2007-03-23 - North Highlands, CA - Light

Bright, sometimes pulsating, light "dancing" about in western sky at about 10 degrees above horizon for 20 minutes.

WHAT A WILD BIRTHDAY PARTY!! 23 March 2007 Friday 23 March 2007, at approximately 9:20 PM, I was watching TV In bed. It was my (Jeff Challender) 54th birthday. My wife came running into the room suddenly in a high state of excitement, and told me to come outside right NOW! Our son Max had spotted something in the sky that he was certain was a UFO!! I put on my bathrobe, and stepped out onto the front lawn. There, in the sky, low over the houses across the street at 10 to 15° above the horizon, was a UFO all right! There can be NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! It’s position varied from due west, to northwest during the time we had it in sight. This thing, which seemed to be at least a half-kilometer distant, was literally dancing about in the air. It was soundless, and bright blue-white.

My wife rushed to get the camcorder, and once I got it started, continued to video tape this thing for almost 20 MINUTES!! I can barely describe the excitement. We watched this thing perform the most impossible maneuvers. It moved behind trees, returned and went behind the trees again. I hobbled up the street to follow it at one point, and it returned to its previous position, as if toying with me. So I went back to my chair on our lawn, and sat down. I “told” it I could not, and would not, chase it again, and that it had better stay in sight for me or I wouldn't continue to film it. I said these things half tongue in cheek, but THE THING SEEMED TO RESPOND! It DID come out from behind the trees, and stay there! It continued to bob up and down, and flit from side to side. Right after I told it to DO SOMETHING, it brightened considerably and performed something like a “fish hook” maneuver! It's all so unbelievable even now! Finally, after nearly 20 minutes in sight, it dipped "behind" the neighbor's garage across the street. My wife said, "Oh, don't go away!". After a moment or two, IT CAME BACK UP! It stunted some more, finally going back DOWN behind the same garage for the final time, which was due west of our location. It didn't return. It looked to us like it may have LANDED somewhere in the agricultural lands about a kilometer to our west! We waited an additional 20 minutes or so, hoping it would come back again. Unfortunately, it did not. So I went into the house and played the tape back on our TV. The tape came out sensationally! I did not zoom on the object but a couple brief times. I held the camera quite steadily by propping my elbow on the armrest of the lawn chair, and kept the houses across the street in the field of view almost the entire time. The film is incredible. We couldn't sleep until well after midnight. Must have watched the tape a half-dozen times last night.

Can't wait to get into the full analysis, with enlargements and speed manipulation. In the end, I'll have a 30 to 45 minute production detailing the entire event on DVD.

Max saw the object first. He says it was here Wednesday night, after Janet and I had gone to bed. He tells us it was dancing around out there for at least an hour. AND that it hovered directly over our house for a time. We have no reason to disbelieve Max. He told me about this sighting on Thursday morning before he went to school.

So this thing was here twice in three days. Who knows, it may have been out there Thursday night as well. We didn't look.

Our local MUFON field investigator came Sunday 25 March 2007, to take down my formal report. He also viewed the video tape and was blown out of his socks.


((NUFORC Note: We express our gratitude to Jeff Challender, noted investigator of the UFO phenomenon, for sharing the information with our Center, and for having forwarded the video footage of the object he captured. We do not know what the object was, but we would welcome reports from other witnesses. PD))