NUFORC Sighting 103069

Occurred: 2013-10-08 19:45 Local
Reported: 2013-10-09 08:48 Pacific
Duration: 3 minutes
No of observers: 3

Location: Montgomery, IL, USA

Shape: Unknown

Strange orbital object changes direction multiple times.

Not sure what this is, but thought it would be interesting to share. Last night my family and I were out looking for the Draconid meteor shower. While we were unsuccessful in seeing meteors, we did spot a few satellites and were, therefore, tuned to objects orbiting the Earth. I noticed what appeared to be a satellite traveling south to north. There were no visible flashing lights on the object and it was slightly reddish-orange in color which may have been a reflection of the sun because the other satellites showed a similar hue. I pointed it out to my family and then it started to travel in an odd manner. It first took a turn east-northeast and started moving in a zig-zag pattern in relation to the stars. It then turned south and traveled for some distance before turning once again toward the west. It then stopped and turned back toward the east-northeast and kept traveling in that direction until we stopped looking at it. The entire incident last! ed about three minutes.

The aircraft traffic pattern for O'Hare airport was clearly visible and well below this object.

Posted 2013-10-14