NUFORC Sighting 27088

Occurred: 2003-01-14 20:00 Local
Reported: 2003-01-14 20:01 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Lorain, OH, USA

Shape: Light

Crazy light beams in west cleveland area

Driving home west on city streets coming from the golf range in Avon Lake, noticed white pillar of concentrated light reaching from horizon line into clouds. It looked like a normal searchlight used for advertising but it was stationary, so I naturally didn't think much of it. When I got home I called my friend and asked him to look outside and he said he noticed it too, so being a curious skywatcher he went outside while I was on the phone with him, then all hell broke loose. More beams appeared in the west spaced further from the original beam. Then the weirdest thing I ever saw appeared in the opposite direction, roughly northeast, another concentrated beam of light from the horizon to the clouds appeared, but this pillar was a fiery orange glow, it faded into view out of nowhere, shimmered up and down for a few seconds then left. My friend, my mother and I all started flipping out on the phone wondering what all this was. My friend said some beams also appeared in the southern sky. A few other people noticed it but nothing really appeared on the news, so what the hell was it. I have no answers. Its possible that it was the aurora borealis but I never saw that so brilliantly and form singular lines of concentrated light stretching from horizon to clouds. Now these definetely were not any UFO craft but they were some very unearthly looking beams of light. Unless some crazy artists were coordinating some light sculpture in the west cleveland suburbs, I'd say we have a mystery on our hands.

Posted 2003-02-05