I saw a UFO!

[I Ratant]

Originally Posted by MrBooglemaumau

Two things I remember..first one was in 1981..a sighting of a flying object,unidentified ,and reported by the public as a UFO,described as a Delta Wing Craft complete with artists impression....looked exactly like the USAF Stealth Bomber..flying over Queensland ,Australia.Also made the TV news as a UFO..well I guess that's what it was... unidentified.Second was at night,looking up into the cloudless starry sky two of us saw a moving pinpoint of light execute a dogleg..strange ...

.
No stealth aircraft flying outside the ConUS in 1981.
The first F-117 had just flown in Nevada.
The revised B-1 entered service in 1986.
B-2 flew on 17 July, 1989. Saw that from my backyard.
Australia has F-111s. Wings back they are triangular looking.

[Beerina]

I saw a bright light hovering way up in the air once. It was clearly not a star or planet, and was way too high for a helicopter. Very odd.

For about 10 minutes it just hovered there, then slowly started moving. In short order it moved faster and faster, finally wooshing overhead.

It was a big jet on a descent/approach to an airport about 7 miles away, and just happened to be descending at the perfect angle and rate to basically be pointing more or less right at my eye.

But for the first 10 minutes or so, it was mighty weird.

[Ray Brady]

I remember stopping at an upstate New York hotel once. It was a dark, moonless night, but in the sky I could see a slow-moving white light. It traveled across the sky from right to left for about half a minute, then simply disappeared. As I was wondering where it had gotten to, I saw another following the exact same route, then disappearing in the exact same spot.

The next morning, I returned to the parking lot to discover a mountain that had been completely invisible the night before. The lights were just cars driving along a road about halfway up.

[23_Tauri]

If the Pharoah is reading this, would he be so kind as to re-post his Jane's UFO Spotter's Guide? It would seem somehow apt. I liked it muchly but can't find it. Thanks.

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

Maybe 10 years ago I was walking home from the pub on a cloudless night with a friend. We both heard a very strange fizzing sound coming from the sky. Looking up we saw what looked like a ball of green fire with smoke coming out of it moving at what looked like quite a slow speed. When I say it had smoke coming out of it, I mean that it looked like a really bad spaceship effect from a black and white Buck Rogers chapter play - big plumes of white smoke, rising upwards from point of origin. It disappeared off over the horizon.

The first thing I thought was that it had to be a meteorite of a kind that I'd never heard of before (I'd never heard of green fire, nor had I heard of a meteorite that produced audible hissing), and assumed that the apparent slowness of movement had to be down to my perception of distance being wrong, as well as perhaps having wrong expectations due to watching too much TV. I did my best to look for information on a kind of meteorite that fit that description, and even to see if I could find information for meteorite sightings on the night in question, but my google-fu let me down.

So I just filed it under "something cool I once saw" and didn't really think about it again. I mentioned it once or twice over the years whenever the subject of UFOs came up, but otherwise it just sat in the back of my mind. A few years after the sighting I described my experience to someone in an online discussion, only to have a poster not only provide a link to a class of meteorite that would fit my description (information I have since forgotten again) but also link to an astronomy website which showed that there was a meteorite recorded in the area where I lived at around the time that I saw my UFO.

So I never thought it was something non-natural, just something that I personally had never heard of before. Now I have. That doesn't make it any less cool.

[RoboTimbo]

I was driving west from St. Louis Tuesday of last week and was about halfway across Missouri when I saw something in the sky. It looked like it might have been an airplane of some type but I couldn't identify it. It almost looked like an old WWI biplane at first and was flying about as slowly.

I kept watching it, it was heading north across I70 in front of me from my left to right and was banking around to my right, like it was going to circle around behind me. When it was finally due north of me, it seemed to bank some more and then I saw what it was.

It was both bigger and faster than I initially thought because it was further away than I initially thought. It was a B2 out of Whiteman AFB and it was awesome. Interesting how different aspects of a known object make you think they are something different.

[Rramjet]

I have had numerous UFO sightings - but one of the most mundane occurred as follows.

(Names of participants deleted to protect their privacy) …“Those stars are moving”. And he pointed up into the western night sky. I looked up but could see nothing except a huge number of stars (it was a very clear night). “Where?” I asked. “There”, he said pointing. I stood up and so did he. I followed his pointed finger and there they were: Four tiny star-like points of light in a row, about 70 degrees up, moving south to north. Very high up. Satellite height. They had a similar brightness to stars – but they were not twinkling. The strange thing was that the first two lights were close together (a finger nail width between them at arms length) and they were “oscillating” about a midpoint between them. Not much - perhaps 20-30 degrees - but certainly noticeable. First the front one was above (to the side of?) the line of motion and the back one below it, then the oscillation would reverse this configuration. Back and forth they moved with a period of about 5 seconds. Then there was a third object trailing them on the same track, perhaps two finger widths back - and a little further back again – maybe three finger widths, a fourth one. All following precisely the same track. They just continued on their heading to disappear in the slight misty haziness over the hills to the north. From the time of sighting (almost due west) to when they disappeared in the northwest was about 20 seconds.

