NUFORC Sighting 107880

Occurred: 2014-03-15 23:00 Local
Reported: 2014-03-15 21:52 Pacific
Duration: 60 seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Davie, FL, USA

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aircraft nearby

Amber lights over I-75...definitely not an aircraft on approach.

My wife and I were returning home from dinner after briefly stopping at the gas station down the block from my home at approximately 11pm EST. After leaving the gas station, as we were crossing the overpass that runs over I-75 (State Road 84 between Weston Road and 148th Ave.) I looked to the right and in the sky I saw 5 (or 6 not sure now) orange/amber colored lights floating in the air. They weren't low enough to make out a definite shape.

I've always been a star gazer so I'm very familiar with the skies around my home. I live on the approach path to Fort Lauderdale International Airport and I've been travelling on airplanes for work for the last 15 years. I can confidently say I know what airplanes look like on approach and the light configurations you'll see from the ground.

What struck me about this sighting were a few things...

1. They were not moving towards the airport. When I first spotted them they seemed to be stationary, but as I changed direction on the road on my way home I realized they were actually moving towards the north. My original perspective was north of them, so they appeared to not be moving for the few moments I was at that perspective.

2. They were only one color, orange/amber. I have 16/20 vision and I didn't see any other colors. I can always see the red flashing lights on airplanes whether on approach or very high in the sky.

3. These objects were definitely within our atmosphere. I could see stars behind them and they appeared, as usual, far away. These appeared to be no more than 10,000 feet in the air.

4. I assumed they weren't military craft because they weren't flying in formation. There was a lack of night time lights, like commercial craft, and there was a definite lack of a jet engine sound.

All of the objects were basically in a straight line from the northern perspective. I've attempted to create a diagram below using numbers 1-5 to represent each object from left to right. In case the diagram doesn't copy well. Objects 1, 2 and 5 were basically in a straight line, although 5 seemed to be a degree or two higher than 1 and 2. Object 3 was directly below 2, and object 4 was slightly lower than 2 and 5 (think Orion's belt).

-1- -2- -5- -4- -3-

When my perspective changed to a westerly direction, they were all moving to the north (right). Please remember I was the passenger in a moving vehicle on a "S" curve. So my westerly perspective changed to a curving southern direction after about 5 seconds of moving west. It was obviously difficult to properly assess the speed of all objects simultaneously due to their distance from each other. I was concentrating mostly on objects 1-3, since object 5 was already almost out of site to the north. Objects 4 and 5 appeared to be moving at the same speed. Object 2 was accelerating faster than 4 and 5, 3 was barely moving and 1 was moving slowly or had just started to accelerate. I would say object 2 was moving the fastest, but it's really difficult to compare it anything. Was it moving faster than a plane at that altitude? I can't say because there was no point of reference but the stars and one other plane on approach to FLL.

And because of the plane I can definitely say it wasn't a commercial plane. The color of the objects appeared to be the same color as HID street lamps. That orange glow you get from High Pressure Sodium bulbs.

If this sighting sounds like something worth investigating; I would be willing to draw a diagram. The event is clear in mind and I doubt will diminish for quite some time. It was definitely out of the ordinary and unexplainable from my experiences to-date.

Posted 2014-03-18