NUFORC Sighting 178827

Occurred: 2023-10-05 23:00 Local
Reported: 2023-10-12 07:44 Pacific
Duration: 30 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Location details: From aircraft at FL410

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Lights maneuvering rapidly at extreme altitude

On the evening of October 5th, 2023 at approximately 0400Z while flying a Citation Latitude business Jet from KTEB to KMDW, I noticed strange lights above our aircraft at approximately the 2 o'clock high position over the Lake Michigan area. We were cruising at FL430 and approximately Mach .76 when I noticed the lights; they appeared as stars but they were maneuvering rapidly, changing direction and speed in multiple planes of movement. There were approximately five lights and they would maneuver, change brightness (may have been directional lights pointing toward and away from us; unsure), and fly in what looked to be a repeated formation. This activity appeared to be cyclical in nature. This was very odd to me, as Starlink satellites and similar objects in an orbit do not change speed and direction in that manner. I observed it for several seconds before commenting to my Captain that he should take a look. He quickly gained sight of them and concurred that he had never seen anything like it. We estimated the objects altitude to be FL600 or above; it was difficult to tell as they appeared to be 50-100 miles away from us but they were definitely well above our altitude. Our position at the time of initial visual observation of the objects was east of the GSH navaid on the V451. The weather was completely clear at our altitude and above us with a layer of overcast clouds below at around FL300. The moon had not yet risen so the only lights in the sky were stars and other aircraft which were easily discernable and generally co-altitude or below us. While we could not explain the lights, I queried ATC as to whether there was any military activity in that area. They replied in the negative, so I asked more specifically if the R-6903 restricted area over Lake Michigan was active. They said that it was not. Neither my Captain nor myself could explain these lights, and we witnessed the activity for approximately 30 minutes before we began our descent into KMDW and had to focus on the arrival and approach. We discussed it as a crew and continued with our tour.

Approximately three days later, on the morning of October 9th at approximately 0730Z we saw the lights again while flying east from KSJC to KLUK. We were again at FL410 and in the proximity of Peoria, IL at the time of the sighting. My captain noticed the lights first (the same captain from the previous flight) and brought them to my attention. They were in the same general region, over the Great Lakes area. Multiple pilots had commented on the light coming from Venus on guard frequency (121.5) but it was quickly explained to them that it was a planet. I made a transmission on guard asking if anyone could see the strange lights we were witnessing and got several replies. Initially they were dismissed as Starlink, but once multiple pilots admitted to seeing them there was a consensus that it was not Starlink and no explanation was offered. Pilots discussing this phenomena switched to 123.45 frequency to avoid cluttering the guard frequency. At that point, one crew admitted to seeing these lights multiple times generally in the same area. One crew could see them from the Tennesee area and another crew was in a Gulfstream at FL450 closer to the lights and said they were well above their altitude. All in all, the lights were viewed by multiple professional pilots and none could offer any explanation for them. Again, we witnessed the lights for approximately 30 minutes until we began our arrival into Cincinnati. The weather was clear that night with a rising moon later in the flight.

I still have no explanation for what we saw. I have approximately 3000 hours of flight time in various aircraft, mostly military as I was an MV-22 pilot in the Marine Corps and was an instructor for Night Vision Device flying. I am aware of most atmospheric phenomena and have seen multiple Space X launches and satellites from both the ground and in flight. My Captain has over 20 years of flying experience. Neither of us had any explanation for the lights. I am confident what we saw would be classified as Unidentified Aerial Phenomena.

Posted 2023-10-28