area. She tried to film it but her phone wasn't capable of capturing a viable image, in the distance it just looked like a star and she didn't have video capability.

02/13/18 –-The light is again in the night sky in relatively the same spot it was “based” last night. It moves around but always seems to return to the same spot. At first it appears to just be a very bright star, one among many in the sky just brighter and slightly larger than the others. But after a few seconds observation it begins to move, always returning to its original position in the sky. It is very high, far above the flight path of passing airplanes and MUCH faster than the planes. With binoculars you can see that it gives off an alternating red and green glow, sometimes the glow is barely visible without binoculars. It is cloudy tonight but the light and some stars are still visible although at times they are partially obscured by the clouds but the bright moving light is visible as a glow even when obscured by clouds. The light blinks off and on at times as well as occasionally giving off the alternating red and green glow.

02/14/18 – Light again in the sky tonight, neither as bright nor as active as the past two nights but still moves around, then returns to “base” and remains immobile for 5-20 seconds then begins to move again. At 7:14 p.m. it suddenly erupted into a miniature “fireworks” display for about 30 seconds – a burst of cascading colors which in the distance appears to be about the size of a pencil eraser. Again tonight I checked on it sporadically for hours and it is always there.

02/15/18 – Very overcast tonight, can’t even see the moon much less stars or the strange light.

02/16/18 – The object is again in the sky in its usual spot, as each time before it is motionless until I watch it for a few seconds, then it begins to move. Honestly this is beginning to disturb me, it is almost as if it remains motionless until it becomes aware of me either inside at the unlit window or on the back porch. Does it remain motionless when not being observed? If so, how does it detect observation from such a distance? I wish I could film it to see if it only moves when being observed. I have wondered if it is an illusion, but I asked Mark and Karen to come to look as well again tonight and both of them remarked on how quickly and obviously it moved and how agile it appears to be. They are not small movements, it goes both short and long distances but always eventually returns to its “base”. It is very obviously not a plane. We are near an airport and planes pass by fairly regularly, the light is far above them, moves much faster, can stop completely an! d remain still and performs maneuvers that a plane could never do and I suspect neither could a helicopter. What is this thing?? 02/17/18 – The light is not as active tonight as usual, also it has moved its “base” slightly to the west. I have tried looking for it during the day but it only seems to be visible after dark. I have gotten up at odd hours, midnight, 3:00 a.m. and 5 a.m. and since it is still dark it is still visible and as usual is motionless at first then after 10-15 seconds it begins to move and it moves a great enough distance that even when it is not as active as usual it is clearly moving a fair distance, usually in a straight line, back and forth or up and down but occasionally zig-zagging, it always seems to simply reverse itself without pausing, never actually “turns around”. It has never again come down as far as it did the first night I observed it when it descended and seemed to go east around the back of the house and disappear reappearing almost instantly back at its “base” on the south side of the house high in the sky.

02/18/18 – heavily overcast again tonight, light not visible.

02/19/18 – The light seems to have returned to its original “base” tonight to the southeast of the house. It is quite active tonight and there are three others moving around as well although they are not quite as large as the original. I didn’t notice them at first, I was just looking at the large one and then one by one I caught the smaller ones moving in my peripheral vision and realized that there are more of these things! What are they?? 02/20/18 – Overcast with light snow, can’t see anything, not even stars.

02/21/18 – Still overcast, not even stars visible.

02/22/18 – There are two large lights tonight, one northwest of the usual spot in the southeast and one to the southwest, both moving and flashing.

02/23/18 – Tonight there are three of the lights behind the house and one to the northeast, near the Firing Center – the local military training base. All lights are large and active.

02/24/18 – I did not watch lights tonight, it is really beginning to disturb me. I have called the Firing Center a few times now and been told they have had nothing in the skies at night the last few weeks and it could not be drones as the lights are too high and besides, they said, this area near the Training Center is federal air space and no civilian drones would be allowed. The Sheriff’s dept. has just referred me back to FAA or Training Center.

02/25/18 – There were a total of five lights out there tonight, all blinking and very active. The original (it’s usually in the same place and the same size, so I guess it’s the same one) and four smaller lights. As before, when I first look out nothing is moving, after a few seconds they begin to move. I find it disturbing that there are a growing number of these lights, I wish I knew what they are!!! 02/26/18 – Multiple lights tonight, all active. I called the local news station – KIMA – tonight to see if anyone had called them asking about the unusual lights in the sky, they had not. Although various people had suggested I call the news station it made me uncomfortable, I’d rather not draw attention to myself, I just want answers!!!! About 4 a.m. I noted a large light near the perimeter of the Training Center again, active but not immensely so. Karen watched them briefly with me again at my request, this is so bizarre it makes me question what I’m seeing! 02/27/18 – Called Sheriff’s Office again, told to call Training Center or FFA. It is quite overcast tonight but I spotted a small flashing moving light briefly high in the southern sky in a momentary break in the clouds, far above the normal airplane flight path.

02/28/18 – 9:56 a.m. I called the FAA office in Spokane (509) 532-2340 and spoke with Jeff Holtz. He was very kind and polite and listened to my description of my problem. He stated that this does not seem to fall into the venue of what his position handles but that he would look into it and get back to me. In less than 15 minutes he called me back and suggested I contact the National UFO Reporting Center at (206) 722-3000 or at www.nuforc.org and wished me luck, stating the issue seemed interesting. I called them and reached a recording requesting I leave a message and phone number and they will get back to me, it also requested I fill out an incident form at www.ufocenter.com, which I will do immediately. I left a VM with my named and phone number as requested and filed a report as also requested.

NUFORC Note:

We have encouraged the witness to contact a local astronomy group, whose members probably can help the witness identify the lights. We do not know what she is witnessing, but we believe that stars are a possibility. Other witnesses who are skilled sky watchers should be able to make that determination. PD


Posted 2018-03-02

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