1999-10-07 - Elkton, MD - Unknown

up to 9 aircraft,3 apearing out of no where and up to 6 flying by the other 3

First of all, I am an aviation mechanic for the last 16 years & I know civil & military aircraft capablities. My sighting is located at the top of the chesapke bay on the elk river just north of the c&d canal. I observed one a/c stationary about 1 to 2 miles south of my home at 100ft. agl. with 3 lites (red, white & green) which indicate nav. lites but where more intense, the white lite normally indicates aft pos. But this appeared to be forward section of a/c. I noticed the a/c was completly motionless for several mins. with on noticeble engine sound. this is almost imposible even for a "helo", when another a/c appeared along side the other out of no where! I then went & got my wife out of bed to show her & while she was standing next to me another a/c appeared along side the other 2 a/c. We where both concerned at that point, then one the frist a/c that appear moved along the shore line just inland & headed north just east of my location & approached my location moving at 10 to 20 knots. As the a/c closed in on my location I could here a humming sound from the a/c, when it reached my location I could see half of the a/c through the tree line. The a/c was still at approx. 100 ft. agl. and to large to be a "helo" I could see the aft section of this a/c as it moved past my location and noted that the trees were not being moved from any downward thrust at this alt. any manmade a/c would hve to produce 1 to 1 thrust ratio to stay aloft, but yet no sign of this? I did however hear some lite jet fan sound as the a/c were directly over head. The a/c design was unlike anything I HAVE EVER SEEN. After the a/c moved on I noticed other identical a/c moving south to north east & west of my location with the other 2 a/c moving out in the same direction. I worked at phl int'l airport for several years & called the tower there to see if they had any a/c at my location, she replied that there wasn't any traffic in my section. the whole event took approx 45 mins.