NUFORC Sighting 52650

Occurred: 2006-09-01 01:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2006-09-26 20:30 Pacific
Duration: five to ten minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Leesburg, GA, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Sharp turns and zig zags with this light

Could anyone confirm the possibility of a satellite going overhead in the hours past midnight? We have seen this "object" twice and it seems to be as far up as a satellite, it moves just as fast, but it will zigzag or suddenly turn at right angles. There's no flashing lights and it's at an altitude much higher than even a military aircraft...like I asked before, it seems to be at the same altitude as a satellite but I don't think a satellite can make turns that quickly or move side to side as it's tracking across the sky. The first time we saw it was the night of the Perseud meteor shower and then again about two weeks later. It came from due north and was moving towards the south but when it got almost directly overhead, it took a sharp turn to the southeast. The second time we saw it, it stayed on a "straight" course but started to zig zag very rapidly for about two or three minutes. Once again, there are no flashing lights on it and it looks to be very, VERY high up. It's about the same size of any average, very bright star in the night sky and we've only noticed it (twice) in the wee hours of the morning. We also noticed an unusually high amount of commercial or military aircraft flying around in the sky on the very same night we saw it the first time. We're avid stargazers and love to be outside at night and the number of aircraft in the area just didn't look right to us.

What could it be?

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date of the event is approximate. We cannot confirm a satellite overflight, unless we have an accurated time and date. PD

Posted 2006-10-30