1997-11-24 - Palm Harbor, FL - Triangle

Summary : tracked a triangular object with seven or eight lights hover for approx. 2-3 min. then travel eastward out of view.

While driving home, I witnessed a large light low in the sky, which appeared to change color rapidly. It drifted to the west, alternately blinking out and reappearing. As I parked and got out of my car, it stopped. I ran inside and got a pair of binoculars (Tasco 7x35mm). When I got back outside, the light was still in the same place. When I aimed the binoculars at the object, it had three lights on it, two white and one blue. It looked like a helicopter, but I continued to track it as it moved slowly back toward the east. After about two minutes, four or five more lights appeared, two white and the others blinking red, orange, and blue. As it acclerated, I could make out a vague triangular shape which contained the lights. The object took up a good portion of the lenses of the binocs, and with the naked eye was about the size of a dime. There was no discernible sound coming from the object, and the rustling of nearby trees made it hard to tell if there was any noise. The! object continued to accelerate to a speed which made it difficult to track, and disappeared behind the home across the street from mine. Observer info: 21 years old, college student, some knowledge of aircraft, but no non-passenger flying experience.