How does one even begin to explain that sighting in mundane terms? Those oscillations simply defy mundane explanation. I have others that are even more strange - if anyone is interested I can relate some of those too...

[Jono74]

Hi all. I'm Jono, and am very new to the JREF forum, though I've been lurking and reading here for about 8-9 months now. I discovered it through Skeptoid, my favourite podcast, and to which I'm addicted.
Anyway, I've been wanting to start a thread for people to post in who have interesting UFO stories, preferably, very preferably, first hand. Actually, ONLY first hand. Especially ones where there is as yet no good explanation for, but also for ones that DO have good sensible explanations, as many above posts have. I thank their authors for sharing. I also appreciate that some may not want to share, for fear of ruining their sceptic 'reputation', in cases where it would be easier to call someone crazy, deluded, or a liar, though I dont reckon that would be the case here.
I would have liked to have something like this as the OP, where more people can see it and it wont get buried, but I was afraid that if I did that, it would be too similiar to stuff the regulars here are probably sick and tired of, so I searched and found this one to resurrect instead - I hope thats acceptable.
Im fascinated by some sightings, even though I'm well aware that 95% have an explanation. I'm especially interested to hear from intelligent, thinking, critical and rational people - that is a rarity in the UFO stories world. Might also be best to keep any 'abduction' stories to oneself, if I may respectfully ask. And ones where bigfoot is part of a spaceship crew, who cores out cows' anuses
Well, thats about it. I have 2 stories; one is various lights in the sky at night, which is all too common, and the other I dont even know how to begin to explain using just a keyboard. 4-5 of us saw it, and it was in the daytime, and was more a phenomenon - ie - not a metallic type thing.
Thankyou for sharing and indulging me

[jhunter1163]

When I was a teenager, I saw a UFO. It actually appeared three times; the first time it was maybe half a mile away, and moving down the hill my parents lived on at the time. The second time, it was maybe a quarter of a mile away, moving in the same direction (as if it had reached the bottom of the hill, come back up, and was making another pass.) The third time, it passed almost directly over where my brothers, mother and I were watching. It was about the size of a small aircraft, appeared to be spherical (was rounded as much as we could see), shiny silver in color, and had one large bright white light on it. It was absolutely silent. It went down the hill again, moving in the general direction of the local airport.

Now, before you jump to the "glider" conclusion, keep in mind that this was at about 10:30 pm, on a moonless night; it was seriously dark. Also, the area where we lived was heavily wooded; any glider pilot flying down that hill in the dark, even with a bright light on the front, was taking his life in his hands. Not to say that it would be impossible, just extremely foolhardy. I like a good hoax as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't risk my life for one. Just sayin'.

So what was it? I don't know...

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by 23_Tauri

If the Pharoah is reading this, would he be so kind as to re-post his Jane's UFO Spotter's Guide? It would seem somehow apt. I liked it muchly but can't find it. Thanks.

________

[arthwollipot]

Edited by arthwollipot:

Since this post of mine seems to have caused a slight issue, and since after reviewing the thread, I find that I already posted this particular "I saw a UFO" story way back when this thread was started, I've removed it.

[desertgal]

Originally Posted by Apology

Scary and imposing, no? The Blackbird was the world's fastest and highest-flying aircraft. It could fly at altitudes of 80,000 feet and reach Mach 3 in speed. The SR-71 could make a trans-Atlantic flight in only 64 minutes. A commercial jet took 6 hours to make the same flight, and the Concorde made it in 3 1/2 hours, but the Blackbird did it in 64 minutes. In addition, it utilized early Stealth technology in order to camouflage it from the enemy, since it was a spy plane. That is why it seemed to "disappear" before our very eyes. The Blackbird was very thin, and coated with a specially-designed black paint so that it created an optical illusion and seemed to disappear when viewed at an angle. The area in the desert where we were traveling bordered Edward Air Force Base. Edward Air Force Base is a renowned testing site and home of very many interesting-looking military crafts, both past and present. I feel honored to have seen the SR-71 Blackbird in what was undoubtedly one of its last flights.

I'm rather envious-I would have loved to have seen that. There's a Blackbird parked at the Space Center in Huntsville, AL, and I've seen that one up close, but have never seen one fly IRL. Will always wish I had, though.

That is one awesome plane...

