NUFORC Sighting 180677

Occurred: 2024-03-02 22:23 Local
Reported: 2024-03-03 12:11 Pacific
Duration: 1 hour
No of observers: 2 - Pilot

Location: Beckley, WV, USA
Location details: This is where we were when I first saw it. But it was visible until Pittsburgh.

Shape: Orb
Color: White
Viewed From: Aircraft
Direction from Viewer: 330
Angle of Elevation: 10
Characteristics: Lights on object

My captain and I saw moving stars. Looked kinda like satellites.

First off this is apparently a very common sighting among pilots at my airline. I am new and this was my first time seeing it.

Last night we were flying from Florida to NY. We were at 33,000’, and over beckley airport in WV. My captain pointed out to me the thing four other captains had mentioned previously. This was my first time seeing it.
On about a 320 bearing from our present position he pointed out a star he told me to watch. It stayed completely unchanged for about 10 seconds, and suddenly disappeared instantaneously. Then it reappeared about two inches to the right of my perspective, but dimmer. Then it started moving subtly down the windshield while simultaneously getting brighter and brighter until it dwarfed the brightness of all other stars in the sky. It also appeared to get bigger, as if it was accelerating toward us. It instantaneously disappeared again. This process repeated over the next hour. It moved up, down, sideways, and sometimes completely still. The speed at which it climbed and descended tens of thousands of feet made use know it was not an airplane.

Sometimes there would be two or three of them at once. They did not act in sync. They all seemed to move, dissapear, and reappear randomly.

From the reports of other pilots, it seems that these things showed up about a year ago and have been showing up consistently. They can be seen almost any clear night when you have view of the western skyline from the east coast. I do not know if they are visible from the ground. My guess is they originate from the same spot because I saw them from a 330 bearing in WV, but other people tell me they are usually on a 270 bearing from NY, which seems to line up.

Posted 2024-03-13