NUFORC Sighting 179873

Occurred: 2023-09-18 21:30 Local
Reported: 2023-12-29 20:29 Pacific
Duration: 10 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Kamiah, ID, USA
Location details: Pitch black hills of Kamiah, ID

Shape: Orb
Color: Orange
Estimated Size: No idea but probably large based on estimated dist
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: West - North West
Angle of Elevation: 25
Closest Distance: No idea but distant
Estimated Speed: Fast zigzags but steady movement upwards

Orange ball of light rises over tree line and zig zags vertically before rising into air while fading out, faded back in higher up

My fiance and I were on my mom's property attempting to view the northern lights. No color was visible but the sky was lit up behind the pitch black hills making it easy to differentiate between hills and the sky. We pulled our car onto an inclined driveway facing north towards the hills, parked, and sat watching the sky. After about 30 minutes, I was zoned out looking out the driver side window in a North-West direction. An orange ball of light rose over the black tree line in the distance. From my line of sight it was roughly the color of a planet but twice or three times the size (about the size of a pencil eraser in my field of view). For the first few seconds I assumed it was a plane flying towards me and so appeared to rise over the trees at a slight angle. Then it dramatically zigzagged up and down three times (about 2 inches of movement in my field of view) before veering upwards quickly. While heading upwards it faded out to nothing over the course of a second. A second later it faded back in, now higher up in the sky, then faded back out again over another second. From my field of view it started over a treeline but ended up over a larger hillside (about 6-8 inches of horizontal movement in my field of view). I pointed and shouted look to my fiance when it first started zigzagging but she didn't see it. I don't know the exact distance to the treeline but they are several properties over from my mom's house. This is rural Idaho so it's hard to express how dark of a landscape it is at night.

Posted 2024-02-15