1998-12-15 - Saratoga Lake, NY - Changing

While videotaping a craft hovering silently over Saratoga Lake, a second unlit craft shot up from the lake,lit up and hovered.

At Riley Cove on the western shore of Saratoga Lake I saw a silent craft hovering over Saratoga Lake.It was emitting a steady, brilliant, warm light, far brighter than an airplane or helicopter.I'd say its altitude was less than 200 feet, and it was about half a mile out over the lake, definitely close enough to hear an aircraft engine, but the craft was completely silent. I stopped my car and started my videocamera,and filmed it hovering there. I zoomed in as tight as I could, then panned back, and as after I did, I saw a black streak shoot up out of the lake, there was just enough twilight left to see it against the sky. It shot up like a bullet. It happened in an instant, but I remember thinking that someone must be shooting something at this craft. But as it reached the altitude of the first craft it began to light up, and suddenly it was a second brilliantly lit craft hovering in the sky, about one hundred yards to the right of the first craft and a little bit higher. I was really shocked, it happened so quickly, I've never seen anything move like that, in less than one second it went from the water to hovering in a fixed position in the sky. I kept the camera fixed on the two craft as I undid my seatbelt and got out of the car,and they hovered there for several more minutes. Then the first craft seemed to change, it turned into what appeared to be a flat triangle, which began to pulse and fly slowly past the second object, then slowly looped back around again, remaining nearby the second craft. Conventional airplanes began approaching the second craft, also flying closeby to it. The second craft (the one that shot up into the sky) remained hovering for several more minutes, at times motionless, then drifting slowly slowly one way, then heading back in the other direction towards the southern end of the lake. It started to move more quickly,heading across my field of visio! n so I was seeing the side of the craft. If it were an airplane or helicopter I'd have seen the tail lights, strobing lights, or individual lights, but this craft remained a single, large, solid warm light. The southern end of Saratoga Lake is ringed by a heavily wooded hillside, and the craft was travelling just at the hill's treeline in a bobbing up-and-down sort of motion, dipping below the treeline, then floating back up from behind the hill's dark pine trees, eventually going down like a setting sun behind the trees. I do have this incident on videotape.