NUFORC Sighting 176775

Occurred: 2023-07-14 22:45 Local
Reported: 2023-07-15 02:53 Pacific
Duration: at least an hour
No of observers: 3

Location: Riverside, CA, USA
Location details: Van Buren & Mockinbird approx 80-85 degress from horizon - above SSE 140-150 degrees heading

Shape: Light

very bright pulsating light, hovering then slowly moving SSE

First spotted near intersection of Van Buren & Mockinbird approx 80-85 degress from horizon - above SSE 140-150 degrees heading. It hovered for nearly a minute while pulsating irregularly. The pure white light would pulsate very bright (Venus bright) to dim. It would be max brightness for 2-3 seconds then slowly fade to dim for a few seconds. After a few pulsating cycles, it would go dim and stay dim for 10 seconds or more. The whole cycle seemed to vary in timing, but the dim state period always returned to the pulsating cycle. After 2-3 minutes, two neighbors I'm unfamiliar with drove up to me and stopped. She said "Oh you see it too?" I replied "Yes I thought I was imagining things." She told me they had seen it before, a couple months ago. It appeared to be high altitude 30,000ft or more. The strangest thing was the way it moved. It went from hovering to slowly moving toward SSE. It traveled 5-10 degees and then hovered for several seconds. Then it began moving back toward it's original position hovered a while and started moving SW. When it would go from hovering to moving, it seemed as if the light would go bright and stay bright before a somewhat rapid acceleration to it's maximum speed, never appearing faster than 1/3 to 1/4 the transit speed of the ISS. The speed never appeared to be fast, just rapid acceleration. I watched it off and on for at least an hour, the whole time it followed the irregular pulse/dim and hover/move behaviors. The area was quiet, so if the object was low enough to be a rotary aircraft I'm fairly sure I would have heard it. The object continued to move SW just not in a straight line. I stopped watching it at approx 30 degrees above SW 235. I don't know of any tech we have that can hover at that altitude other than a maneuverable High Altitude Balloon. It moved like I would expect a maneuverable HAB to move, but the bright pulsations don't make sense for an HAB unless it's low enough to be a danger to other aircraft. I have been flying R/C planes for 43 years and quad-copters for 8. I've been staring at the sky my entire life watching satellites, meteor showers, eclipses, comets, planets, airplanes and helicopters. Over the years I have seen a few unusual things that I could not identify, but this one was strange enough that I thought I should report it. I don't own a smart-phone (and I pray I never have to) so sorry no video.

Posted 2023-07-29