2000-06-23 - San Francisco, CA - Circle

Saw dark circular object under the water just off SFO airport moving towards San Mateo Bridge at a fast speed.

I was in a plane heading for Vancouver, B.C. from San Francisco International Airport and just as we took off I looked out the window on the starboard side and saw in the water that surrounds the airport a dark circular shape on or just under the water. What made me focus on it was that it was moving towards a long bridge structure and it was moving pretty fast.(I have since found out that the only bridge that it could be was the San Mateo Bridge) The dark object had a diameter of about 100 feet and naturally as the plane I was in was climbing it got smaller in size. Unfortunately, I was not able to see what transpired when the object approached the bride as the wing impeded my view. No turbulence was notice in front of the object nor behind it as it moved swiftly. Therefore, I concluded that it had to be underwater but how could an object move that quickly underwater without churning up water and leaving a trail. I also considered at the time it was happening that it was a shadow but it was moving perpendicular to our flight path.

((NUFORC Note: A second, slightly different version of report was submitted by the same witness. PD))

I was in a plane just seconds after take-off from SFO for Canada when I looked out from my window seat onto the water below and saw a dark circular object moving rapidly at right angles to our flight path. It was headed for the San Mateo Bridge coming from the northwest direction. (I have since looked on the internet what bridge is closest to SFO as I am not familiar with San Francisco at all). The object caught my attention as it was moving rather quickly for something on the water though it did not have any turbulence associated with it. My initial immpression was that it was a shadow somehow created by the airplane however, I have been in enough airplanes and seen the shadow of the plane I have been in to know that this was not the case (usually wings and tailfin are recognizable). During the experience of watching it I concluded it that had to be an underwater object. Looking at what direction it was going in I could see that the eastern end of the bridge was in its way; it had to either change direction, slow down or emerge from the water and hop over the bridge structure as this end of the bridge is solid underneath. Unfortunately, I was not able to witness what happened as the wing of the plane blocked my view. The reason why I am logging this sighting is to find out if anyone on the bridge at that time saw something emerge out of water.