NUFORC Sighting 42323

Occurred: 1966-07-15 22:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2005-02-24 23:18 Pacific
Duration: aprox 15-30 minutes
No of observers: 5

Location: Centerville, IA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

90 degree angles uniform stair step flight pattern, very bright light, silent

I was 16 years old in 1966 sitting on my grandparents front porch facing south. It was a warm summer evening, clear sky, no clouds, after dark. Others present were a neighbor aprox 20 yrs old, also my mother and grandparents were present.

we observed a very bright light as bright and large as a 747 landing light would be if the plane was maybe 2000 feet up. (no airports within 200 miles of that location) brighter than any star in the sky and made no sound. the strangest part of this sighting was the flight pattern. it started in the south west coming from what would have been new mexico and flew in perfect uniform stair steps making sharp 90 degree angles as it flew diagonally across the sky from southwest to north east in the direction of main and vermont. if you held your arm out full length and measured the distance each stair step covered, it would appear about the length of a finger. Of course how far in miles that would be depends on how high it really was flying above the earth. To my knowledge there was no flying machine on earth at that time that could make 90 degree turns repeatedly in mid flight other than a helicopter, and if it WAS a helicopter with a light as bright as the one we saw, we would have heard the sound AND seen more than one light. the same goes for a plane, if it was a 747 or other jumbo jet with that bright of a light we would have heard sound, and no normal airplane jet or otherwise could turn a perfect square corner let alone do it repeatedly in short succession. we watched as it went all the way across the entire sky diagonally and dissappeared in the far north east. I reported it to both the police and the newspaper. There was an article in the paper the next day saying that there were similar sighting across the united states the same night, in the corresponding states to the ones that would have been covered by the flight pattern that I observed. I have been interested in UFO phenomenae all my life since my early teens, and have never seen any other reports of this strange stair step maneuver. if you have heard of any other reports like this I would very much like to know.

NUFORC Note:

Date is approximate. PD

Posted 2005-04-16