NUFORC Sighting 73321

Occurred: 2009-07-27 21:30 Local
Reported: 2009-11-16 07:24 Pacific
Duration: 10 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Bonneville Salt Flats (Salt Lake City), UT, USA

Shape: Sphere
Characteristics: Lights on object, Emitted beams, Changed Colo

Bonneville Salt Flats, July 09, Investigator, Bright White Lights, Semi-Circle, Pulsations, Motorcycle

I am an investigator for MUFON and the state of IL. I purchased a bike in Reno on Monday 7/27/09, and was driving back to St. Louis on I-80 on Monday night. I had just crossed over the Utah border and saw the Bonneville Salt Flats exit sign on I-80. The wind was blowing about 30 knots, which caused my bike to lean as I drove at about 80 miles per hour. It was dark, very few if any clouds, dry and the conditions were nominal except for the tremendous wind from the north blowing southward. I was also wearing a helmet, full face.

I was looking up at all the stars and the blinking lights of many airplanes traversing the sky as I drove towards Salt Lake City to find a hotel room for the night. As I was driving, I was thinking, this is the area where there are many UFO sightings. About then, a white light then appeared to my right (S-SE) at very high altitude at about my 40 degree position. I estimate the altitude and distance to be 15,000 feet at 10 to 15 miles out. Why? Because it was about halfway from horizon to where the strobes of airplanes were flashing; therefore, 10 to 15 thousands feet.

When it shown its single light, it appeared to be a plane with a running light, breaking through the clouds--in other words, it had a halo-like effect.

I dismissed this as a plane, even though there were very few clouds directly above me; however, at that distance there could have been more clouds in its position, obviously. As I drove, the ultra bright white light descended and was moving towards me. About 1 to 2 minutes later, the light appeared again, altitude this time much lower and much closer than before, maybe 8 to 10 miles from my starboard, same position. This repeatedly happened about every 2 minutes, the light would power up, shine in my direction, then it slowly turn off, as if were a river barge light powering off. It didn't just switch off, it phased down.

I kept looking in my rearview mirror thinking that the light should eventually cross the road behind me since it was on a 90 degree angle to me and heading in my same direction. At some point, I should have traveled east of it's trajectory towards Salt Lake City moving past it’s heading to the north since we were on a perpendicular intersect, but that never happened. The light lit up about 6 to 7 times, each time it was closer, brighter, lower and especially disturbing, it was always in the same 40 to 45 degree position to me as when I first viewed it. Logically that meant, I thought, that the light was somehow keeping pace with me, which became disturbing. I was extremely compelled to continue to look on that same starboard heading of south, south-east to try and figure out what this aircraft could be. I couldn't decide which was more interesting, the fact that it was getting closer to me, or the fact that it was always in the same bearing to me.

After about 6 sequential events of the light turning on and then off, duration each time as being about 3 to 5 seconds, it then was at its closest distance to me, about 1 mile or less. What happened next was absolutely exhilarating and I will never forget it, and this event then caused me to completely dismiss my original assumption of an airplane or helicopter and/or the characteristics of a man made craft that I had ever seen before.

The second to the last time of this sighting the light shown at me, very close, one mile or less and at this time it continued to stay on. One to two seconds later, two other lights to its left came on along with it, same luminosity, same distance, moving with me but NOT horizontally symmetrical to each other. They were all three equidistant to each other, but the middle one was at a higher elevation than the other two making it appear to me as a very flat pyramidal grouping of three white, brilliant, lights about 1 mile away from me. Now I could actually see the craft moving with me, matching my speed, as the light(s) stayed on much longer.

There was never any beam of any sort that I could see, and I looked to see if the white salt below the craft became illuminated because of these lights. It did not. Just brilliant white lights off to my 40 to 45 degree bearing each time. The lights didn’t appear to illuminate my bike either.

At the closest point to me, I estimate the altitude to now be about 600 to 1,000 feet at a distance of no more than 1 mile from me, if even that.

Then, the three lights all turned off at the same time, slowly vaporizing down, like a river barge's lights. There was no sound. My bike didn’t loose power or suffer any electrical failures.

At this time, I now assumed these lights to be directly pointing at me for some reason. This craft was intentionally pointing these lights at me. I somehow felt that this sighting was now more of a personal experience and not just some random lights. There was too much evidence of this now for me to dismiss. I always saw stars in the background as if these lights were not a part of any solid craft or solid sphere. They appeared independent of each other but always uniformly symmetrical in their formation and distance, except, as I reported, for the slightly flattened pyramidal characteristic described above.

The last time it shown on me was amazing! That same single light appeared one last time, same heading to me, same distance and same altitude as before. From a distance of about half a mile away, I saw what looked like brilliant LCD lights, orange-ish/red-ish in color, lights SCROLLING from behind the light/object, arcing up and to the left in a huge semi circle, and as it came around the circle towards the front of the craft, I could see even more of the colored lights scrolling around the circumference of a huge, circular disk. But it was only a half disk and it was tilted left side up and right side down.

About 6 to 10 of these very fast pulsations of brilliantly colored lights came from the exact same spot behind the light, circled around a huge disk shaped object and then came in to full view to me, larger and brighter and then abruptly ended at the white light that was still showing at me.

This was one giant pulse of about 6 to 8 individual scrolling lights which made the outline of a circular half disk. But the disk was on a tilt slightly, about 15 degrees, so the lights went slightly up, over and downward and then abruptly ended at the white light that had stayed on the entire time, about 10 to 12 seconds.

I was so shocked by this......I pulled the bike over on the shoulder of the highway. The wind was so fast, it nearly blew it over. I was speechless at what I had just seen and was hoping for it to appear to me again so I could video tape it with my blackberry phone, but it never did.

Some time went by as I had resumed riding and the light never appeared close to me again. However, I saw the light one more time off in the distance. It had flown back towards the Bonneville salt flats again in the distance and I last saw it just above the horizon, very far from me, south, where it illuminated one more time looking very much like a helicopter showing its lights on the desert floor.

It didn't seem hostile in any way.....moreover, it seemed to want to show me that it was not a plane or helicopter that I kept insisting it was in my mind.

It revealed its disk shape, 180 degrees of a half circle, in the most brilliant orange and red pulsations of light I have ever seen. It was the same color as a cutting torch, maybe. I could always see stars behind it, but the pulses did reveal a huge semi-circle.

I had not been drinking, I wasn’t tired nor was I on any kind of medication or drugs of any kind. I was just enjoying my ride home. There’s definitely something weird at the Bonneville Salt Flats, in Utah?

Posted 2009-12-12