2004-07-26 - Everett, WA - Light

Have you seen an orange ball of light bouncing through the sky?

While lying in bed talking with witness #2, I stood up to get my soda from the windowsill. Immediately noticed an orange ball of light in the southeast night sky. Wondered out loud "What's that". Two of us watch for about 5 seconds and ask eachother "Is it bouncing". We both look away and blink. We look back to determine the following: 1.Based on my estimation of height and distance (not sure what these measurements would be, but it's low and not very far away), the object looks to be about the size of a large SUV or van. 2.If there was a sound to be heard, the conditions were perfect; clear skies, no wind, very calm. However, we heard nothing. 3.It's moving from east to west. 4.Strangest of all, it appears to be "bouncing". That is, moving up and down with short, quick movements while horizontal speed is slow to stop. Speed changes are eratic. Almost seems like we're watching a living creature. After about 1 minute, I removed the window screen and climbed out onto the garage roof for the best possible view. Watched object continue west (again, bouncing with variable rate of speed) for another 2 minutes until it became obscured by neighborhood trees. I'll add here that I am an avid sky watcher and am quite familiar with aircraft types and air traffic patterns. This one just didn't match up with anything I'd seen before.