2003-10-06 - Annapolis, MD - Triangle

A black triangle near the Naval Academy moved silently and would hover.

I was driving east on Ridgely Ave in Annapolis not 100 yards from the Naval Academy. Overhead to my left I saw a jet coming in the opposite direction from the area of the Academy. I supposed it to be a commercial jetliner as there are many which fly in that path on their way to BWI (Baltimore Washington International Airport). There were two white lights on either wingtip and one blue blinking one in the center as well as lights on the front. It seemed to be flying rather low and unusually slowly, so I kept my eye on it. When it slowed almost to a standstill, I knew something was not normal. I broke my gaze just long enough to pull to the curb. With the car in park I glanced over my shoulder and saw the craft just hovering in place.

Jets don't stand in one place or they'd drop from the sky, (Harriers excepted), and it was too large for a helicopter. Besides I had the window open and it was completely silent. I was able to look more carefully now and saw that the front end was well lit; in fact the nose seemed to be composed entirely of glass panels reminiscent of some WWII bombers. It was floating about a hundred feet up and was not large, maybe forty to sixty feet across. I could not make out the exact shape, was it triangular, or fusalage and wings? I did see that it was painted black.

I was straining to see if I could observe anything through the glass panels when it began to move again. It floated slowly at first, perhaps ten miles per hour, then picked up a little more speed. My window was open as I said, and it made no sound. I started my engine and turned the car around in an effort to pursue the craft.

It was traveling exactly west in a straight line at level altitude. The speed limit on the road there is 30mph, so it easily pulled away from me and disappeared beyond a stand of trees though it was not moving very fast. It was out of view for a few seconds by the time my road went over U.S. Interstate 50. I paused on the bridge and took a look down along Route 50. There was no sign of it anywhere. Had it turned north before reaching the highway? That would mean it was over the Severn River.

I turned around again and went along my original route. A minute or so later I was on the middle of the Naval Academy bridge which spans the Severn. Again I looked, but the craft was no where to be seen. I don't know what I saw, but my intuition tells me it was not extra-terrestrial, but one of "ours", albeit using an unconventional form of propulsion.