A bluish-whitish glowing ragged line of light in the shape of a large "W" lying on its side.
On a cloudless, moonless early morning back-roads drive from Morehead City, NC, to the Outer Banks on June 30, 2003 we observed at about 60 degrees up in the northeast sky a bluish-whitish glowing ragged line of light in the shape of a large "W" lying on its side, with the tops of the "W" facing east. Connecting the tops of the "W" in the shape of a semi-circle which looped below the entire "W" was a fainter light of the same color. The entire image measured roughly ten times the size of the moon when similarly positioned at other times of the month. We pulled off the road and got out our camera equipment, checking to see if clouds had developed in other areas of the night sky. Other than the unusual blue trail of light, we saw only clear sky and bright stars from horizon to horizon. By the time I dialed in the proper settings on my camera equipment, the light's intensity had diminished by roughly half, and I was able to capture only a few faint images. By this time, the "W" had begun to dissipate by expanding outwards from the center in a uniform manner. Curiously, the trails of light did not behave as a jet contrail would behave as it is blown apart by high winds, with the entire trail moving down the sky uniformly as it disperses. This "W" shaped light simply expanded out from the center, with the trails of light growing wider and fainter in intensity, until the entire image was no longer visible.
We continued our drive back to Kill Devil Hills, where as we were unloading the car at around 3am we observed the same configuration of lights in the same location of the sky. This time I was able to capture images immediately. I also took a picture of the only clouds in the sky we were able to find -- due south along the horizon. There was a distinct difference in the appearance of the clouds versus the "W" light -- in other words, the "W" light did not have the same characteristics as the clouds on the horizon. Over the following 20 minutes, we observed the "W" light as it dissipated just as the earlier sighting had.
On a cloudless, moonless early morning back-roads drive from Morehead City, NC, to the Outer Banks on June 30, 2003 we observed at about 60 degrees up in the northeast sky a bluish-whitish glowing ragged line of light in the shape of a large "W" lying on its side, with the tops of the "W" facing east. Connecting the tops of the "W" in the shape of a semi-circle which looped below the entire "W" was a fainter light of the same color. The entire image measured roughly ten times the size of the moon when similarly positioned at other times of the month. We pulled off the road and got out our camera equipment, checking to see if clouds had developed in other areas of the night sky. Other than the unusual blue trail of light, we saw only clear sky and bright stars from horizon to horizon. By the time I dialed in the proper settings on my camera equipment, the light's intensity had diminished by roughly half, and I was able to capture only a few faint images. By this time, the "W" had begun to dissipate by expanding outwards from the center in a uniform manner. Curiously, the trails of light did not behave as a jet contrail would behave as it is blown apart by high winds, with the entire trail moving down the sky uniformly as it disperses. This "W" shaped light simply expanded out from the center, with the trails of light growing wider and fainter in intensity, until the entire image was no longer visible.
We continued our drive back to Kill Devil Hills, where as we were unloading the car at around 3am we observed the same configuration of lights in the same location of the sky. This time I was able to capture images immediately. I also took a picture of the only clouds in the sky we were able to find -- due south along the horizon. There was a distinct difference in the appearance of the clouds versus the "W" light -- in other words, the "W" light did not have the same characteristics as the clouds on the horizon. Over the following 20 minutes, we observed the "W" light as it dissipated just as the earlier sighting had.
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Plymouth
USA
20 minutes
20 minutes
35.85
-76.74
other
NC
Occurred : 6/30/2003 01:30 (Entered as : 06/30/2003 01:30) Reported: 10/19/2003 12:09:17 PM 12:09 Posted: 10/31/2003 Location: Plymouth, NC Shape: Other Duration: 20 minutes
A bluish-whitish glowing ragged line of light in the shape of a large "W" lying on its side.