1997-08-17 - Philadelphia, PA - Sphere

Summary : I sighted in daylight between 1 and 8 small, bright, round objects high in the sky over a period of 7 hours that flew from north to east in usually in three's in various patterns(triangular, stacked, linear).

I first spotted these bright, white round or oblong objects (they resembled a bright star)at 9:30 am on Sunday August, 17, 1997 in the morning. I noticed one such oject flying from west to east above and behind a blimp which was traveling slowly in the opposite direction. I viewed this through a a glass door overlooking downtown Philadelphia, PA from my fifth floor apartment building. The sky was clear blue. I opened the door onto an outside porch to view the flying bright object unobstructed. There were two other objects on the right flying east. They were not flying terribly fast, but they appeared to be flying in a triangular formation. I sighted such objects from 9:30 am until 4 pm. They would continue for the most part to appear from the north and fly east. There would be anywhere from one object to eight objects in the sky at once, moving in and out of various flight patterns (triangular, stacked, linear). They usually flew in three's in a triangular formation. Somethimes two would fly very close together, and then move apart. Sometimes two would fly as a double on top of one another or next to one another. At 1:30 pm I saw as many an eight objects in the sky at once. I was walking to the market a few blocks from my apartment building. When I reached the store I could see above the store moving from north to east approx. seven or eight bright round objects. They resembled a bright star, like venus. There was, however, at this time one object that appreared brighter than the rest and its upper portion flashed or blinked. Next to it appeared an object that was smaller and appeared a dull red. That object moved east and disappeared. Three of the other objects moved north and four others moved east. By the time I returned home, I could see two objects stacked on top of one another flying east. These objects were small. It is hard to guess at what altitude they were flying. I would say at least 30,000 feet. Objects would appear out of the north and fly east until about 4:00 pm. At least one or two was always present in the sky. Then they tapered off and by 4-4:30 pm, there were no objects sighted. My roommate saw the objects as well and was baffled. It was very strange since it lasted such a long period of time. I called one of the local news stations around 2 pm, but nothing was reported on the evening news. The objects were not very large, the size of a star, like venus. They were very bright, white in color. They moved with a strange fluidity. That is what caught my attention initially. They would move together and apart quite rapidly and in and out of various formations.There is an airport that is nearby and many planes could be seen while the objects were visible. But the objects and a plane cou! ld not be confused because of the objects movement. They moved with an agility that I have never seen a plan demonstrate. I am a native of the Philadelphia area for the past 30 years and am very used to seeing planes. These objects were different. They were not random lights because they seemed to moved in very purposeful, logical formations and repeated these patterns often. Their speed was much faster than your average commercial plane, but they did not streak across the sky or anything like that. Sometimes the formations(triangles, lines, stacked) spanned many miles, sometimes they were closed in. Usually they would expand and contract the formation or move out of the formation into another one. There is an Air Force Base in New Jersey, McGuire Air Force Base, perhaps 50 miles away. But these objects did not resemble any miliary aircraft that I every saw.