Bright white light moving west to east over central Maryland
At approximately 19:05, 20 October 2006, from my backyard I observed a very bright light in the western sky. I watched it sporadically for about a minute when I realized that it was moving slowly west to east and did not display any of the normal commercial aircraft warning lights. As we live very close to Baltimore-Washington International Airport we are very familiar with the characteristics of normal commercial aircraft, both during the day and at night. At that time the light was about two times as bright as Sirus is at it's brightest. I grabbed a pair of 10X binoculars and watched it for about two minutes. It passed almost directly over my house. During that time the brightness intensified to about three or four times that of Sirus. I could see none of the normal aircraft warning lights; there were no wing-tip red/green lights and no strobe lights. The light displayed by the craft was entirely too bright to be the normal aircraft landing lights we are used to seeing at night. I ran inside, called my wife to follow me, and went out the front door. We both watched it for another minute or two before it went out of sight behind some trees. It passed less than a mile south of BWI Airport at about 19:11.
The brightness of the light intensified as it approached my house and lessened as it moved away. However, the light was a constant white color, very comparable to the color of Sirus, but without the splashes of color that I often see in Sirus. The intensity of the light was the only variable I noticed.
As close as I can estimate, the light approached from a bearing of about 250 degrees (true) and departed on a bearing of about 70 degrees (true). I would further estimate that the light would have passed almost directly over the intersection of routes 100 and 170 at about 19:10. I could not discern any craft or shape against the sky. The weather was clear and visiblity was excellent. The stars were easily seen; there was no moon.
Although I do not kow what it might have been, it was not a star or a commercial aircraft, and it was much, much brighter than any satellite I've seen before.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
At approximately 19:05, 20 October 2006, from my backyard I observed a very bright light in the western sky. I watched it sporadically for about a minute when I realized that it was moving slowly west to east and did not display any of the normal commercial aircraft warning lights. As we live very close to Baltimore-Washington International Airport we are very familiar with the characteristics of normal commercial aircraft, both during the day and at night. At that time the light was about two times as bright as Sirus is at it's brightest. I grabbed a pair of 10X binoculars and watched it for about two minutes. It passed almost directly over my house. During that time the brightness intensified to about three or four times that of Sirus. I could see none of the normal aircraft warning lights; there were no wing-tip red/green lights and no strobe lights. The light displayed by the craft was entirely too bright to be the normal aircraft landing lights we are used to seeing at night. I ran inside, called my wife to follow me, and went out the front door. We both watched it for another minute or two before it went out of sight behind some trees. It passed less than a mile south of BWI Airport at about 19:11.
The brightness of the light intensified as it approached my house and lessened as it moved away. However, the light was a constant white color, very comparable to the color of Sirus, but without the splashes of color that I often see in Sirus. The intensity of the light was the only variable I noticed.
As close as I can estimate, the light approached from a bearing of about 250 degrees (true) and departed on a bearing of about 70 degrees (true). I would further estimate that the light would have passed almost directly over the intersection of routes 100 and 170 at about 19:10. I could not discern any craft or shape against the sky. The weather was clear and visiblity was excellent. The stars were easily seen; there was no moon.
Although I do not kow what it might have been, it was not a star or a commercial aircraft, and it was much, much brighter than any satellite I've seen before.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
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Off
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Hanover
USA
3 to 4 minutes
3 to 4 minutes
39.15
-76.72
light
MD
Occurred : 10/20/2006 19:07 (Entered as : 10/20/06 19:07) Reported: 10/20/2006 8:05:55 PM 20:05 Posted: 10/30/2006 Location: Hanover, MD Shape: Light Duration: 3 to 4 minutes Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Bright white light moving west to east over central Maryland