NUFORC Sighting 38659

Occurred: 2004-08-12 21:20 Local
Reported: 2004-08-14 17:54 Pacific
Duration: 12 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: College Park, MD, USA

Shape: Disk


Very clear bi-convex disc instantly reverses direction at 15' from observers.

While slowly driving east through a residential area in route to a restaurant for a late dinner, my wife (who has a very responsible position in the US space program and is an experienced amateur astronomer who has ground her own telescope mirrors, etc.)and I (thousands of hours experience-in-the-field with sophisticated cameras and electronic instruments tracking anomalous aerial objects and investigating AAO reports)were astonished when a very clear bi-convex disc (about 6" in diameter and about 1.5" thick) with interesting surface details visible, suddenly appeared very low above the wet street (it had been raining and a few drops were still falling, but the air was neither misty nor foggy)and moved across the street traveling at a 90-degree angle from the curb. The street was wet, but there was no standing or pooled water in the area, no lightening, and very little wind at that time.

The object did not appear to be self-luminous (which was probably good, because we could see surface details that could have been concealed by lights) but was very well lighted not only by my car's headlights but by a street light which was directly above the general area.

The bi-convex disc (a color illustration is provided, but it only shows the object edge-on)looked to be made of maybe some hybrid type material that reminded me of nothing so much as tan rock with light gray coloration on the flat top of the disc, which disc also has a flange on both sides, but a flat bottom. The flange on the top was thicker than that on the bottom.

On both the top and bottom flanges, one could see distinct and slightly inset grooves, evenly spaced like approximately 1/8-inch successive layers of a geological substrate, as if the thing were either constructed in layers or else had some kind of coils (one above the other)upon or just beneath the surface! I have pretty effectively illustrated these in the rendering provided, but have not attempted to illustrate the peripheral planes of successive small, dark 'dots' that actually looked somewhat recessed, in various planes around the thing. The reason I have not tried to render those dots in the illustration is because I am not absolutely sure whether those recessed dots were between the recessed peripheral grooves (which are illustrated) or actually within them. I think the later was the case, but just am not sure, because it all happened so fast.

Anyhow, once the disc (which traveled only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch above the street in a most wonderfully smooth gliding motion resembling an ice hockey puck sliding on ice) came to what may have been the exact middle of the street, and without slowing down (just as the 'textbook' UFO), it immediately was suddenly going the same speed in the opposite direction(!), taking it right back across in front of our car (which was stopped or nearly stopped at that point)for a second-chance view.

When the bi-convex disc reached the curb (at the same place it had suddenly appeared), it just as suddenly vanished right before our eyes! So, I accelerated up to the nearby intersection, made a fast U turn, and went back, to see if we could see the thing again, or some trace of it, but nothing was found. No cars with occupants were seen in the area just before, during, or just after the encounter, but that is not surprising in that residential neighborhood on a rather rainy night.

We heard no sound that we associated with the object. We felt no electrical sensations or unusual heat or cold, either. The car engine did not fail, and there was no missing time.

The whole thing was so bizarre that we are still in wonderment about the nature of what was observed. I do not expect to ever figure that one out. Whatever it was, it just should not have been there. Was it flying? Well, yes, incredibly smoothly and close to the street. The thing showed no pitch, yaw, or roll, whatsoever. It would not be so troubling had we not seen it so very clearly, in good lighting from our headlights and the street lamp.

I refuse to believe that the thing was a government spy drone of any type, because I doubt we have technology that sophisticated, or even a spy drone that is disc shaped and only six inches in diameter.

I later parked the car in the street and adjusted the position of a white six-inch ruler laid on the street until it was the same observational elevation above the edge of my car's hood as the bi-convex disc had been, and the six-inch ruler looked the same angular width as the disc when at 15 feet from the car.



NUFORC Note:

We express our gratitude to Ray Stanford, a noted UFO investigator, for submitting this report. PD


Posted 2004-08-24

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