NUFORC Sighting 72288

Occurred: 2009-09-10 18:00 Local
Reported: 2009-09-14 12:16 Pacific
Duration: 4-8 Minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Mesa (NNE of), AZ, USA

Shape: Disk
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Self-luminous, flourescent-glowing, disc-oid object appears stationary in central Arizona skies

At approximately 1852 Arizona time and for a duration of approximately four to eight minutes, three of four family members including an adult married couple and their twelve-year-old son observed a self-luminous disc shaped craft with a more cone-like underbelly which emitted an intense, even, luminocity in a visible light spectrum similar to the light emitted from flourescent home aquarium lighting. The object was stationary and continued to be observed from the corner shopping center, surrounding streets, neighborhood and from any point on the family property adjacent to the eleventh tee of the Painted Mountain Golf Course in far northeastern Mesa, Arizona. The duration of the sighting was between four to eight minutes with a desert monsoon thunderstorm cell moving in from the north at approximately twenty-five miles per hour ended the sighting by piling in to mask in part, then wholly obscure the apparantly stationary object. The angle of observation f! rom the mean horizon (Horizon is mountainous and a badlands region) of approximately forty degrees of angle. The Azimuth from the driveway of the witnesses' home was a north-northeast heading of approximately twelve degrees. The size of the object was similar to that of a seseme seed when held at arm's length. In binoculars, the object appeared to be flatter than an upside-down candy kiss, but disc-shaped, with a round top and a slightly cone-shaped extended belly.

Cell phone photo images appeared as nothing more than a faded point of light. No detsil was descernible.

The sun had already set minutes before but the waning afternoon had not quite reached the twilight stage. No stars were visible in the northern or eastern sky above or between thundercells. The quality of the light on the object precluded any possibility of it being illuminated by reflected or refracted light from the sun due to it being the wrong color and spectrum.

SPECIAL NOTE: OBSERVER'S OPINION: If the object were in fact an intensely glowing helium weather balloon, the altitude would be above twenty thousand feet and the size of the expanded gas bag would be a quarter of the internal volume of a sports stadium. The flourescent spectrum-appearing internal glow was of an intensity that battery power for such a structure would be the size of a Uhaul trailer and would be too heavy to lift. This thing appeared too brightly lit, and was possibly too big to be an air force of NASA balloon construction.

The location in the sky was north of and to the left of the northeastern approach corridor for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and aircraft inbound and on approach to the runways were lined up to the east at an azimuth of approximately 80 degrees and were sporting intense, halogen landing lights in a spectrum completely different from the object. That approach corridor takes the aircraft over the northern crags and spurs of Superstition Mountain and the Tonto National Forest.

The entire flight pattern was at far lesser altitude than the object and was under the acumuated thunder cells inbound from both east and north.

Lightning was flashing at a rate of severa discharges per minute both east and north from an azimuth of 120 degrees to zero degrees.

Posted 2009-12-12