NUFORC Sighting 20623

Occurred: 2001-11-30 20:50 Local
Reported: 2001-12-01 10:31 Pacific
Duration: ten minutes?
No of observers: 3

Location: Yelm (Mt.Rainier), WA, USA

Shape: Light

USAF pilot on ground in Yelm sees hovering, moving orange light near Mt. Rainier.

I am a former USAF pilot and know this was NOT a fixed wing, helicopter, air balloon, or satellite. There was a very high, almost occlusive, layer of clouds this night. From Yelm, I saw a distinct orange dot of light(about the size you would see the planet Mercury on a clear night) hovering due east of my location at about 35 degrees above the horizon. It was generally stationary, but would move 2 to 4 degrees left, right, up or down at least one time in each minute. It's changes in direction were instant. Twice in the ten minutes I watched it, it made large movements, once dipping slowly down to the horizon, and once moving about twenty degrees north. Then it would return to it's original location and "hover". If this was not a UFO, it may have been a cloud layer reflection of a laser someone was aiming at the sky? It ended at almost exaclty 21:00 -- maybe a good indication it was the end of some laser targeting exercise at Fort Lewis. My neighbor and my son saw it too. I'm curious to know who else saw it.

Posted 2001-12-05