NUFORC Sighting 16875

Occurred: 1971-02-05 18:45 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2001-03-16 00:00 Pacific
Duration: 15 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Conshohocken, PA, USA

Shape: Circle
Characteristics: Lights on object

Very large circular craft with engine problem, descends, stabilizes,restores engines and tests them.

Travelling West from Philadelphia by car on the Schuylkill Expressway on my way home after work, noticed multiple orange flames, seemingly falling from the sky like a wobbling leaf descends. This sight was moving slightly from North to South as it descended, and I thought I was witnessing a plane crashing. Then to my astonishment, it stopped falling,stabilized [from the wobbling motion], and the [13] spurting tongues of orange flame I had observed, stopped licking out of their round-cornered, rectangular apertures, beginning to pulsate as colours changed to a hot electric blue-white light [behind the rectangular apertures,now].From this condition, the flame colours licked out again as orange coloured and returned to blue-white several times.When in the blue-white mode, where they ultimately remained, they always appeared to be behind the apertures, glowing calmly. All of this took place as I drove directly toward the thing's stationary position, later determined to be slightly South of the Conshohocken exit of the expressway.As I proceded closer to its location, the object could be seen to have a top side something like the tapering crown of a Mexican Sombrero, discernible by vertical windows suggesting that shape. These gave the appearance of back-lighted milk glass,with a steady non-kinetic light source, unlike the other lights aforedescribed. Those flame-lights were arranged around the lower edge of the object, ringing an apparently circular form at its bottom edge. Suddenly, as I approached more closely, the object took off at high speed, directly away from me, seemingly going from a standstill to perhaps 500 MPH, giving me the odd impression that it did not go through any intermediate speeds.At this point, I began to wonder if I indeed was seeing some new kind of plane going away with over a dozen engines, the rear of which I was observing.Then, without turning it came straight back to its former position, like a yo-yo returning to one's finger, and I knew this was no airplane! Still driving, by now I was almost under what I estimated to be its position, about 300-400 feet off the ground, at the exit area previously mentioned. Deciding to investigate further, I pulled onto the road shoulder when I estimated it was directly above me. At first, looking up, I saw nothing and thought it had somehow moved without my noticing it. Then I realized otherwise. It was a clear starry night and above me the sky was pure black for an area which I believe was 300-400 feet in diameter at the height I estimated for it. From beneath there was no trace of the perimeter flame illuminations, from which I concluded that their observed apertures were atop the bottom surface of what apparently was a gigantic discus-shaped object. The foregoing represent all of my observations. I exited the expressway at Coshohocken with the intention of stopping at the gas stations there to alert them to what was emplaced above them, but for some strange reason, I felt powerless to do as I had planned and felt directed to go straight home. When arriving there, I called The Norristown newspaper, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Willow Grove Naval Air Station to report this situation ,but was treated in all cases in a patronizing way as if I was to be more pitied than believed. After this, I took my wife and son with me to see this object, but By the time we arrived, it was no longer there,and they kidded me mercilessly on the way home . Nonetheless, I saw what I described to you and have no doubts whatsoever about it, since I had the luxury of observing this "UFO" continuously for 15 minutes, or more. My overall impression was that I had seen a craft whose propulsion engines were malfunctioning as it fell,that these engines were brought back to normal function when it stabilized, and that they were revved up and down for testing as it stayed in place and were then tested further with the out and back flight which appeared to me to cover approximately 5 miles from Conshohocken to King of Prussia ,PA and return.

Posted 2001-03-16