NUFORC Sighting 157895

Occurred: 2004-02-12 18:00 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2020-07-23 21:03 Pacific
Duration: 5 minutes
No of observers: 1

Location: Massachusetts, , Aruba

Shape: Circle

Stationary stars suddenly shoot off and out of sight

I realize this was about 16 years ago, but I just found this website.

I was a teenager at the time and was on vacation in Aruba with my family. Just brut dusk we sat down for dinner at an outdoor pizza place. It was near the beach and I was facing the ocean. A bright "star" caught my attention over the ocean and while my family talked amongst themselves I focused on the star. For nearly 5 minutes I didn't take my eyes off of it.

I also noticed a similar star close to the first. These 2 stars stood out because of how bright they were in comparison to every other star nearby. Without warning, the first star shot off (from my point of view away to the right) until it shrunk and was gone. The speed took me by surprised and I reacted out loud. The second star did the same thing about 15 seconds later. And then they were gone. I've never forgotten that experience.

I've tried rationalizing it. In the moment when I told my family, they thought it was probably just meteorites bouncing off the atmosphere. But they were never getting brighter or bigger, they always maintained the same distance from reference points I picked on land, until they accelerated away.

Posted 2020-07-31