NUFORC Sighting 53133

Occurred: 2006-10-25 16:00 Local
Reported: 2006-10-28 19:42 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Champaign, IL, USA

Shape: Changing

Object or objects sighted over field

I was driving home to Champaign at about 4 PM on October 25th. The area I was driving through is on the edge of the city. This incident occurred just as I was driving west and approaching an intersection at which I planned to turn south and head toward the city, which lies to the south east of the intersection. At this time the sky was covered with clouds but it was still light.

Just as I came to the red light, I saw what I initially thought was a large plastic garbage bag about 100 feet from my location blowing in the wind about 30 feet over a field west of the intersection. The reason I took it to be some kind of bag was that it was changing shape as if it were blowing in the wind. However, it moved in a perfectly straight line, heading north. It struck me as strange that this object could simultaneously change shape as if being buffeted by wind and yet not change direction at all. When the light became green, I turned south, but found my eyes still riveted to the object.

On an impulse I decided to pull over to the side of the road and get out to have a better look at the object. However, when I stepped out of the car, there was no object to be seen. I looked at the field (recently harvested, and so bare) to see if a plastic bag had fallen, but I saw none. Then I looked in the direction where it had last appeared, and I saw a distant spherical object, close to the clouds. It either did not move or moved very slowly and steadily. It did not seem to me to be a plane, jet, helicopter, or a balloon. It disappeared and reappeared over and over again, in and out of the clouds.

I watched this thing for about five minutes. It was becoming less and less visible, disappearing into the clouds for longer times; and as I was parked in a somewhat unsafe location, I decided to get back in my truck and head towards home.

Posted 2006-10-30