NUFORC Sighting 105529

Occurred: 2013-12-23 20:00 Local
Reported: 2013-12-24 05:02 Pacific
Duration: 1 minute
No of observers: 4

Location: Layton to Farmington, UT, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Aircraft nearby

Blue highspeed object over Northern Wasatch Front, Utah

While driving North from Salt Lake City to Ogden, Utah, my brother (driving), my wife and my nephew (rear passengers) and myself (front passenger) witnessed a craft of unknown shape over the Layton/Clearfield, UT, area climb from an approximate elevation of 500 feet (AGL) to an approximate elevation of 3,000 feet (AGL) in about 2 seconds.

The thing that caught our attention most was a dull blue light emitting from the craft suddenly intensify to a very bright blue light as it climbed as accelerated Southward on a heading completely opposite of our heading as we travelled North. The craft travelled a distance of what I can best guesstimate as 20 miles in about 30 seconds, then slow to nearly an approach-speed which airliners hold as they enter a final approach into a major airport. As this craft came into our 9 O'Clock position we looked closely for any strobe lights and marker lights which are required under FAA regulations, and to our suspicions their were none, the only light we noticed different from the blue light, which was visible from all the angles we were able to observe, was a faint white light at the aft end of the craft which was an uninterrupted light (not a strobe like we see on conventional aircraft).

As the craft passed us we noticed a change in heading, it made a turn to West by South West, but there was no swoop to this heading change, it appeared as if there was some form of thrust vectoring involved, because the turn of nearly 75 degrees was almost instantaneous. The object was visible for another 15 seconds and appeared to accelerating as it began to cross the Great Salt Lake, but we lost sight of it due to a complex series of overpasses at the Legacy Parkway ~ S.R. 89 ~ I-15 Junction of Farmington, UT. When we were finally clear of the interchanges we all tried to regain our view of the object but it was gone. The estimated distances we witnessed this craft cover are, to my best abilities at finding a number, exceed 50 miles, and this observation lasted approximately a single minute.

Though it was very cold outside the car I had the foresight to attempt to get an auditory account as well (mostly because I was very interested in finding out whether it was a jet propulsion system or something else) so we rolled the windows down to listen for anything we could possibly hear. We live near Hill AFB, Salt Lake International Airport, and Ogden-Hinckley Municipal Airport, and as a result we are very used to hearing and seeing a vast number of different aircraft. This craft had no sound which we could hear, given we were traveling at 50 to 55 m.p.h. and there was some wind noise, but we know that if the craft had a jet turbine system such as an F-16 Falcon or an F-22 Raptor we would have heard the engine(s) and definitely seen the afterburner(s) because this craft was well over mach at it's fastest observed velocity. Also, there no sonic boom, there was no disruption to the atmosphere - at all.

The origination of our sighting placed the object at the same latitude as Hill AFB, however, it was roughly 5 miles West of the base. Also of note is that Salt Lake International was using runways 34 L and R and also 35, which would place all approach aircraft in this same line of travel, but this object was not in the pattern, (the elevations were far too low at the beginning, and far too high at the end of the sighting.) There was no possibility of having been in the Salt Lake approach pattern due to its turn to traverse the lake.

I also must emphasize heavily that the object had some seriously advanced vectoring technology to its propulsion, from the initial 2,500 foot climb and then the turn it made to the West toward the lake, both maneuvers were made with surgical precisions and were as fast as a Color Guard Marine snapping a salute to the Ensign.

Posted 2014-01-10