NUFORC Sighting 180505

Occurred: 2024-02-18 16:33 Local
Reported: 2024-02-20 12:19 Pacific
Duration: 10-11 minutes
No of observers: 1 - Military

Location: Mesa, AZ, USA
Location details: Over the vicinity of Tortilla Flats/Apache Junction area, AZ

Shape: Triangle
Color: black bottom gray to
Estimated Size: between a large fighter jet and a medium jet
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: north east
Angle of Elevation: 50
Closest Distance: 10-12 miles
Estimated Speed: slow to hover
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted other objects, Changed Colo

One triangular shaped craft hovering over area doing aerobatics in daytime

My wife, I and a group of people were eating a picnic lunch when we noticed a shiny aluminum object in the sky to our north east slowly descending and turning in a tight spiral. Someone said they saw something shiny like tinsel falling from the object. We thought a plane was going down but saw no smoke and heard nothing. We could tell it was turning because sunshine would flash on it each time it turned. It suddenly stopped in its descent and just hung there. Since it was too far off to see clearly my wife and I walk home (60 yards away) where I pulled out my pair of spotter binoculars for a better look. I found the object still hanging in the sky but noted it was triangular in shape. It was up on its wing tip, starting a slow turn like someone was holding the wing tip in their hand and turning it in place. I then noticed what I figured was the bottom was black in color and counted five lights - one at each corner and two in between. As it completed a turn I saw the top was a bluish/gray in color with a black edge outline, but couldn't make out any other details. The craft while still hovering in place, then slowly rolled over to stand upright on the opposite wing and do another turn around. After this it went flat with its bottom facing down, hovering and completely turned over till its bottom was facing upward, then turned back over. It did all this in a very slow and deliberate matter. Then it went up on a wingtip again but on a 45 degree angle and the lights on the bottom started changing colors -white, yellow, red, green. Each time it turned toward my direction the lights seemed to be different colors and in a different configuration. I tried to put my cell phone camera lens up to the binocular lens but had trouble and when I looked up again the craft had disappeared. There was no sound of it leaving. It was just suddenly not there. I'm a retired USAF member, familiar with aircraft, and that was nothing I've ever seen, heard of in the making, I know its not in the inventory, it wasn't a weather balloon or hot air balloon, and I don't know what to make of what I saw. Its something I can't explain.

Posted 2024-03-13