1985-01-15 - McGrady, NC - Changing

On a clear, starry winter evening I observed a very unusual object in the night sky, my grandfather also saw the object.

(This is an edited version of of a report that I posted on May 24, 1999). At the time of the sighting I was a senior in high school. I was visiting my grandparent's farm in a valley of the Blue Ridge mountains on a perfectly clear and moonless winter night. I arrived just before 9 pm. As I was going up the steps into the house I noticed a very large and bright object fly over the mountain ridge to the west. The object was unlike anything that I had ever seen. It was roughly the size of the full moon and nearly as bright. It gave off a steady, brilliant blue-white light (it was white in the center and became blue towards the edges). The object originally had a fuzzy, or indistinct outline. During the time I observed the object (about 5-6 minutes), it made no sound whatsoever, and it flew in a straight west-to-east line. After observing the object for a couple of minutes it flew "behind" a tall pine tree atop a small hill next to the farmhouse, and it was so bright that you could easily see it shining through the tree branches. Since it was dark I am not sure of the height of the object, however, it did appear to be at least several hundred feet in the air. I asked my grandfather (who was 75 at the time) to come outside, and after putting on a coat he did so. He watched the object for about a minute and commented that he had never seen anything like it - he didn't know what it was. The cold air forced him to go back inside the house, but I kept watching. About 4-5 minutes into the sighting the UFO suddenly changed both its' shape and color. In a split second it went from being a very bright, circular-shaped object to a teardrop or cone shape with a dull orange color. When the object changed its' shape and color it did so from the bottom up - like someone pulling up a windowshade, which I thought was very odd. The object continued on its' straight west-to-east path until it passed behind the mountain ridge to the east and was out of sight. I did not see it again, nor in the years since have I seen anythin! g that r esembles it. I currently live near a busy airport, and I have seen and heard many airplanes at night, and NONE of them have borne any similarity with this object. Also, at the time of the sighting I practiced astronomy as a hobby, and I had spent many summer evenings in the back of my grandparent's home with a telescope. As a result I did have some familiarity with the night sky, and this object was far brighter and slower than any meteor I had ever seen (and this includes fireballs). The object was also much larger and brighter than any star, planet, or satellite I had ever observed. In short, I have never seen any other object which has resembled this "peculiar" craft. The next day I told my parents about the sighting but they laughed it off, as a result I have not told anyone until now about this object. I do remember that a few weeks later our local newspaper ran a story about some "strange lights" which were being seen in nearby communities, but I have never had the chance to investigate and find the article in question. I hold a master's degree and I am currently a teacher at a private high school in North Carolina.

((NUFORC Note: We have replaced the original report with this edited version. PD))