Star-like object moves slowly and hovers at high altitude over Memphis at mid-day.
The incident took place in mid-day under clear skies. While in my backyard, I saw a commercial aircraft going overhead apparently only moments after take off from the local airport. I glanced up at the plane and noticed, in the blue sky at a much higher altitude, a star like object. Had the plane not passed over, I probably would never have noticed the object. It looked like a star of average brightness, but this was 1 in the afternoon, and the only object of its kind visible. The object moved very slowly from east to west, perhaps slightly southwest. At one point, the object abruptly changed its course and moved south for about one minute. Then it once again resumed its westerly course. As I said, the object moved at what appeared to be a very low speed and was at high altitude. While watching, I observed two high flying commercial jets flying over Memphis, apparently bypassing the city enroute to other destinations. These planes were leaving contrails, but appeared to be at a lower altitude than the object. They were also moving at a considerably higher speed than the object. At one point the object came to a dead stop in the sky. It appeared to hover over what appeared to be the center of the city for at least ten minutes. It was absolutely stationary. It then resumed its westerly course. There were no erratic manuevers or sudden changes in speed other other than the 10 minute period of hovering and the brief change of direction to the south I mentioned. The object moved in straight lines. I ruled out a balloon figuring winds at such an altitude would have driven the object across the sky at a much faster rate, and balloons tend not to hover and remain stationary for ten minutes at a time. The entire sighting lasted aproximately 30 minutes and the object could not have covered more than 45-50 degrees of arc in the sky during this time. It did not appear to emit light of its own. It reflected sunlight and the intensity of the reflection varied as it moved across the sky. I am not a trained observer, but if this object was indeed as high as I thought, flying higher than airliners bypassing Memphis, it must have been a rather large craft based on the intensity of the reflection. I followed its course with the naked eye until I lost sight of it as it moved into the path of the sun.
The incident took place in mid-day under clear skies. While in my backyard, I saw a commercial aircraft going overhead apparently only moments after take off from the local airport. I glanced up at the plane and noticed, in the blue sky at a much higher altitude, a star like object. Had the plane not passed over, I probably would never have noticed the object. It looked like a star of average brightness, but this was 1 in the afternoon, and the only object of its kind visible. The object moved very slowly from east to west, perhaps slightly southwest. At one point, the object abruptly changed its course and moved south for about one minute. Then it once again resumed its westerly course. As I said, the object moved at what appeared to be a very low speed and was at high altitude. While watching, I observed two high flying commercial jets flying over Memphis, apparently bypassing the city enroute to other destinations. These planes were leaving contrails, but appeared to be at a lower altitude than the object. They were also moving at a considerably higher speed than the object. At one point the object came to a dead stop in the sky. It appeared to hover over what appeared to be the center of the city for at least ten minutes. It was absolutely stationary. It then resumed its westerly course. There were no erratic manuevers or sudden changes in speed other other than the 10 minute period of hovering and the brief change of direction to the south I mentioned. The object moved in straight lines. I ruled out a balloon figuring winds at such an altitude would have driven the object across the sky at a much faster rate, and balloons tend not to hover and remain stationary for ten minutes at a time. The entire sighting lasted aproximately 30 minutes and the object could not have covered more than 45-50 degrees of arc in the sky during this time. It did not appear to emit light of its own. It reflected sunlight and the intensity of the reflection varied as it moved across the sky. I am not a trained observer, but if this object was indeed as high as I thought, flying higher than airliners bypassing Memphis, it must have been a rather large craft based on the intensity of the reflection. I followed its course with the naked eye until I lost sight of it as it moved into the path of the sun.
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Memphis
USA
1/2 hour
1/2 hour
35.12
-89.94
light
TN
Occurred : 10/28/2001 13:00 (Entered as : 10/28/01 13:00) Reported: 10/28/2001 4:11:55 PM 16:11 Posted: 11/20/2001 Location: Memphis, TN Shape: Light Duration: 1/2 hour Characteristics: There were aircraft in the vicinity or aircraft chasing the object
Star-like object moves slowly and hovers at high altitude over Memphis at mid-day.