NUFORC Sighting 160129

Occurred: 2020-10-09 19:19 Local
Reported: 2020-10-22 10:51 Pacific
Duration: ~18 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Light Above Plane Following Flight After Takeoff - Stops and Suspends In Air Before Vanishing

I am a satellite imagery analyst and have a background in remote sensing/drone flight and collection . I was walking in the evening when I two lights moving in the sky at approximately 19:19 on Oct 9, 2020. I did a double-take because I live a few miles from the Las Vegas commercial airport and frequently see planes multiple times a minute during take-off and landing. I also am familiar with the light pattern planes flash when in the sky.

This caught my eye because a plane had just taken off and looked relatively large due to the proximity as it had lifted off the ground maybe 10 seconds prior. I stopped because there was a bright circular white light I instinctively thought it was a star, but it was directly above the plane moving at the same angle and speed which I have never seen before and instinctively raised an alarm in my head.

I know planes take off somewhere between 130 to 150 mph due to my background and based on the size of the light. From where I was standing the light looked to be roughly 3x higher on the horizon as I couldn't make a reasonable guess on its height.

The plane was approx. the size of a fingernail from where I was standing while the light was the size of a star in the sky so the scale and speed to which it was moving is a conundrum to me. My biggest question is how and why two objects(plane and one unknown) were on top of each other. Basic calculations from where I was and the airport takeoff are approx. 6.5 to 7 miles to the east of me for the plane.

Approx. 4 seconds after I noticed the plane and the other object in the sky, the unknown star looking object stopped completely and was isolated/suspended in the air while the plane continued on its path. After approx. 2 seconds after the light stopped it started to dim to the point where it was barely visible in the span of approx. 2 more seconds. Still suspended in the air the dim light sat for approx. another 5 sec and increased its brightness again for approx. 2 sec. after another approx. 2 seconds it dimmed again and I looked away to search for any context as to what, where, how it could be, I looked away for less than a second, and when I looked back the object had vanished.

Given the speed and rate of the object’s path earlier and that it was somewhat easy to spot in the sky, I can not fathom how an object can completely disappear in the matter of a second after being stationary for so long.

Posted 2020-12-23