2000-02-21 - Los Altos Hills, CA - Disk

Object resembled two inverted teacups.Backlit by emerging full moon. No sound. In and out of line of sight in less than 2 seconds.

I awoke a few minutes before 9:45 pm, looked out the bedroom window (facing East) through a 3-foot open area where our drapes were open. I was watching the sky, fully awake, when IT appeared, swooping down in a "lazy J" pattern, ie from 12 o’clock to 3 o’clock, then continuing straight across my line of sight (East to West). (Only 1 object.) I believe IT was at 1500-2000 feet, below the usual approach altitude of commercial jets to SFO. IT was backlit by the moon, which was at that particular time hidden by the clouds producing a diffused background glow. IT appeared to be gunmetal dark gray/black, and I had the impression of IT having a muted red glow on the lower half. I also had the impression of panels or planes on both upper and lower halves, and in the center at the equator, a row of windows. I also had the impression that the bottom half had an internal ring which was rotating. Nothing on this craft was bright, there were no blinding lights. Size is indeterminate, however holding a 25-cent piece at my arm’s length gave me an estimate. Notable was the flat top and bottom, exactly like two inverted china tea cups. Going from right to left in my "3 foot window-of-view" it took less than 2 seconds. The movement was smooth, without any sound. I did have the "impression" of subliminal sound, kind of like the Jetson’s car, but it may have been purely overactive imagining. It was at that time I looked at my bedside clock: 9:45 pm. I was shocked. I didn’t move for a minute or so, but then I ran to the window to see if IT was hovering anywhere around. As I checked out the sky (lit up by the moon), a commercial jet flew by at the usual approach altitude to SFO (maybe 3000 feet?), making the usual noise. Quite a contrast to the silent passage of IT.