2001-12-31 - Victoria, BC - Disk

My wife and I observed a dark brown/black disk shaped object with a dome of sorts on its top. I did not report this to you yesterday after having seen the object (although I did send an email to the local newspaper asking whether anyone else had seen the object), as I was hesitant to do so since, firstly, we both thought perhaps it was a balloon of some sort, and secondly because I had previously reported a "star-like object making erratic movements" some months ago, and felt that my credibility may have been suspect by making a second report - this one more 'outrageous' than the first.

However, I do want to report this, primarily because I would like to find out whether the object has in fact been positively identified as a balloon, and/or whether anyone else had seen it. As it was travelling due south, it may have been observed by others in Victoria, and in Port Angeles.

In any event this is what I/we saw: I had the day off from work (I work as a paralegal with the B.C. ((deleted/government employee))) and after a night of poor sleep, I thought to get a nap on the livingroom couch at about 11:15. Unable to fall asleep as planned, I lay on the couch looking out the livingroom window. Within a few minutes the object came into view and, in relation to a highrise about 9 stories high about a block from our home, it appeared to be moving somewhat above the highrise and to its left (east). I generally do not like to speculate on an object's height unless I know how large it is in fact, and cannot say how large this object was. I can say that if one scaled the object down, it was when I first saw it about the size of a twonie (two-dollar coin) held at arms length, in otherwords quite large.

Admittedly, I was wearing my glasses which are not a precise prescription (I usually wear my contact lenses when out and about - which actually give me slightly better than 20/20 vision). Had the object been much farther away, I would not have seen it well enough even to think it may have been something unusual. However, because of its relatively close proximity, I was able to see what appeared to be a dome on its top and a disk shaped underside that seemed to dip slightly back and forth while moving generally south. Again, it is unfortunate that I was not wearing my contacts, since I believe that it also tipped slightly at an angle forward in a south east direction (imagine holding a pan in front of you and tipping it forward to look at its bottom), revealing its underside, and at that same time swooped a few degrees to the left and back before resuming a straight course south. Like I say I would have gotten a much clearer view had I worn my contacts.

Shortly after seeing it and realizing it was something unusual, I called to my wife Leann (a teacher, off for the Christmas break)who was in another room. She came quickly to the livingroom. I pointed through the window to the object, and said "what is that?". At the time that she arrived it had moved far enough off and was less than the size of a dime at arms length. She ran for the binoculars, but by the time we got out the front door for a clear look it had disappeared. I asked Leann if she had seen the dome on the top, which she did. She seemed to think it may have been a balloon, and because I was not seeing it as clearly as I might have, I have been inclined to defer to her better eyesight. However, a few things seem to militate against it being a balloon: 1) it was moving very quickly and it was not windy (at least not at ground elevation) 2) it appeared to slow down, almost hover, and then accelerate 3) it moved side to side 4) it was disk shaped and dark - what balloon has these characteristics?

In any event, I am not drawing any conclusions and really only want to find out if I am corroborating other sightings.


((FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATION))


Mr. Davenport:

Thanks for the reply. Yes, you may pass on my report and this email to the UFO BC group. Perhaps they are in contact with those parties who would know whether or not a weather balloon was in the sky at the time.

I neglected to mention in my report that later yesterday evening, during a New Year's evening get-together, a fellow mentioned that he and some co-workers had seen the object while taking a break at the time (which he thought was about 11:30 am). They work at ((deleted)), a ((deleted)) operation located approximately a block to the west of where our house is situated (this is an in-city operation - near downtown Victoria). ((name deleted)), the fellow who said he saw the object, said he didn't pay that much attention to it, but indicated that his co-workers were looking at it with some degree of excitement, as they also were not certain what it was. I understand, however, that they decided in the end that it Just have been a balloon. This is, of course, hearsay, and if you'd like I can ask ((name deleted)) to get one or more of his co-workers who saw the object to contact you.

As I mentioned in my HMTL report, it seems to me that there are reasons for thinking that this was not a balloon, but my curiosity has been sufficiently twigged that I would like to find out if any weather balloons were in the sky at the time (it almost certainly wasn't a regular blow-up balloon). If there were, then it seems we could rule out other possibilities. Frankly, I don't know what weather balloons look like - if they are dark/black and disk-shaped and generally move quite rapidly at relatively low altitude, then I suppose that is what this could have been.