Burning bright, orange, white and dark edge along bottom. Nearly stationary. Faded away over 5 minutes
I spotted the object (oval in shape) while driving east on Angeles Crest Hwy. My position was about one mile east of Vincent Gap, at a turn off. The object was to the south south west, in the direction of Azusa, Duarte, of which there is a clear view through the San Gabriel River Valley. The object was burning bright, orange, white with a dark edge along the bottom. Very nearly stationary. About 1/8" at arm's length. It faded away over 5 minutes, growing somewhat smaller, but not appreciably. Most of the observation was through 8X binoculars. I had the feeling it was initially 2 - 3 miles away. The angle of elevation was a couple of degrees below the horizon and did not change during the sighting. My position was approximately at 7300 feet. I could see surface features in the background, probably 30 miles away. (If it was not stationary, it would have had to have been traveling nearly directly away from me.) It moved very slightly toward the west during the viewing. It did not change shape. The initial "Fire" faded to a neutral color within a couple of minutes, then eventually faded into the smoggy background. It left no traces of smoke or other atmospheric effects. Sky was very clear, bright sun, little wind. Positions noted on Topo map, available on request.
For reasons I will not go into now, I've ruled out the possibility of it being any conventional aircraft, a balloon, or an object on the ground. Other observers might have been at Vincent Gap, hiking along the San Gabriel River, at the San Gabriel Reservoir, or in Azusa/Duarte area.
I spotted the object (oval in shape) while driving east on Angeles Crest Hwy. My position was about one mile east of Vincent Gap, at a turn off. The object was to the south south west, in the direction of Azusa, Duarte, of which there is a clear view through the San Gabriel River Valley. The object was burning bright, orange, white with a dark edge along the bottom. Very nearly stationary. About 1/8" at arm's length. It faded away over 5 minutes, growing somewhat smaller, but not appreciably. Most of the observation was through 8X binoculars. I had the feeling it was initially 2 - 3 miles away. The angle of elevation was a couple of degrees below the horizon and did not change during the sighting. My position was approximately at 7300 feet. I could see surface features in the background, probably 30 miles away. (If it was not stationary, it would have had to have been traveling nearly directly away from me.) It moved very slightly toward the west during the viewing. It did not change shape. The initial "Fire" faded to a neutral color within a couple of minutes, then eventually faded into the smoggy background. It left no traces of smoke or other atmospheric effects. Sky was very clear, bright sun, little wind. Positions noted on Topo map, available on request.
For reasons I will not go into now, I've ruled out the possibility of it being any conventional aircraft, a balloon, or an object on the ground. Other observers might have been at Vincent Gap, hiking along the San Gabriel River, at the San Gabriel Reservoir, or in Azusa/Duarte area.
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
San Gabriel Mountains
USA
5 minutes
5 minutes
oval
CA
Occurred : 5/31/2004 11:35 (Entered as : 05/31/1904 11:35) Reported: 6/1/2004 11:08:49 PM 23:08 Posted: 6/4/2004 Location: San Gabriel Mountains, CA Shape: Oval Duration: 5 minutes
Burning bright, orange, white and dark edge along bottom. Nearly stationary. Faded away over 5 minutes