Three large lights in triangular formation spotted near Yuba City, CA on 11/30/02.
It was dark and overcast, at about 5:45pm on Saturday, November 30, 2002. I was driving north on a busy stretch of Highway 99, 5-10 miles south of Yuba City, CA. Roughly 1-2 miles ahead of me, I saw a very large white/yellow light hovering at about 1,000-2,000 feet in the air, approximately 100 yards off the highway. As I approached (about 1/2 mile away), I could see three large, distinct lights in a row, and one small red/orange blinking light on the left (west). I assumed the blinking light was a landing light on a wing, so I briefly dismissed it as a plane or jet. But the object continued to hover (as far as I could tell, it never moved), and as I began to pass underneath it, I realized that the three large lights were arranged in an equilateral triangle formation. I couldn't make out an outline of the object, because the three white/yellow lights were too bright. Unfortunately, there was too much traffic to find a place to safely pull over and observe the object. But there were 3-4 cars in front of me and 5-6 behind me, so I have to assume that someone else saw what I saw. I know that Beale AFB is roughly nearby, so who knows what it was. I suppose it could have been a Harrier jet, but as near as I could tell, it wasn't making any noise. I've seen hundreds of military and civilian aircraft in my life, and I've honestly never seen anything hover like that before. I am a senior at Chico State University in northern California, and to my knowledge, I am not insane.
It was dark and overcast, at about 5:45pm on Saturday, November 30, 2002. I was driving north on a busy stretch of Highway 99, 5-10 miles south of Yuba City, CA. Roughly 1-2 miles ahead of me, I saw a very large white/yellow light hovering at about 1,000-2,000 feet in the air, approximately 100 yards off the highway. As I approached (about 1/2 mile away), I could see three large, distinct lights in a row, and one small red/orange blinking light on the left (west). I assumed the blinking light was a landing light on a wing, so I briefly dismissed it as a plane or jet. But the object continued to hover (as far as I could tell, it never moved), and as I began to pass underneath it, I realized that the three large lights were arranged in an equilateral triangle formation. I couldn't make out an outline of the object, because the three white/yellow lights were too bright. Unfortunately, there was too much traffic to find a place to safely pull over and observe the object. But there were 3-4 cars in front of me and 5-6 behind me, so I have to assume that someone else saw what I saw. I know that Beale AFB is roughly nearby, so who knows what it was. I suppose it could have been a Harrier jet, but as near as I could tell, it wasn't making any noise. I've seen hundreds of military and civilian aircraft in my life, and I've honestly never seen anything hover like that before. I am a senior at Chico State University in northern California, and to my knowledge, I am not insane.
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Yuba City
USA
2 minutes
2 minutes
39.11
-121.63
triangle
CA
Occurred : 11/30/2002 17:45 (Entered as : 11/30/02 17:45) Reported: 12/1/2002 3:47:50 PM 15:47 Posted: 12/23/2002 Location: Yuba City, CA Shape: Triangle Duration: 2 minutes Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Three large lights in triangular formation spotted near Yuba City, CA on 11/30/02.