2002-11-19 - Stover, MO - Circle

((NUFORC Note: We do not know what the witnesses were looking at, but we do observe that the star, Sirius, which causes many long-term sightings, would be in the southwest sky at the time indicated, and that it would appear on subsequent days. However, if the object moved, as reported below, the object could not have been a star, of course. PD))

Large Glowing Orange Ball & Meteor Shower

First let me say that I would have bet my life on the fact that I would never be reporting a sighting or anything resembling a UFO. It's taken me 4 days to get enough courage to even begin to explain what all I saw in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2002, approx 13 miles Southeast of Stover, Mo. First let me say that on this date, it is also Deer hunting season in Mo. At approx 1:30 AM my neighbor & I set out for a neighboring field where we usually hunt. We had left early so we could have a good view of the Leonid Meteor Shower and not have to venture far afterwards for hunting. We parked my truck at the west end of the field facing West as we were trying to get the light of the full moon behind us as the "showers" were to be best viewed from the East. We got in the bed of the truck with heavy sleeping bags that would hopefully keep us warm as I wanted the best view possible and boy did I get it. The beginning of the unusual sightings were not that impressive but changed quickly so now I'll try & explain what I saw. At approx 3:00-3:30 we saw what we first thought to be a plane rise from the tree tops on the west side of the field,(It had a milkly like appearance & was kind of pear shaped with what looked like 2 legs at the bottom) but there was no sound. This was approx 150-200 yds away. We both looked at each other like what is that!! It hovered there for about 30 seconds and then slowly rose straight up & very slowly headed South until out of site. Then every once in awhile you could see faint white objects resembling kind of the same shape just going back & forth accross the sky at different speeds & with no set pattern. At approx 4:15 at the southeast end of the field at ground level I saw what looked like a porch light or headlights through the trees. This area is completely wooded with no homes or buildings nearby. In maybe a 5 min span it flickered on & off 4-5 times then this HUGE GLOWING ORANGE BALL rose right out of the trees & stayed right at the tree tops swaying just a little back & ! forth an d never any sound at all. I wish I could accurately tell you how big it was but all I can save was it was unbelievable. I looked back over my shoulder once at the moon and this ball appeared to be maybe 1/3 the size BUT the Moon was a long way off and this ball was only about 800 yds away. Anyway this stayed in same position for about 10 minutes then rose up slowly about 80-100 ft or so & then just changed to a BRIGHT WHITE still in a ball shape. During the next 30 min it rose maybe 30-40 feet & then gradually changed its shape into kind of a rounded triangle or pear shaped with a pulsating light (only visible at times)from what looked to be a small protruding area on the center bottom. At 3 different times when this light would come on & back off it would then make the easterly sky appear as if daylight was approaching but just lasting a few seconds. The figure gradually rose straight up with a Very slight drift to the Southeast. This was a very bright & clear night and at 7:15 AM you could still see the object high in the sky but appeared to be a ball shape again. Also at about the same time the ball turned from orange to white a jet appeared from the west flying fairly low & at slower than normal speed, and what I thought to be an irregular pattern of the normal blinking lights that planes have when flying. Then it appeared to be stationary for 2-3 seconds & then at a high rate of speed it shot straight up & then immediately veered right & headed down directly towards the ball & then flew right around the back of it. Then went back east with a jet stream behind it as if nothing was unusual but within 5 minutes there was 5 or 6 jets in the air but none went as close as the first one had. They all had jet streams behind them & just kept flying randomly overhead until the object was just barely visible. The following morning at about daybreak 2 neighbors went within a mile of there & said they just saw a solid looking white ball fairly high in the sky.

UPDATE: 11/24/02 I finally got up enough nerve to go back to the same spot to see if I might be to see this again & maybe take a few pictures. At 4:35 I saw the orange ball again & it appeared to be low but at a much farther distance. It immediately started rising up & went white & within 30 minutes or so it was so far up it almost looked like a bright star but was much bolder & solid looking than a star. It almost looked like it changed shape & also appeared to get brighter at times, but it was to far away to be certain of this. I took 4 pictures with my old 35 mm but as far away as it was I doubt if it shows much as it was hard to even detect it thru the lens. I'm sure this all sounds very weird but I give you my word this is the Gods truth. I was absolutely scared to death when the jet headed towards the ball as I had no idea what was going to happen. I'm hoping someone else spotted the same objects that I did!!!