2004-01-05 - Maui, HI - Other

Orange, glowing, silent, low-altitude, slow-moving orb in Hawaiian night sky.

Okay, my need for knowledge has outweighed my better judgement to keep my mouth shut. I am desperately seeking a logical explanation for what my husband and I saw, so I am trying all avenues. My husband and I were sitting on the lanai around 7:00pm Hawaiian time on Monday, January 5, 2004. On our visits to Maui we spend a good amount of time out there watching whales, sunrises, sunsets, stars, planes etc. It was our last hour before we had to go to the airport for our trip back to the East Coast of the US. The sun had been down for a good amount of time and venus shone very brightly. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright light that I initially assumed was a plane....but it was glowing bright orange. I am horrified of flying, so I thought that maybe the plane was on fire or had exploded, but we hadn't heard any noise. I pointed it out to my husband whose reaction was "that's not right." We continued to watch it for about ten minutes, I even had time to go into the condo, unpack my camera, change lenses, come back out and take a couple pictures. Unfortunately, I had had my camera set for a long exposure, so the pictures aren't any good....convenient, I know. So anyway, it continued a path directly in front of our condo, it didn't seem to be at a very high altitude. Here is why I am having trouble finding a logical explanation: It travelled very slowly, it was a constant glowing orange color in an orb shape, it maintained altitude and eventually made a slight ascent, and it made absolutely no noise. I cannot wrap my brain around it. It could not have been something on fire like a plane or something burning up upon reentering the atmosphere because wouldn't that have moved in a downward motion, moved faster, had a comet-like tail, had debris breaking off, changed in color or made some type of noise? I also do not believe that it could have been wind shear and sun reflection. The sun had been down for too long, the object was not that high in the sky, there was no slight variations in ! color li ke a reflection, and the angle of the reflection would be impossible. Any other expanation, I would welcome with open arms!