2004-08-31 - Montpelier, VT - Other

The object first appeared low in the WSW as a fuzzy "star" about as bright as Jupiter or Venus. Then I saw that it was elongated horizontally with dimmer blurs of light above and below the central bar of light, which through 7x binoculars showed as a two part bar. It was about 1/3 the size of the moon. The end of the bar to my left (SE) was more pointed and there was an occasional pinpoint flash of light just to the left of the point. The object rose slowly and when about 45 degrees up it seemed a bit over 1/2 the size of the moon and had more structure. It was like diffuse almost back to back curved parentheses crossed by the two part bar. It was travelling in a direction perpendicular to the bar. by the time it reached the zenith it was dimmer and to the naked eye was just a blur, though structure was still visible through binoculars.

It moved slower than any satellite I have seen. It made no sound. the sky was very clear and full of stars, with just a few left-over cumulus clouds. Sunset was 19:27 and moonrise was 20:30, though the moon was behind a hill from here at the time of observing this object. I attempted to photograph it but don't know if the slide exposed 5 sec - handheld - braced against a porch post will show anything. See the sketch I emailed.

My background includes a PhD in physics, a commercial pilot certificate, and experience teaching astronomy at a community college.

((NUFORC Note: We spoke with this witness, and we found her to be exceptionally objective in her description of the object. We suspect that she is an exceptionally good witness. PD))

((NUFORC Note: Result of earlier missile launch. Please see:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/ac167/040824track.html

http://space.com/spacewatch/mystery_cloud_040901.html

PD))