[Akhenaten]

Originally Posted by desertgal

I'm rather envious-I would have loved to have seen that. There's a Blackbird parked at the Space Center in Huntsville, AL, and I've seen that one up close, but have never seen one fly IRL. Will always wish I had, though.

That is one awesome plane...

Extraordinary, in fact.

[Steve001]

Way back in August of 69 on an unusually clear night I was looking at the stars and I noticed three stars that formed an equilateral triangle. While looking at them two of these stars moved apart then stopped. I watched them for about 2 minutes more but they did not move. Shortly after that and just a few degrees from the first three I saw another star that moved then stopped. Several years later in the early 70s again on a summer evening before sunset with a high yet overcast cloud ceiling I noticed a orange ball of light that slowly drifted from north to south. It must have been well below the clouds for it did not cast a glow on them. Would love to know what I saw in all three cases.

[23_Tauri]

Originally Posted by Akhenaten

http://www.yvonneclaireadams.com/Hos...s_ET_Guide.jpg________http://www.yvonneclaireadams.com/Hos..._ET_Guide2.jpg

Thank you, and Happy Birthday!

[Akhenaten]

Thanks right back atcha!

[Jono74]

Wow... how fast can a thread go flying headlong off the rails...?

[arthwollipot]

Please do not think that you can use this thread to avoid the existing moderated thread. This thread is for personal UFO stories, as per the OP. This thread is not an unmoderated version of the UFOs: The Research, the Evidence thread.

Posted By:arthwollipot

[Jono74]

Originally Posted by Sceptic Tank

Maybe 10 years ago I was walking home from the pub on a cloudless night with a friend. We both heard a very strange fizzing sound coming from the sky. Looking up we saw what looked like a ball of green fire with smoke coming out of it moving at what looked like quite a slow speed. When I say it had smoke coming out of it, I mean that it looked like a really bad spaceship effect from a black and white Buck Rogers chapter play - big plumes of white smoke, rising upwards from point of origin. It disappeared off over the horizon.

The first thing I thought was that it had to be a meteorite of a kind that I'd never heard of before (I'd never heard of green fire, nor had I heard of a meteorite that produced audible hissing), and assumed that the apparent slowness of movement had to be down to my perception of distance being wrong, as well as perhaps having wrong expectations due to watching too much TV. I did my best to look for information on a kind of meteorite that fit that description, and even to see if I could find information for meteorite sightings on the night in question, but my google-fu let me down.

So I just filed it under "something cool I once saw" and didn't really think about it again. I mentioned it once or twice over the years whenever the subject of UFOs came up, but otherwise it just sat in the back of my mind. A few years after the sighting I described my experience to someone in an online discussion, only to have a poster not only provide a link to a class of meteorite that would fit my description (information I have since forgotten again) but also link to an astronomy website which showed that there was a meteorite recorded in the area where I lived at around the time that I saw my UFO.

So I never thought it was something non-natural, just something that I personally had never heard of before. Now I have. That doesn't make it any less cool.

THAT would have been a pretty neat thing to see! I'm not sure if I can trust you were not mistaken though...
Thanks for posting it, though.

[Rramjet]

(Names of participants deleted to protect their privacy) …“Those stars are moving”. And he pointed up into the western night sky. I looked up but could see nothing except a huge number of stars (it was a very clear night). “Where?” I asked. “There”, he said pointing. I stood up and so did he. I followed his pointed finger and there they were: Four tiny star-like points of light in a row, about 70 degrees up, moving south to north. Very high up. Satellite height. They had a similar brightness to stars – but they were not twinkling. The strange thing was that the first two lights were close together (a finger nail width between them at arms length) and they were “oscillating” about a midpoint between them. Not much - perhaps 20-30 degrees - but certainly noticeable. First the front one was above (to the side of?) the line of motion and the back one below it, then the oscillation would reverse this configuration. Back and forth they moved with a period of about 5 seconds. Then there was a third object trailing them on the same track, perhaps two finger widths back - and a little further back again – maybe three finger widths, a fourth one. All following precisely the same track. They just continued on their heading to disappear in the slight misty haziness over the hills to the north. From the time of sighting (almost due west) to when they disappeared in the northwest was about 20 seconds.

I have another personal experience:

(Four witnesses involved - 10 minute sighting)
Passenger jet passes overhead. West to East. (About 1200m up according to later Webtrack investigation). As we watched the plane – because it was a highly unusual tracking for a passenger plane to be on – we noticed an almost sky blue “balloon” above it. Quite large - as large as the tail fin of the plane – but above the plane. Sort of “round” but looking as if there are stubby protuberances extending from it. Looks as if “balloon arms” come out of it. Large fluffy, white cumulous clouds above.

Plane goes. “Balloon” slowly heading west (toward us) as if drifting on the wind (but according to the clouds the wind is actually out of the Northwest at that altitude… so it is moving against the wind). Then it simply stops and hangs there unmoving.

