NUFORC Sighting 49537

Occurred: 2006-03-11 21:00 Local
Reported: 2006-03-11 20:04 Pacific
Duration: 30 seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: East Boston, MA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

First, i'd preface this by saying that I live no less than half a mile from Logan Airport. From my terrace I watch planes take off and land frequently, so i'd like to think that I know the types of aircraft that usually soar above and their capabilities.

That being said, I was star gazing - as best one can next to a major city - and had my telescope fixed on the Orion Nebula. I had withdraw my eye from the eyepiece and glanced up at the Orion Nebula with my naked eye when I saw a miniscule reddish dot that seemed to be flying far higher than any commercial aircraft that i've seen. Here's where it gets odd though: It was moving erratically. It took an S-like swurve around and through the bottom two stars of the Orion constellation. Depth perception made it appear about the same size at the stars. This object was far, far too small to notice any flashing lights and you'd normally be able to make out if it were an airplane flying at 30,000ft. Again, it was barely a dot in the sky.

I had went to the telescope to see if I could zoom in on it but by the time I finished calibrating, the thing had vanished.

Posted 2006-05-15