This was a night sighting of a slow-moving, kite-shaped craft with lights on it, 20-25 miles north of San Diego, CA.
Object: "Kite-shaped", but shorter and wider than a typical kite-- approximately a 5 to 4 length to width ratio-- travelling toward what would be the "top" of the kite. The following diagram approximates the axes of the kite shape.
| -|---- (Direction of travel:
Size: Visually equivalent to a Boeing 757 at 2,000 to 2,500 feet altitude. That is also our best night-time naked-eye estimate of its maximum altitude.
Sound: A loud, fairly high warbling whine, from a single sound source. No jet exhaust roar, definitely not a piston engine. Also, there was no interference "beat" or other indication of multiple engines/sound sources. (I'm a musician, and am used to using wave interference to tune instruments, and used to distinguishing between single or multiple voicings of a given sound.) Speed: The object took about 20 seconds to go from directly overhead to disappearing beyond trees and a ridgeline two or three hundred feet high and a quarter mile away. Estimated distance traveled while in sight no more than one mile. The other witness is an ex-pilot, multiple-engine rated. Her first comment was that it must be "in trouble", because the sound was all wrong and it was at or below what would be stall speed for an airplane that size.
Direction of travel: Northeast, with Polaris in sight for visual reference, observed from a house and walkway oriented within one or two degrees of true north-south. The sky was clear except for some high "mackerel" (cirrus?) clouds off to the south, with a three-quarter moon.
Location: Del Dios community on Lake Hodges, approximately 4.5 miles southwest of the town center of Escondido, California.
(Note: An ex-air force friend, told about a similar sighting in February of 2004, said "it's one of ours" but would not go into any further details.)
Object: "Kite-shaped", but shorter and wider than a typical kite-- approximately a 5 to 4 length to width ratio-- travelling toward what would be the "top" of the kite. The following diagram approximates the axes of the kite shape.
| -|---- (Direction of travel:
Size: Visually equivalent to a Boeing 757 at 2,000 to 2,500 feet altitude. That is also our best night-time naked-eye estimate of its maximum altitude.
Sound: A loud, fairly high warbling whine, from a single sound source. No jet exhaust roar, definitely not a piston engine. Also, there was no interference "beat" or other indication of multiple engines/sound sources. (I'm a musician, and am used to using wave interference to tune instruments, and used to distinguishing between single or multiple voicings of a given sound.) Speed: The object took about 20 seconds to go from directly overhead to disappearing beyond trees and a ridgeline two or three hundred feet high and a quarter mile away. Estimated distance traveled while in sight no more than one mile. The other witness is an ex-pilot, multiple-engine rated. Her first comment was that it must be "in trouble", because the sound was all wrong and it was at or below what would be stall speed for an airplane that size.
Direction of travel: Northeast, with Polaris in sight for visual reference, observed from a house and walkway oriented within one or two degrees of true north-south. The sky was clear except for some high "mackerel" (cirrus?) clouds off to the south, with a three-quarter moon.
Location: Del Dios community on Lake Hodges, approximately 4.5 miles southwest of the town center of Escondido, California.
(Note: An ex-air force friend, told about a similar sighting in February of 2004, said "it's one of ours" but would not go into any further details.)
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
Escondido
USA
20-30 seconds
20-30 seconds
33.13
-117.08
other
CA
Occurred : 7/19/2005 22:40 (Entered as : 07/19/2005 22:40) Reported: 7/20/2005 1:18:13 AM 01:18 Posted: 9/2/2005 Location: Escondido, CA Shape: Other Duration: 20-30 seconds Characteristics: There were lights on the object, The object made a sound
This was a night sighting of a slow-moving, kite-shaped craft with lights on it, 20-25 miles north of San Diego, CA.