NUFORC Sighting 103776

Occurred: 2013-02-16 22:20 Local
Reported: 2013-11-01 11:36 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Louisville, KY, USA

Shape: Orb
Characteristics: Lights on object

Several Unexplained Objects Flying Low in the Night Sky

My wife and I were driving home from celebrating Valentines Day dinner in Downtown Louisville, KY on 02/16/2013. At approximately 10:20pm while driving northeast on Hurstbourne Lane towards I-64, we witnessed at least 20 glowing red orbs in the eastern sky towards the town of Shelbyville, KY. The sky was overcast, with high winds, low cloud cover, and probably less than ten miles visibility.

I hold a private pilot certificate and have worked several years in the aviation industry. I know these were not manned aircraft for several reasons:

1. The bad weather/visibility would have prevented a large group of aircraft from flying in close formation at such low altitude.

2. There were no position lights. U.S. powered aircraft always have a red light on the left wing, a green light on the right wing, and a white light on the tail. Prudent pilots will always fly with a flashing omnidirectional beacon.

3. The orbs of light mostly stayed stationary in the sky and did not seem affected by the high winds. Occasionally the orbs would move vertically (both up and down) at high rates of speed. The sky was overcast, these were not stars.

4. They were bright red orbs. The intensity was strong and the light didn’t waver.

5. They were in a strange formation, some were higher/lower than others. They didn’t seem to be organized in any sensible pattern either horizontally or vertically.

6. They suddenly disappeared. This video is very similar to what we saw, though there were many of them all at the same time:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi-6DFe2fEg&list=PL4D428923123EF286

Possible explanations/problems with our sighting:

1. I thought they could have been sky lanterns (like those used in eastern cultures). They seemed to be flying over part of the U of L extension campus. It’s possible that a group of students launched a bunch of them to celebrate Valentines Day weekend. However, as stated before, there were really high winds that night and the orbs appeared to be relatively stationary in the sky. The orbs also moved vertically at high rates of speed. I have also scoured the internet to find news of celebrations involving sky lanterns. I haven’t found anything. We do not live in Louisville so we do not have ready access to their news outlets.

2. They could be helicopters flying in a rough formation. The problem is: no position lights, it was overcast, very dark, with high winds, and really what would be the point? I don’t see a bunch of pilots participating in a potentially dangerous flight at night with low visibility.

3. They could have been stars. It was overcast, the orbs moved, and stars don’t shine red.

4. The only exasperating part of our experience is that I can find no evidence on the internet that anyone else witnessed what we saw!! These were high enough in the sky that thousands of people could have potentially seen them. It was a Saturday night on a holiday weekend.

I would love to have an explanation for what we saw, or at least hear that someone else also witnessed this! If you have any information I would definitely be interested in hearing it.

This was not my first experience with a UFO sighting in Louisville, KY. In 2000 I was working at Standiford Field (the Louisville Airport SDF) for the summer. It was a warm night and the skies were crystal clear. Several airline agents and I witnessed a large white lens shaped object seemingly floating in the night sky to the northwest.

We thought it might have been an advertising dirigible flying over Papa John’s Stadium. However, it seemed to just suddenly appear. We could not hear any engines (to indicate that it was powered). It was not present the night before, or the night after our sighting. It did not move at all.

We contacted the control tower to ask what it was and they had no explanation. There was nothing on their radar. We had to work an inbound flight, but when we were done, the object in the sky was gone. A possible explanation is that it might have been a large balloon tethered to the nearby stadium. However I have several problems with this:

(1) It was huge; it appeared to be the size of the good year blimp.

(2) It had no top: there were clear skies and its top seemed to just fade into nothing.

(3) It did not move.

(4) There was no visible advertising on the side. It seemed to be illuminated by the city lights below.

(5) It disappeared

(6) ATC (air traffic control) did not know what it was (7) Standiford is a busy airport, and is a major hub for UPS. Huge cargo aircraft are constantly flying in and out of SDF all of the time (especially at night). I do not see the FAA allowing such a huge balloon (if it was a ballon) to be tethered so close to the airport, especially at night.

I would love to hear more information on this one as well. We do not live in Louisville, but we do live in another major city nearby. I find it ironic that both of my sightings have been in Louisville. I’m still very skeptical, but just a little excited too. I hope this information helps in some way.

Posted 2013-11-11

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