NUFORC Sighting 175820

Occurred: 2023-05-17 22:14 Local
Reported: 2023-05-17 20:50 Pacific
Duration: 2 Seconds
No of observers: 1

Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Location details: Near Midway Airport

Shape: Light
Characteristics: Lights on object

Extremely fast moving object seen moving towards Midway airport

An object was observed moving east to west across the night sky add an extremely high velocity. The location is very urban; near downtown Chicago. The object appeared as a point of light that I initially thought was a plane. It was moving so quickly it caught my eye and I looked up. It appeared to move in a straight line. I live in a place where I regularly see planes move from east to west, preparing for landing at Chicago Midway airport. This light was not following one of the typical plane paths that I see approach the airport. Since it was just a single point of solid whitish, blue light, I thought it might be a plane very high in altitude, but as I watched it move, I realized it was something much smaller and much closer to the ground. I cannot rule out a drone entirely, but the speed and distance seem to rule that out. The object was moving at a somewhat steep angle, seemed to come from quite high in the sky, and move towards midway airport in a descending motion approaching lower altitude. The sighting only lasted about two seconds. In that short amount of time I watched the object move from nearly above me to a great distance from me, perhaps closer to the airport. If I had to guess I would say the object was moving at the speed of miles per second. My guess based on google maps is that in those 2 seconds the object may have moved 3-5 miles. Its speed was constant and its direction did not change from a straight line. Estimating the objects altitude is tough for me, but roughly I would say it started a few hundred meters up in the sky, and where I lost sight it may have been only 100 or so meters in the sky. I lost sight of the object when it was blocked by other buildings on my immediate horizon. It could have been a piece of space debris falling to the ground, but most shooting stars I have seen are very quick wisps that move across the sky and disappear. Also, I have never seen a shooting star in the city. This object did not seem to fit that pattern. The object left no trail in the sky and was completely silent.

Posted 2023-05-19