2007-04-03 - Phoenix, AZ - Other

Parachute shaped object over North Phoenix

I was in my backyard at approximately 10 PM, looked up in the sky, and noticed an object that appeared to be floating in the sky. The moon was behind me so the light was reflecting off of the object. I initially thought it was a paraglider, but it was not moving across the sky and there was no sound. I called my wife out to the yard and she brought binoculars. I used the binoculars to view the object, it looked like a a group of about 10-20 large white balloons (shaped like a parachute) with a cable pointing towards the ground. It seemed to be pretty high in the sky, but as it was night I can not say exactly how high it was. I watched the object for about twenty minutes, it moved slowly back and forth across the sky. I then went into my front yard and walked up the street about 200 feet, the object was above me and off to the side. I thought that maybe it was some kids playing a prank, flying an odd shaped kite in the sky at night, so I got in my car and drove to the park up the street. I didn't see anyone at the park, but I did see some odd flashing lights on or beneath the playground equipment. I didn't get out of my car so I don't know if there were people on the playground, but I definitely saw some flashing lights on the ground. I then drove home, viewed the object from the front yard and then the back yard, and then went inside to quickly search the internet for images of weather balloons. I went outside approximately 5 minutes later and the object was gone.

I awoke the next morning to my alarm clock, it wakes me up to KTAR 92.3 FM, a local talk radio station. The very memory I have of that morning is listening to a quick story about some large balloons that got loose from a car dealership and a plane almost hit them, and then the announcer quickly moved on to the next story. I felt like I was awake, but I can't say with 100% accuracy that I did not dream the story. However, I do have a very clear memory of waking up to that news story. I searched KTAR's homepage for the balloon story and also searched azcentral.com, but did not find any stories. The nearest car dealership is about 8 miles away to the southwest.

I have thought of three explanations for what I saw. The first is that it was someone playing a prank and flying an odd shaped kite or balloon high up in the sky on the night of the full moon. The second explanation would be some large balloons that got loose from a car dealership. The third explanation is that it was a UFO. I doubt the second explanation just because the object was "floating" above my neighborhood for so long.