White light increased in size and brightness and then shot off into space.
I am a former State Section Director for MUFON. On Saturday night, July 26th, at approximately 10:55 PM, I was sitting on the outdoor patio of the 4th floor of the Crescent Hotel. It was a beautiful, clear night and I was looking up at the stars. I noticed a barely discernible white light moving in a northwesterly direction at a speed and altitude that seemed consistent with commercial air traffic at cruising altitude (30,000 to 40,000 ft). The light was fairly close to being directly overhead, at about 85 degrees above the horizon. I watched this light fly a straight line course for about five to ten seconds when, to my surprise, it suddenly increased in size and brightness. It went from being a pinpoint of light to being about the size of a match head held at arm's length. It also went from being a very faint light to being the brightest thing in the sky. The light became so brilliant that it almost looked silvery. It reminded me of a brilliant diamond. At about this time the object slowed to almost a standstill and rapidly faded from view. The impression I got was that it had shot off into space at a steep angle and at a high rate of speed. This would account for its apparent decrease in forward motion and the rapidity at which it faded from view. The total duration of the sighting was about 15 seconds. I am very knowledgeable in regards to aviation and astronomy and can not think of any prosaic explanation that would account for this sighting.
((NUFORC Note: We express our gratitude to this former SSD/MUFON for sharing the report with NUFORC. We have checked www.heavens-above, and no Iridium satellites would have generated a reflection of sunlight that could have given rise to a sighting on this date at the time indicated. Please see the following website for details:
http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium.asp?lat=36.401&lng=-93.738&alt=366&loc=Eureka+Springs&TZ=CST&Date=37827.0253333333&Dur=2
PD))
I am a former State Section Director for MUFON. On Saturday night, July 26th, at approximately 10:55 PM, I was sitting on the outdoor patio of the 4th floor of the Crescent Hotel. It was a beautiful, clear night and I was looking up at the stars. I noticed a barely discernible white light moving in a northwesterly direction at a speed and altitude that seemed consistent with commercial air traffic at cruising altitude (30,000 to 40,000 ft). The light was fairly close to being directly overhead, at about 85 degrees above the horizon. I watched this light fly a straight line course for about five to ten seconds when, to my surprise, it suddenly increased in size and brightness. It went from being a pinpoint of light to being about the size of a match head held at arm's length. It also went from being a very faint light to being the brightest thing in the sky. The light became so brilliant that it almost looked silvery. It reminded me of a brilliant diamond. At about this time the object slowed to almost a standstill and rapidly faded from view. The impression I got was that it had shot off into space at a steep angle and at a high rate of speed. This would account for its apparent decrease in forward motion and the rapidity at which it faded from view. The total duration of the sighting was about 15 seconds. I am very knowledgeable in regards to aviation and astronomy and can not think of any prosaic explanation that would account for this sighting.
((NUFORC Note: We express our gratitude to this former SSD/MUFON for sharing the report with NUFORC. We have checked www.heavens-above, and no Iridium satellites would have generated a reflection of sunlight that could have given rise to a sighting on this date at the time indicated. Please see the following website for details:
http://www.heavens-above.com/iridium.asp?lat=36.401&lng=-93.738&alt=366&loc=Eureka+Springs&TZ=CST&Date=37827.0253333333&Dur=2
PD))
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
Eureka Springs
USA
15 seconds
15 seconds
36.42
-93.74
light
AR
Occurred : 7/26/2003 22:55 (Entered as : 07/26/03 22:55) Reported: 7/30/2003 3:05:52 PM 15:05 Posted: 8/1/2003 Location: Eureka Springs, AR Shape: Light Duration: 15 seconds Characteristics: There were lights on the object
White light increased in size and brightness and then shot off into space.