1998-07-03 - Campbell River, BC - Triangle

It had 3 points of light forming a triangle. There were 2 more lights side by side near the center and front within the triangle shape. It flew in northwest direction

I was laying out on my sundeck looking at the stars. It was just after midnight and the sky was mostly clear with some high cirrus. As I looked up I saw what I thought was a satellite, except it seemed to be moving almost twice as fast as the average satellite. It only took a fraction of a second for me to realize that there was more than one point of light moving across the sky (as described above). The three points of light that made up the main outline of the triangle were a dull reddish-orange colour and about the same size as most of the smaller stars that make up the night sky. The two other lights that could be seen from within the triangle were a white light but were no larger and only slightly more intense than the outer lights. These two lights were quite close together and located on either side of a central axis extending from a halfway point at the base to the apex and closer to the front of the craft. I could not see any of the usual running lights associated with typical aircraft ie. (port and starboard lights and the bright pulsing central light). As it moved across the sky in a southeast to northwest direction it seemed to me that there was no substance to this shape, as if it were held together by strands of wire, with the leading light pulling the others in tow. The colour within the triangle was exactly the colour of the night sky, and there was no dark siloette, and no reflected light. It did make a slight sound as it passed overhead but, the sound was not far behind which seemed odd considering the speed it seemed to be travelling at. It was not as loud or delayed as even the highest jetliners that fly over. The best way to describe the size would be to say that across the base of the triangle it would measure about the length of an average human thumb extended to arms length, with the two sides being slightly longer than the base. I was the only one in my family to see this although my wife and three children were all sleeping beside me. I tried to wake my wife but the duration of the event was so short that she never had a chance to roll over. I am 45 years old and I have been married for ten years I have three young children and I live an otherwise normal and routine existence. I have my own design and construction business and my wife is a recreational coordinator. We own our house and live in a suburban neighbourhood. I would like to know if anyone else saw this object on this or any other night or if anyone can give a reasonable or scientific explanation of this sighting.