1997-03-20 - Spencerville, ON - Light

Summary : Bright red-orange light

I was observing/photographing Hale-Bopp. I noticed a bright red-orange light, about 2x as bright as Venus at it's maximum at ~20 degrees over the NNW horizon. For some reason, I didn't pay much attention to it. After about 45 minutes, I saw that it was in the same position, and had not moved. I looked at it with my 11x80 binoculars (on a tripod) and it started to move (at about 1"/second) steadily parallel to the horizon (eastward). I do not know the exact date, but it was sometime in March and I told a friend about it the next day. A few weeks later, several very bright orange lights were seen to the south all over Eastern Ontario. My friend saw them (I did not) and said that they were bright enough to cast a shadow - his wife and several neighbours watched them for a few minutes. The Ottawa Citizen newspaper had an article about them (with photos) a couple of days later and claimed that they were flares being tested as Fort Drum, USA (about 70 miles due south of this sighting). When my friend's wife phoned Fort Drum, she was told that the Canadian Government was testing flares near Prescott!! (approx. 20 miles south of the sighting). On Aug 6, ~2300 hrs, the sky was overcast but there was a clear band over the northern horizon. I saw the 'same' object in the approximately the same position and went into the house to get my binoculars. When I came out, about a minute later, it was gone.