2001-07-28 - Garden City, KS - Light

Two UFO's and a jet in pursuit.

I was out playing catch with my dad at dusk, when I noticed a bright object, nearly due south of my house, appear very near & below the moon (within the diamater of the moon below the moon) in the sky. In appearance, it looked like a meteor or light reflecting off of a missile or the fusilage of a shiny airliner. In this first object, there was a bright light at the front, and two smaller lights very close in a line behind (in reference to its direction of travel), which made it appear to be the tail of a meteor (but they did not change in relationship to the front light, so I've pretty much ruled that out). The lights were nearly the same color as the yellowish-red type of street light (high pressure sodium, I believe). There was no sound, nor was there a vapor trail. The object traveled in a mostly west & slightly south direction. When the object reached approximately south-southwest of my house, the 3 lights appeared to move closer together, until you could only see 1 light. This 1 light appeared to grow *at least* 4 times brighter than the 3 lights combined. It stayed bright for a period of time, maybe 10-15 seconds, then it dimmed to the brightness of the original light (the one in front without the 2 behind). It continued to move in the same mostly west, slightly south, direction until it faded out of sight (presumably from going further away). Just before the first object faded out completely, my dad looked at the spot where it appeared, just below the moon, & saw another object. This second object was *identical* in appearance & motion, including having the 3 lights combine into one, grow bright, & continue west until fading out of sight. At a similar interval (just before the second object faded completely), the third object appeared. It was sighted just above & to the left of the moon & traveled in exactly the same direction & approximately the same speed as the first two objects (presumably it was in pursuit). This third object was quite obviously a plane, as vapor trails and wings were evident. However, the leading edge glowed in 3 places a *bright* red, approximately the same hue as a bright red car, or a fresh cherry. I assume the bright red in front, was a reflection of the now set sun. I am no expert in finding velocities of flying objects, but if all three were plane sized, I approximate their speed at around 5-600mph, & an altitude of 30,000 to 45,000 feet. At no time did any of the objects change speed or direction of flight. My very first impression of these objects was that they were planes that had the setting sun's light reflecting off of them. But there were no vapor trails (except for the 3rd object), no strobe lights, no sound & no wings or tail (except the 3rd object, where we could clearly see wings). A few moments later an airliner flew directly overhead & it was very clear that this was an airplane, we could see the full length of the fusilage, the tail, both wings & a vapor trail. But the first two objects are very puzzling to us; they definitely fit the under the category of Unidentified Flying Objects. If this description isn't detailed enough, or you would like me to make drawings of what I saw, I would be glad to answer any questions or send drawings if you contact me by phone, mail, or (preferably) e-mail.