NUFORC Sighting 35201

Occurred: 1998-09-15 04:00 Local
Reported: 2004-02-21 04:22 Pacific
Duration: 2 to 3 sec
No of observers: 1

Location: Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Shape: Sphere


UPDATE: Sept 15,98 sighting, MUFON report

UPDATE: ---<( MUOFN Summery Report By Guy Richardson MUFON Investigator.)>--- I met with Mr. ((name deleted)), at his home Saturday, October 21,2000 to take his statement regarding the UFO sighting he witnessed on July 6,2000, the details of which are included in a separate report.

During the course of the interview Mr.((deleted)) recounted another sighting witnessed on 15 September 98 that had not been submitted to MUFON until now. While the reconstruction of a UFO sighting that occurred two years ago poses obvious problems for the investigator, it should be noted that the witness made a written account of the incident within days of the its occurrence. The information contained in this report corroborates remarkably well with the account of two years ago.

Mr.((name deleted)) web site is: http://rockc.tripod.com.

Subsequent to our first meeting, Mr. Rock accompanied me to the Westminster campus where we reviewed the sighting on location and made measurements to establish the distance to the UFO from the witness when first and last seen during the course of the sighting.

There are ample points of geographic reference on the campus to establish, with a high degree of confidence, thedistance to the object; however, the estimation of the apperent size of the object is made with leddcertainty. The narrative that follows reflects calculations of size and distance based on these measurements that, while stated in exact figures, should be regarded as the best approximations obtainable without the aid of special equipment.

At 4:00AM on the morning of September 15 1998, Mr. Rock was working at Westminster College located at 1840 South, 1300 East, in Salt Lake City. He had stepped outside to throw away trash and sip some coffee. The witness stated that the night was cool, around 65 degrees; visibility was clear without any clouds.

While facing west, sipping coffee, he fired his laser pointer, which is used at work to identify areas that require cleaning, into the sky in the general direction of Jupiter+.

Within a minute or two of firing the laser, a gray, spherical object, calculated to be 70 feet in diameter*, appeared, in the western sky, hovering over an adjacent building at a distance of 260 feet from the witness at an altitude of 40 feet above the ground. The appearance of the object was sudden and was not preceded by movement from some other location.

It simply appeared.

Upon seeing the object, the witness turned off the laser pointer.

Mr.Rock stated that at that moment he was quite awed by what he was seeing and doesn't recall feeling or thinking much in the ensuing moment. The object sat completely motionless for 2 to 3 seconds then moved north toward the witness at a speed estimated to be 60 mph**. Witness stated that the object had no apparent period of acceleration; i.e. the object was motionless one instant and then moving at 60 mph the next, without any incremental increase in speed. He watched the object pass over him, headong northeast when lost from view as the object passed behind a building. The moment before the sphere moved out of view was when it was in closest proximity to the witness: 60 feet away at an altitude of 40 feet, with a calculated diameter of 58 feet*.

During these last few moments, the witness observed the underside of the sphere, which he described as "Reddish, pinkish with pits and pings and very much crater-like". He added that, apart from the bottom, the object was smooth,gray and featureless. Witness also said he felt as if the object was aware of him.

As the object passed over the witness it went behind some trees and continued east behind a building. The witness pursued the object on foot but before he could clear the tree cover he heard a bang and when he came into a clearing the object was nowhere to be seen.

Witness stated that he then returned to work and was very excited but was not able to relate the story to any of his co-workers because he doesn't speak much Spanish and they do not speak English.

Witness said that he was not able to sleep more than a couple of hours during the next two days because he was so excited and impressed with what he had seen. After a couple days the witness contacted Peter Davenport, at the National UFO Reporting Center, who was given permission to tape the conversation. That conver- sation was aired about a week later on the Art Bell's "Coast to Coast" radio program and should be made available when archive conversation, at that web site, is completed.

Witness stated that during the entire event no sound was heard coming from the sphere nor was there any perceptible emission of any kind. There was no disturbance to the immediate surroundings caused by the object.

Astronomical data for the date and time of sighting: Moon: 18 degrees altitude; 84 degrees azimuth, 16% waning crescent Jupiter: 23 degrees altitude; 241 degrees azimuth +Data confirm the witness's statement regarding Jupiter's position in the sky. The moon, while low in the sky, would have been behind the witness in the east.

*Calculated diameter of the object is made for when the object was first and last seen. There is a difference of 12 feet between the two perspectives that probably reflect an uncertainty of the actual size rather than to suggest the object changed its size.

**Based on a total distance of 310 feet traveled by the UFO from initial sighting to when last observed, the calculated speed is 70mph if the time required was 3 seconds or 53mph if 4 seconds had elapsed.

Posted 2004-03-02

© 2023 National UFO Reporting Center. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction within any application without written consent is prohibited.