NUFORC Sighting 143061

Occurred: 2018-09-04 04:40 Local
Reported: 2018-09-10 10:50 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Jonesborough, TN, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Aura or haze around object, Left a trail, Aircraft nearby

Bright streak of light shot/expanded upwards, stretched/condensed, and dissipated.

On Tuesday, 09/04/2018, after having traveled out of state, I arrived at a friend’s residence in Jonesborough, Tennessee (to get some REM sleep STAT).

I got out of my car, put my bags over my shoulders, and began walking towards the house.

I was about to set foot on the front deck when I heard what sounded like rotating blades on a military helicopter and, incidentally, a train whistle from a nearby track. I stopped and looked up.

I looked in the direction I thought the helicopter blade sounds were coming from (ahead of me, north, relative to where I was standing)...a star was the only object in that general area that appeared non-stationary (“movement” was just twinkling). The size of the twinkling star was so small (from my vantage point) that, if it had been a helicopter, the sounds it was making wouldn’t have been as loud as they were. I never saw a helicopter but I didn’t bother to look up all around me either...I thought “I stopped for nothing” (I was on the verge of lowering my head & trudging inside).

I’m a trained observer. My job title is Behavior Analyst (2008 to present). I provide professional behavioral services to persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities.

At 4:40 am, as I was on the verge of lowering my head and trudging inside, a bright streak of pale orange/yellow light (to my northwest) didn’t make any sound while rapidly shooting upwards at a 30 to 45 degree angle (it didn’t just shoot upwards at a high rate of speed...it stretched/expanded upwards from its original position), paused for about 0.5 seconds, and collapsed (i.e., stretched/condensed from its original position to where it had stopped stretching) at an even higher rate of speed than when it had stretched/expanded from its original position (debris was emitted upon collapse).

I looked for a specific object but didn’t see one. The streak may have been an undetected object (of a probable terrestrial origin, statistically) traveling at a high rate of speed. The streak looked like a long exposure image of an ember popping and soaring from a fire. Upon collapse, the streak either disappeared or began accelerating so fast that I could no longer observe its presence. Upon collapse, the emitted debris either disappeared or was no longer illuminated.

What I observed was over and done with before I had a chance to think about dropping my bags and getting my phone out. The duration of the observed event may have been about 3 seconds.

Terror/excitement combo experience was hard to process. I don’t think I heard any sounds at all during the few seconds that the bright streak of pale orange/yellow light stretched/expanded, stretched/condensed, and dissipated...but I’m not sure. After the streak disappeared or accelerated, train whistle was still screaming but sounds of helicopter blades (not even distant ones) were no more.

If a helicopter was present, the pilot or pilots evacuating themselves (immediately after object dissipation) could/would make sense (following orders/protocol).

My jaw was on the driveway. I picked it up, went inside, and got to writing.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the sighting is approximate. PD

Posted 2018-09-13