2003-06-20 - Chicago, IL - Teardrop

a teardrop or fireball shaped object that hung in the sky; the object showed up on a long-exposure photograph.

I was on my roof taking long exposure photographs of the city, facing east. I didn't see the object in the sky at the time, but when I looked at the photos afterwards there was a curious, bright shape in the sky, shaped I suppose like a teardrop. Using a long exposure soaks up whatever light is in the sky, even stuff you don't see with the naked eye. For example, keeping the shutter open for ten seconds over a solid blue sky could reveal distinct, clear clouds once the photograph is developed (or you view the digital photos, such as mine). The object was definitely stationary because otherwise it would have been streaked. It wasn't a reflection or something stuck on the lens because it would have shown up in other pictures. Also, as the position of the camera changed, the object remained in the same place. There's a small, very faint, circle of light surrounding it. So there's no question that it was something in the sky and not a glitch with the camera. I guess it's a UFO in the literal sense of the word: it's an object, it's in the sky, and heck if I can identify it!