2000-05-25 - Burr Ridge, IL - Triangle

Black Triangle Floats over treeline

I was spending some time visiting at my parent's home in Burr Ridge, IL while on break from my job as a limousine driver. It was around 8:00 PM and the sky was a dark blue, but not yet completely black. I was lying on the couch watching TV when I heard an eerie sound coming from outside. The sound was similar to the hydraulic sound made by a garbage truck when it is compacting garbage. My mother who was in the room with me walked over to the backyard deck to investigate the sound. Her voice sounded frightened as she yelled, "Come here quick! Triangle! Triangle"; I was a bit confused, but I got up and looked into the south sky where she was pointing. There I saw an object in the sky that I have never seen before. The object was a large, black, equilateral triangle with rounded corners flying horizontal in the sky. The best analogy of its shape would be to take a sheet of black Styrofoam two inches thick and cut it out like a cookie cutter using a rack from a billiard table. On each of the three rounded corners, there was a red, glowing light. Unlike an electric light, this red light had a larger diameter and a uniform glow- like a glowing ball of gas. On the underside of the vehicle, there was a very large diameter (about 20ft) white light, which appeared to be recessed. The light was very bright, but did not illuminate what appeared to be the matte black finish of the object itself. I witnessed no flashing lights of any kind on the object. . Based on my proximity to the object, I would estimate that each of the three sides on this object was 90 to 100 ft. long. The object was flying north and coming straight toward our house. At no point was the object more than 40 ft. above the tree line. Approximately 100 ft. before reaching our house, the vehicle made a sharp left turn without banking (staying perfectly horizontal) and proceeded west. The object then began to descend slightly and disappeared from view over the tree line. The noise it created faded away second! s later. After the object disappeared from sight, we stayed out for about five minutes to see if we could get another glimpse of it, but it did not return. We called the non-emergency number for our municipality but all we got was a recorded message. We considered calling the police, but my father insisted that we don't because of all the paperwork that would be involved and for fear of ill gossip and public opinions in our community. I know that if the situation were reversed, I would probably think that a person who claimed to see such an unusual object were either crazy or they misinterpreted what they saw. For eighteen years I lived very close to Chicago's Midway Airport and for the last three years I have spent countless hours at the airport as limousine driver. I have seen every type of flying machine imaginable. The object I witnessed that night was unlike any object I have ever seen or heard.