Summary : A bright light, which I thought was a "falling star", suddenly leveled off at my altitude, veered to the north, then came directly at me, at very high speed.
On the evening of October 29, 1997, I was flying my Cessna 170, at an altitude of 9,500 ft., and a heading of 060 degrees. (N.E.). I was approx. 70 nautical miles S.W. of the Hobart VOR. on the 240 radial. At around 1900 CST, I observed what I thought at first was a meteorite, and wondered why it didn't burn up like they usually do. I remember saying to myself, "Gosh, I could of made a wish on this one!" Then I thought it was going to make it all the way to the ground. When it got to my altitude, it suddenly leveled off, veered slightly to the north, then turned and came directly at me, still at what I, out of lack of a better term, will call "meteorite speed". I was in awe, and remember thinking, "nothing travels that fast!!!" After a few seconds in awe, I was terror stricken, as I realized the object was on a direct collision course. My reflex reaction made me bank the plane 90 degrees, and pull back hard to avoid collision. (As if my 120 mph airplane could possibly avoid something that fast!?) When there was no impact, or wake, or anything else, I turned around to see what it was, but it was gone. I immediately went for my charts to find the frequency to call ATC on, to see if they had painted a target, but was so upset, and shaking, I couldn't look at my chart and fly the plane at the same time. As for the size, and relative speed of the object, I can only make an analogy. I have already compared it to a meteorite. Assuming a meteorite appears about the size of a kernel of corn, held at arms length, then this object went from that size, when I first observed it, to about the size of a beach ball, held at arms length, when I maneuvered abruptly to "avoid it". I am a commercial pilot with ten years, and several thousand flight hours of experience, and am certainly used to seeing lights in the sky, and judging their speed and altitude, for collision avoidance. I live near an Air Force base, and am used to seeing, and sharing the airspace with military aircraft. I can say with certainty, nothing the military has, goes that fast. If anyone wants to check the radar tapes, my transponder was on all the way, so there should be a good plot of my course. I departed Roswell, N. M., at approx. 16:00 mountain time. The tower at ROW will have a log with the exact time. My aircraft call sign is N((Numbers))A.
On the evening of October 29, 1997, I was flying my Cessna 170, at an altitude of 9,500 ft., and a heading of 060 degrees. (N.E.). I was approx. 70 nautical miles S.W. of the Hobart VOR. on the 240 radial. At around 1900 CST, I observed what I thought at first was a meteorite, and wondered why it didn't burn up like they usually do. I remember saying to myself, "Gosh, I could of made a wish on this one!" Then I thought it was going to make it all the way to the ground. When it got to my altitude, it suddenly leveled off, veered slightly to the north, then turned and came directly at me, still at what I, out of lack of a better term, will call "meteorite speed". I was in awe, and remember thinking, "nothing travels that fast!!!" After a few seconds in awe, I was terror stricken, as I realized the object was on a direct collision course. My reflex reaction made me bank the plane 90 degrees, and pull back hard to avoid collision. (As if my 120 mph airplane could possibly avoid something that fast!?) When there was no impact, or wake, or anything else, I turned around to see what it was, but it was gone. I immediately went for my charts to find the frequency to call ATC on, to see if they had painted a target, but was so upset, and shaking, I couldn't look at my chart and fly the plane at the same time. As for the size, and relative speed of the object, I can only make an analogy. I have already compared it to a meteorite. Assuming a meteorite appears about the size of a kernel of corn, held at arms length, then this object went from that size, when I first observed it, to about the size of a beach ball, held at arms length, when I maneuvered abruptly to "avoid it". I am a commercial pilot with ten years, and several thousand flight hours of experience, and am certainly used to seeing lights in the sky, and judging their speed and altitude, for collision avoidance. I live near an Air Force base, and am used to seeing, and sharing the airspace with military aircraft. I can say with certainty, nothing the military has, goes that fast. If anyone wants to check the radar tapes, my transponder was on all the way, so there should be a good plot of my course. I departed Roswell, N. M., at approx. 16:00 mountain time. The tower at ROW will have a log with the exact time. My aircraft call sign is N((Numbers))A.
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Childress (approx 20 miles north of
USA
5-7 seconds
5-7 seconds
light
TX
Occurred : 10/29/1997 19:00 (Entered as : 10/29/97 19:00) Reported: 10/31/1997 18:52 Posted: 8/5/2001 Location: Childress (approx 20 miles north of, TX Shape: Light Duration: 5-7 seconds
A bright light, which I thought was a "falling star", suddenly leveled off at my altitude, veered to the north, then came directly at m