NUFORC Sighting 92342

Occurred: 2007-09-15 23:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2012-08-31 10:46 Pacific
Duration: 30 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Clearwater Beach, FL, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object

Extremely stealthy aircrafts, like helicopters, fly over Gulf of Mexico and Clearwater Beach, Florida

This report is being filed almost five years after the fact. Better late than never.

In September, 2007 (I am not sure of the exact date, but it was in the middle of the month), my wife and I saw unusual activity in the sky above Clearwater Beach, Florida, and the Gulf of Mexico.

Although we now live in Clearwater, Florida, at the time we were vacationers to Clearwater Beach, annually. We were staying at our usual accommodations, a hotel located on the street that is directly across from the beach. As was our custom, we were booked into a room on the fourth floor, which is the top floor of the hotel. The room has a balcony which overlooks the hotel pool and gives us a scenic view of the beach and the Gulf of Mexico.

It happened to be the last night of a week-long vacation. We sat on the balcony to watch the sunset and remained there for several hours afterwards.

At approximately 2300 hours (11 p.m), I happened to notice a bright light on the horizon. Seldom have I ever seen boats out on the Gulf late at night, but I had no reason to believe it was anything other than a watercraft. At first, I thought the light was moving north to south, parallel to the horizon, but soon I realized it was traveling east-west, heading in our general direction.

I recall that the sky was clear and there was a half moon that evening. Given that it was the month of September, it was off-season. Very few people were out and about that night and there was very little in the way of automobile traffic.

As the light got closer, the first thing I concluded that if it didn’t turn, the craft would be heading directly for the beach, not the harbor. As the light got even closer, I knew it was not a watercraft. It was an aircraft, flying at low altitude, but well above the water. It continued flying at the same altitude, but at what I would consider much too slow for an airplane or jet. My guess was that it was a helicopter.

The only thing I could see were lights at the front of the craft, seemingly encased in an elongated oval cover. I could not see how many lights were within this elongated cover, but I am sure there were at least three, maybe as many as five. These lights were white, not unlike headlights on an automobile. Since they were not pointed at me, it’s not possible to say how bright the lights were. But from my view on the fourth floor of the hotel, I would conclude that they were much brighter than halogen bulbs on standard cars.

It did not fly directly overhead, but about 3 to 4 blocks north of our location, above Pier 60, which is a local tourist attraction. It was soon out of our sightline. If this was all that happened, I probably would not have remembered it. But over the next 30-40 minutes, this event occurred three more times, at least 5 -10 minutes apart. Same thing each time: light on the horizon, approaching the beach, and finally out of sight. There was one major difference. Each time it passed, it was at a slightly different line of latitude. The second time, it was a mere block away from our location, the third time, it was directly overhead, and the final time, it was closer to the location of its first pass, near the pier.

I cannot say whether it was one craft that had turned about and made four passes or four separate crafts. But on its third pass, directly overhead, I was able to make the following observations: 1. The front of the craft where the lights were, seemed to be rounded, much like the edge of a Frisbee. The only other part of the craft that was clearly observable was the area immediately around the elongated light cover. The lights reflected off this part of the craft as though the body of the craft was made of black chrome, but somewhat duller, like black patent leather shoes.

2. What I am less sure of is the shape of the craft. Based on the front of the craft, I would say that it was saucer shaped. But as it passed overhead, there was something shadowy about the rest of the craft. It was as though the craft temporarily blocked out the starlight above. I had the sense that it was more like a boomerang.

3. I’m not good at measuring things in terms of inches, feet and yards. But if I had to guess the altitude of the craft, I would say that it was flying at a level that was five to six times the height of our hotel, a four story building. My wife and I disagree on this; she believes it flew at a higher altitude. Either way, it was closer to the ground than any other craft in flight that I’ve ever seen, other than watching a helicopter take off.

4. While it did not hover at any point, it moved much like a helicopter, and certainly moved at a speed I associate with helicopters.

5. This craft was absolutely noiseless. No sound of an engine nor a rotary blade.

After the craft made its last pass (or after the fourth craft passed), the show was over.

Sadly, since it was the last night of our stay, I didn’t bother to recharge the battery for my camera, otherwise I would have recorded the last two passes for sure.

About my wife and I: we had not consumed any intoxicants that evening; we are both college graduates; and, we were both professionals. My wife was a nurse at a convalescent home and I was about to retire after 30 years as a public school teacher.

As for why it has taken me 5 years to report this: 1. It was late at night and this craft(s) did not seem to pose a threat.

2. I had no idea who to report it to, inasmuch as the U.S. Air Force has washed its hands of UFO investigations.

3. We checked the local news on television the following morning and there was no indication that anyone else had reported it, or at least the local stations were not covering such an event.

4. With Clearwater Beach being so close to MacDill AFB, the possibility occurred to me that I may have seen military aircraft, secret or not.

I finally decided to report this “sighting” based on what I’ve read about the raid to capture/kill Osama Bin Laden. In published reports, it has been stated that one of the concerns about the mission was that the helicopters that transported the Navy SEALS into Pakistan, while visually stealthy, were not as audibly stealthy as they would have preferred. The mission into Pakistan took place almost 4 years after my “sighting”.

I can tell you that if it had not been for the lights, I probably would never have noticed my craft(s). The craft(s) was/were virtually stealthy; almost invisible and certainly without noise. If the U.S. military developed such capabilities, I wondered why they had not already been applied to currently used aircraft, including those helicopters used on the SEALS’ mission.

As for my own reaction to the events of that night, the only word I can use is “fascination”. I was not frightened not was I excited about the possibility I was seeing UFO’s. It was what it was. But after considering the technology this craft or crafts had, I can’t rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial activity.

I am very aware that more recently, hoaxes in this location happen often, with Chinese lanterns being used frequently. But these hoaxes tend to happen at the height of tourist season, not long after sunset, when there is a greater chance of witnesses. In our case, it was later in the evening and, other than my wife and I, no witnesses to speak of.

If any of the information I have supplied ties in with other sightings in Clearwater or elsewhere, I hope it is helpful.

NUFORC Note:

Witness indicates that the date is approximate. PD

Posted 2012-09-24