1999-11-11 - El Centro, CA - Cigar

We saw a metallic silver cigar shaped object flying slowly from N to S, it turned away, turned transparent and then dissappeared.

A friend and I were driving from El Centro to San Diego West on Highway 8 in the mountains approximately 50 miles East of San Diego. The elevation was 4100 feet. We had just passed a sign, so that is how I know it was that elevation. I was driving, and something made me look to the sky above the mountains to my in a Northwest direction - I think it was the movement in the sky. I was surprised to see something that was clearly not a plane because it had no wings or tail, no lights, and no trail behind it. It looked like a silver metallic cigar-shaped craft that with rounded edges, and was larger at one end (the left as I was looking at it) than the other. I could not see if it had windows, but it was very large. I am not a pilot so have no reference for size, but my guess is that it was quite a bit larger than an airplane. The object was moving very slowly from North to South just above the peak of a mountain. It would periodically slow down and then speed up. I said to my friend a couple of seconds after I first sighted it - "((name deleted)), what the heck is that?" To which she replied that she had no idea, and that she had already been watching it for at least 1 - 1 1/2 minutes and was trying to figure that out herself. She kept thinking (and hoping) it would show some wings or something to indicate that it was a plane. We both got very excited and said "oh my God, I think it is a UFO" at the same time! At that point I looked at my watch to verify time, and it said 4:20 PM. The sun was setting in the West, and it caused the craft to shine quite brightly. We were behind a mountain at the time, so the sun was not shining in our eyes. I did look for signs for some reference as to the exact point, but there were none around. There are quite a few mountains in this area. We both watched the object for approximately 30 seconds, and were discussing it when it took a 90-degree turn very quickly due West, became transparent, and then disappeared. ((Name deleted)) did not witness it becoming transparent first, only that it disappeared instantly. We believe she must have blinked during this time because that is how fast it occurred. I then pulled over on the side of the road and grabbed my camera and video camera in case it came back, because at that point I was convinced that I saw something otherworldly or perhaps an experimental craft of some type. We both remarked how it began to move away as we were talking about it. We then kept looking to see if we would see anything further, or perhaps see planes in the area that would indicate a flight line to or from an airport, but saw nothing until we reached the San Diego Area. We saw no planes or helicopters whatsoever going to or from El Centro at all once we reached the mountains. We are from the Midwest and are unfamiliar with mountains, but perhaps a topographical map would indicate the tallest one (the one we were on) for a better reference. ((name deleted)) had never seen a UFO in her life (she is now 53), and is convinced that this was a UFO. I should also mention that ((name deleted)) was driving first, and then I got very sick and made her let me drive to minimize the sickness. I do get carsick, but this time was probably the worst I've ever felt. Also, about 10 minutes after the sighting, I was compelled to pull off to the side of the road to collect rocks two times. The second time, we pulled 100 feet behind a stalled van, and right as I returned to the car I looked in the rear view mirror and saw a semi truck cab driving at around 90 MPH on the side of the road straight for us. Just before it would have hit us, it swerved back onto the highway. I have the overwhelming feeling that that was a message of some sort.