2001-12-30 - Las Vegas, NM - Disk

small black disk flying fast in sunny NM sky

I was the passenger in the back of a car travelling from Denver to El Paso on Sunday afternoon. I wrote down this information but cannot find it, so the time is approximate, but everything else is quite accurate. I was watching the skies as I always do, and it was a mostly sunny day (having driven beyond the mostly cloudy skies nearer Albuquerque), and noticed a black shape in the sky which I first guessed was a bird gliding over the beautiful desert landscape. But it was quite high and it did appear to be approaching relatively quickly from the East/Southeast, flying to the North/Northwest. As I watched, I saw that it was appeared to be a small, black disk, flying VERY rapidly, and as it passed just to the east of me I examined it as closely as possible, determining there were no wings or other appendages. So it could have been a cigar-shaped object, except that as it crossed the highway behind the car (perhaps 2 miles north of the car, which was travelling south, continuing to the North/Northwest, I saw that it did not change shape, therefore it appeared to be a solid disk-shaped (or round) vehicle. I judged it as travelling several hundred miles per hour, and while it is very hard to judge the size, it must have been between about 20 to 50 feet in diameter. I did manage to grab my binoculars but due to being in the car and it moving so quickly, could not bring it entirely into perfect focus, but can confirm it was a solid, black, apparently round object (seen from the side).