NUFORC Sighting 180730

Occurred: 2024-03-04 18:45 Local
Reported: 2024-03-05 21:07 Pacific
Duration: 90 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Wheat Ridge, CO, USA
Location details: Hopper Hollow Park

Shape: Orb
Color: white
Estimated Size: unknown
Viewed From: Land
Direction from Viewer: Initially Southwest, then South
Angle of Elevation: 30
Closest Distance: unknown
Estimated Speed: 500 mph if at the height of a jet at cruising alt
Explanation: Rocket - Certain
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Emitted other objects, Aircraft nearby

Orb with halo moving NE and then S, about 20 angular degrees per minute, in 90 seconds of time, in S metro Denver at dusk

My son and I saw the object at approximately 6:45pm Mountain Std Time. Lighting was nautical going into astronomical twilight in an urban playground 5 miles west of downtown Denver. I first noticed the object as a bright light at ~30 degrees from the horizontal, heading northeast (from the southwest). Its luminosity exceeded that of Venus but was not as bright as the Moon. The relative angular velocity was consistent with it being an airplane, but this assumes it was at the altitude of an airplane. If it was ~5-8 miles in the sky, I estimate it was traveling ~500 mph. However, if it was higher in the sky, it would need to be traveling faster to achieve the same angular velocity. The light intensity was continuous (not flickering). What caught my attention was the lack of blinking lights indicative of wings or a rudder that an airplane would have. I also noticed a spherical halo, a kind of dimmer light surrounding the bright central light, about 2-3 times the diameter of the bright light source. Clouds often produce halo effects. Unlike the main light source, the halo fluctuated somewhat with time, as one might might imagine of an object going in and out of clouds. About 20 seconds into the observation, I asked my son if he saw it. I wanted to ensure it wasn't only my imagination. Indeed, he could see it. He asked me about the halo. I said maybe because it was traveling through clouds. However, he pointed out that there were no clouds in the vicinity of the object. In the twilight, looking west, there were visible stratus clouds close to (but not coinciding with) the object's path that were backlit by the setting sun. The object was not among these clouds. There were two airplanes (with fluctuating tail lights) in the approximate "path" of the object, one headed west with a visible vapor trail and another descending in the opposite direction, probably planning to land at Denver airport. Neither plane intersected the object, but both were close to doing so. Neither plane appeared to change its course either. After the object was ~45 degrees from the horizontal, it began to gradually turn from east to south. As it changed direction, it emitted something that looked like fireworks--like the halo was shooting off a sphere of light droplets. My son said, "Hey light is shooting out of it!" The halo-clad light continued south for a few more seconds, and then rapidly dimmed to the point of invisibility, ~20 degrees from the horizontal. The whole event lasted about 90 seconds.

Theories that came to mind:
Civilian drone: Unlikely given its brightness, the halo and light ejections, and the intuitive sense that the object was much higher in the sky than a drone.
Satellite or ISS: Far brighter than either of these, and I understand orbital trajectories to be elliptical (e.g., they don't perceptibly change direction)
SpacEx rocket: This seems plausible because two rockets launched yesterday. However, Colorado is far from the California and Florida launch sites, and the first passes of these rockets after launch were not over Colorado. Indeed, it would be useful to know the location of these two rockets at ~6:45pm March 4th 2024 MST because such knowledge would allow one to immediately validate or invalidate this theory.
Shooting star/meteor: Very unlikely given the duration of the event.
Other, less likely explanations: ???

Any information would be greatly appreciated. Many people would have had the opportunity to see the event witnessed by my son and me given the urban location, though my son and I are the only ones who were at the park at the time.

Posted 2024-03-13