2003-05-15 - Stanwood, WA - Circle

Sighting of highly unusual flying object in daylight with excellent viewing conditions in vicinity of jet airliner.

I was not going to report these sightings, but following a recent conversation with a friend who is interested in UFOs, he felt that it might be of some statistical value and of interest to those who may have seen something similar. I am a trained observer, amateur astronomer for over 40 years, and have an extensive background in science. The dates are approximate.

On my way to work one morning, I had stopped for a cup of coffee at a small market that sits at the north end of Lake Goodwin, WA. As I exited my vehicle, I noted a new Boeing 767 or 777, (the aircraft hadn’t been painted yet, and was still in the green primer) coming down the length of the lake that runs north south, at an altitude of just two thousand feet and probably less. The sky was clear and visibility excellent. It’s not unusual to see these aircraft in this area, but I’d never seen one this low or flying so slowly. The flight path is a northerly one used out of Paine Field (approx 15 miles to the south) where these aircraft are manufactured and I assumed this to be a test flight. As I watched the aircraft come down the length of the lake, I was marveling at how quiet it was despite its low altitude and mentioned it to a lady who had pulled into the store a few seconds behind me and was also headed into the market, but like me, had stopped to watch the plane.

“What’s that?” she asked and pointed at an object in the sky to the right of the aircraft (west) and perhaps 50 feet below its altitude.

I had been focused on the aircraft, but immediately saw what she was pointing at. At this time the aircraft was approximately a half mile or less distant. The object was round, bright white, and moving to the east. In size from my location, it approximated a pencil eraser held at arms length. As I watched, it passed directly under the aircraft (that seemed to take no note of it) missing it by about 50 feet and allowing me to estimate it diameter which was approximately 15 feet. In appearance, it was cloud like, but very round with somewhat fuzzy borders. Silhouetted against the blue sky, I could see it very clearly, and it was definitely not a bird, balloon, or another aircraft. I estimated its speed at 120 miles per hour as it covered the width of the lake (a half mile) in about 15 seconds. The aircraft passed over my head a few seconds later, but I was watching the object that maintained a constant course and speed, finally disappearing in the east fifteen or twenty seconds later. I talked briefly with the woman I watched it with and she agreed that it was something highly unusual.

A few years previous to this sighting I was a passenger in a car on a highway between Butte and Helena Montana. In the sky that day, (afternoon) and on a southerly course, I saw a similar object (bright white, cloud like, but very round.) It was moving at both altitude (approximately 5000 feet) and speed (approximately 1000 miles per hour) I derived these numbers from the height of a broken cumulus deck that I estimated to be 8000 feet and the fact the object seemed to be moving approximately twice the speed of a conventional jet liner. They are by no means accurate, but probably in the ball park. I could make no estimate of size beyond saying it was small. I had the object in sight for about thirty seconds when it did something damn strange. It disappeared and not gradually. It just evaporated. I mention it only because of the physical similarity to the object I saw at Lake Goodwin under pristine viewing conditions.


((NUFORC Note: Date in May2003 is approximate. PD))