Suddenly from below and slightly south we notice some mirror bright flashes in the sunlight. Something is rising up as if to meet the “balloon”! The flashing is exactly as if what is rising is a randomly shaped object with mirror bright surfaces, tumbling randomly upward toward the “balloon”. It is a much smaller object than the “balloon”. Sort of ephemeral but the flashing is very bright.

The “flasher” does not in fact meet the balloon, just rises to the same height but only to within a short distance to the north of it. Both stop for a few seconds in space and just hang there. The balloon just being blue and kind of lumpy and the “flasher” just flashing.

Suddenly the flasher is just gone. No longer there - and the balloon begins moving again to rise and disappear into the cloud just above it. We have occasional glimpses as it comes below and out of the cloud and then it rises into cloud again. For a short while there is nothing to be seen at all.

Suddenly the flasher reappears further toward the west, now nearly directly overhead (as if it has travelled due west without us seeing it). It continues travelling west. We have a momentary illusion that it is actually falling toward ground as it passes directly overhead – but it must be actually ascending as it travels west - as it goes toward and then into a cloud.

Clouds continually dissipating and reforming (travelling slowly southeast on the wind).

Balloon then reappears further to the north of its original position, but now very high up, almost a speck. Obviously still rising. The cloud around it finally dissipates altogether and the balloon simply disappears upward at the limit of vision. No sign or reappearance of the flasher.

..and finally:

Inside the flat, watching TV. It was a warm evening and (wife) was outside talking to (name deleted), our next door neighbour. Next thing I hear is “(Rramjet! Rramjet)” Come out here. Quickly!” I reluctantly – begrudgingly (I was enjoying the show and the relaxation after dinner) – rose and went out. It was not long after sunset but the sky nearly dark by that time. They were pointing and staring at a large white light (the size of a full moon and as bright as a car headlight) sitting very still in the air toward the north. It looked to be about 30-40 metres off the ground and certainly no more than about 400 metres away. It was just hanging there, doing nothing in particular. There was no sound from it at all and it was not moving at all.

We commented quietly but excitedly on its size, its seeming closeness to us, on the lack of sound, ruling out a helicopter, and the lack of movement and any other lights, ruling out a plane.

Suddenly the light winked out, reappeared some short distance horizontally to the right, although seemingly somewhat smaller in dimension and with what seemed a slight colour change, then it winked out to reappear at the same distance horizontally to the left of its original position, then winked out again and reappeared exactly where it was before. This all happened literally within the blink of an eye. It was so quick that I was unsure if I had seen correctly. Not wanting to prejudice an answer I simply asked the others whether anyone else had seen something occur to the light - and if so what had occurred. Both girls stated what happened to the light - and their statements accorded exactly with what I observed. We marvelled at this for a bit, then the light suddenly began to retreat directly away from us, gathering speed rapidly as it went, until in a very short time indeed it had disappeared completely directly away from us and into the distance.

My friends say - if you want to see a UFO or something paranormal happen - just stick around with (Rramjet) for a while! LOL.

Edited for topic. Do not ignore moderator warnings.

Posted By:Cuddles

[Stray Cat]

Originally Posted by Rramjet

My friends say - if you want to see a UFO or something paranormal happen - just stick around with (Rramjet) for a while! LOL.

Which is odd because I say exactly the opposite to my friends.
I have quite a few friends who have reported seeing paranormal events on a fairly regular basis.
Though none have ever happened whilst I have been with them. Even though they have seen some things along with me, which I easily explained as having a mundane cause. To the point that at one time I even joked about the UFOs turning into planes as a disguise because they knew they were being seen by a sceptic.

If you want to guarantee nothing paranormal will happen, take Stray Cat with you.

[Resume]

Originally Posted by Rramjet

My friends say - if you want to see a UFO or something paranormal happen - just stick around with (Rramjet) for a while! LOL.

Why should it be surprising that the credulous have more "paranormal" experiences?

[I Ratant]

It isn't, really.
Actually, it's expected.

[TheRationalizer]

I was 7 years old. On a clear sunny day I looked into the sky and saw what I can only describe as a 2 dimensional rectangular shape. I'd say it was black, but it would be more accurate to say it was simply "void of light" - like a black hole.

I was only 7, so I suspect a corrupt memory, although I clearly remember it and also clearly remember drawing it at school etc for days afterwards.

What I found most interesting about this though was that about 10 years ago I phoned BUFORA to ask if they were aware of other reports which they had managed to explain. The guy on the phone was really excited about it. At one point I noticed he was trying to coach me as to what I saw by asking leading questions, he was trying to turn it into a triangle with lights on it. As soon as I told him he was completely wrong he lost all interest in the conversation.