2004-04-14 - Ft Branch, IN - Light

5 orange lights illuminate sky NNW of Ft Branch, IN then fade away.

While driving north on HWY 41 just south of Ft. Branch, IN, I noticed a bright orange light against a clear, dark sky just NNW of the town and high enough that it could not have been any street lights. The light came on then after about 15 seconds, it slowly faded away. Approx. a minute or so later I saw the light again come on in roughly the same area. A few seconds later another to the west of the original came on, then one just to the east of the original, then another just to the west near the original and the last appeared between the 2nd and 4th. Here is how the series of lights appeared: (2...5...4...1...3). The shape of the lights when all were lit was slightly curve-shaped. After about 15-20 seconds the lights began to fade away. I pulled off the highway onto a road just on the south edge of town where I would be able to gain a better vantage point in a field. After stopping and getting out of my vehicle I ran to the field and looked again. It took a minute or so for me to notice any lights again, but one came back on then faded away as before. No other observances were noted this evening on the rest of my way home. There was another vehicle on the highway just behind me that should have seen it as well as we were driving north and they did appear to slow down once the 5 lights came on, but I can not say that this is why they did slow down. There was no other immediate reason for them to given our location on the road and no traffic signals to stop at. There were also other commercial aircraft in the sky during this time, but in no close proximity to the lights observed.