NUFORC Sighting 120477

Occurred: 2015-07-17 23:20 Local
Reported: 2015-07-18 22:23 Pacific
Duration: 20+ minutes
No of observers: 6

Location: Gladstone, MI, USA

Shape: Fireball
Characteristics: Lights on object, Aura or haze around object, Changed Colo

Multiple fireballs in the sky.

On July 17th, 2015, at 23:00 I was out for a bike ride. Upon riding down a dead end street at about 23:20, I could see a truck shining a bright halogen spot light up into the sky, as they were bringing attention to something. There were 6 residents pointing up in the sky. I noticed they were pointing at a red/orange fireball moving up from the ground up into the sky about 2.5 miles away. I rode my bike back one block and went down a dark, dirt path in a undeveloped part of town, where there were no background lights, completely pitch black. This area has no obstructions and overlooks a inlet of Lake Michigan.

I climbed up on a sugar sand hill. I saw 1 orange/red round fireball climb up from, what we local residents call “The Bluff” a 200ft elevation change on the west side of the city. The fireball climbed to approx. 500ft, it then started forward motion and began a huge sweeping left hand turn out over Little Bay De Noc. After moving across the water, it gently faded out and disappeared.

As soon as it was dimming out of sight, I noticed 2 more rising up 1 after another, from the same location as the first one. They 2 made the same sweeping turn at about 1500ft to 1800ft. I have flown in a Cessna around this area before.

At one point there were 4 flying. Although they flew the same circuit, it was not the exact speed every time. There were some small variations.

This continued for at least 20 minutes. I was quite interested in watching this, as this was not my first time observing these fireballs. Last summer I had a much closer sighting.

This being my second sighting I was not so shocked to see the fireballs, this time I took more time to get a description of them. As I squinted at them, they appeared to have a central upside down “V” with 2 round points at the bottom of them. They have a bizarre flickering effect, almost like the “licking of flames, from a fire” with the “V” in the middle. They seem to pulse between red to yellow.

Both elements put together, it looks like a cross between a bright filament in a clear light bulb and someone puffing a cigarette at night, a very smooth red/orange/yellow pulse.

After spending 8 years in the military, I have been around both F-16 fighters and numerous helicopters. These things are absolutely silent, no distant “JUH,JUH,JUH or ROARS” at a 2.5 mile distance.

I can determine a few things, these are not: fireworks helicopters private planes commercial planes helium type “Fire Lamps” RC planes / 4 blade RC drones, to far away to control by radio.

They just have too much speed, and the point of origin that they start from.

With everything going on in the country, they might be some type of testing of new observation platforms that we don’t know about.

Posted 2015-07-23

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