NUFORC Sighting 02940

Occurred: 1997-10-15 18:40 Local
Reported: 1997-12-02 00:00 Pacific
Duration: ~10 minutes
No of observers: 0

Location: Abingdon, VA, USA

Shape: Light

Summary : Bristol Herald Courier run on Thursday (10-16-97) the following day "Unusual lights in sky over Mountain Empire generate speculation". Newspaper is in Bristol, VA - TN (two states city).

I am only going to give a general entry. The newspaper said sighting was seen south of Kingsport, south of Bristol in the direction of South Holton Lake, I live near I-81 exit 22 and it was southwest of my home. My son and I saw a vertical silver object (bright as if the sun was refecting off it) with a tail like a jet but more dense and one and three-fouths the lenght of the object. It did not change location during the time we would look at it. I would not have even thought anything of it but for the fact that WXBQ-AM morning talk show was talking about it the next morning and right at the end of the program someone said they had seen it around 7:00 pm. The newspaper had not printed a time but if others who phoned the local police and airport saw it about the same time, the sun was going down and it was far from being dark. The paper said one caller with binoculars saw what appeared to be an illuminated crystal shape similar to a snowflake with a dark center and number of red spots darting around it. A BVPD Sgt. ((Name deleted)) used same binoculars and saw "It looked like a bery intensely bright star with fainter looking objects around it or something red emitting from it...but I didn't see it moving, it appeared stationary". I do not now if the other two area papers ran a story about this but they would be the Johnson City or Kingsport (TN) papers. We also have three TV stations WJHL, WKPT and WCYB. I am 42, female, my son is 15.

Posted 2001-08-05