2000-02-16 - Rockford, IL - Light

On Wed. Feb.16,2000 I had just come out of the logli's grocery store on State st. in Rockford, IL. I placed my groceries in the van and turned to return my cart, that is when I saw four amber orbs in the night sky. Three of the orbs formed a triangle, while one was positioned down below.The orbs were a very bright amber color, a bit larger then the north star at it's largest. The orb that formed the left point of the triangle was a floater. It floated between the top orb and the bottom orb. The moon was 3/4 full and it was a cold,clear well lite night.I called to a gentleman getting out of his vehicle and he stood for a couple of minutes and watched them with me.... he had also never seen anything like them.I was not sure of there altitude so I got in the car to drive closer. After only a short distance they began to leave, so I pulled into a quiet paking lot behind Khols on State st.and watched. They would blink briefly then zoom into the southern sky. I watched until all you could see was a pin point and then the orb would be gone. Each one left individually.

I am the wife of a pilot/airplane mechanic and I have speant much of my adult life with my eyes pointed toward the sky, but never have I seen such a sight as I saw on Feb 16,2000. As I said before it was a very clear well lite night. The stars were beautiful and the moon was approximately 3/4 full.... but nothing compaired to the four amber colored orbs that floated in the night sky over Rockford,IL. When I first saw the orbs it was 9:30 pm, I had just looked at my watch upon leaving the store that I was coming out of. After placing my groceries in the van I saw the orbs glowing in the night sky. I quickly scanned the surrounding sky and discovered several aircraft flying in other parts of the sky, but none around the orbs. The orbs did not have any other colored lights on them that would indicate that they were an FAA approved aircraft.After observing them for several minutes, I also ruled out hot air balloons due to the fact that I could see stars all around the orbs. They also did not make the tell tale sound that a hot air balloon would make.I am confident that this was not one solid craft due to the fact that stars shone through the center of the triagle shape that they were forming.The orbs were very bright, but not too bright to comfotably look at with the naked eye.The orb that formed the left corner of the triagle was a floater... It first blinked a couple of times and appeared to float toward that top orb... paused...blinked... then floated to its original location. Then the whole process started again only this time it floated toward the bottom right orb. At this point I was unable to determine what altitude all of this was taking place at, so I thought to get a better look. I got in my van and started to drive closer to them. Unfortunately as I did this one by one they would blink and disappear into the southern sky.So I opted to pull over into a parking lot behind Khols on State St. and watch.As I sat there I decided that if they were the size of a jet liner I would guess them to be at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Now I do not claim that this was their size or altitude. I am only stating that it is my best guess at an approximate altitude if they were the size of an airliner.It actually looked liked the orbs were suspended in air... I watched the last orb rapidly blink and then zoom out of sight into the southern sky. I looked down and the time was 9:40pm. I sat for a few more minutes wa! tching t he sky for any other signs of the orbs, there were none... so I headed for home.

((NUFORC Note: Witness did indicate a time in the Event Time box. We have entered a time of "21:30 hrs.," the time indicated by most other witnesses.))