Slow moving ellipse lit from beneath by the early-morning sun.
Date: 10 March, 2008
Time: 0730 MDT
Weather: Clear, about 35-degrees, no breeze
Location: In the Buckhorn Canyon near Deadman Gulch about one mile ENE of Moody Park in Roosevelt National Forest and roughly 15 straight-line miles west of downtown Fort Collins, Colorado.
Description: I had just started my morning commute to work and was by road about three miles from home which is located in Paradise Park (that’s on about any recent topographic map of the area).
The sun had just broken the higher peaks visible from the canyon bottom as I noticed a glint toward the top of the windshield. I slowed to take a closer look as the sky was beautifully blue and clear and there should have been nothing in that area of sky. I’ve driven this route for over 10 years and know it well.
What I saw was an ellipsoidal object lit from beneath by the sun. It was slowly and noiselessly moving toward the west at, I would estimate, about 10 mph. It was moving level and in a linear manner.
My first thought was a weather balloon; yea, sure, Uncle. If so, it would be moving against any prevailing breeze which would be from the west to east. There was no breeze at ground level that morning. It did not change shape or direction.
I had it in view for about three to four seconds and watched it move behind an unnamed "hill" which is a small but quite obvious peak from the bottom of the canyon. On the topographic map the hill is noted at 6897’ in elevation at the top. I would estimate the object was just below the peak and travelled just south of the peak as the ellipse disappeared "behind" the peak from the canyon bottom and road.
Based on the spruce trees on the peak, I would estimate the major axis of the ellipse which was horizontal to be about 25’ to 30’ and the minor axis to be about 1/3 that. It was clearly lit from below by the early morning sun and appeared the white "color" of the sun, a highly reflective surface which added no spectral modification of its own. It was totally opaque.
The linear distance from the road, my observation point, to the object was about 0.20 miles. This is estimated from the topographic map of the area. If I had been home and looking out the south-facing windows of the house, I would have been looking down on the object and had a much longer sighting Too bad!
Just for interest sake, this was by far not my first sighting nor, hopefully, will be my last. It is the first I have reported to NUFORC.
I am ((50's-60's)) years old, am a practicing ((deleted))engineer, and have a degree in ((deleted--a science)). Interests are amateur radio, optical and radio astronomy, general relativity, mineralogy and geology, UFOology, and "pushing the limits" of electromagnetics.
I presently work as an ((deleted--large, technical company)) in the Denver, Colorado area. This is all to imply I consider myself a credible witness.
Date: 10 March, 2008
Time: 0730 MDT
Weather: Clear, about 35-degrees, no breeze
Location: In the Buckhorn Canyon near Deadman Gulch about one mile ENE of Moody Park in Roosevelt National Forest and roughly 15 straight-line miles west of downtown Fort Collins, Colorado.
Description: I had just started my morning commute to work and was by road about three miles from home which is located in Paradise Park (that’s on about any recent topographic map of the area).
The sun had just broken the higher peaks visible from the canyon bottom as I noticed a glint toward the top of the windshield. I slowed to take a closer look as the sky was beautifully blue and clear and there should have been nothing in that area of sky. I’ve driven this route for over 10 years and know it well.
What I saw was an ellipsoidal object lit from beneath by the sun. It was slowly and noiselessly moving toward the west at, I would estimate, about 10 mph. It was moving level and in a linear manner.
My first thought was a weather balloon; yea, sure, Uncle. If so, it would be moving against any prevailing breeze which would be from the west to east. There was no breeze at ground level that morning. It did not change shape or direction.
I had it in view for about three to four seconds and watched it move behind an unnamed "hill" which is a small but quite obvious peak from the bottom of the canyon. On the topographic map the hill is noted at 6897’ in elevation at the top. I would estimate the object was just below the peak and travelled just south of the peak as the ellipse disappeared "behind" the peak from the canyon bottom and road.
Based on the spruce trees on the peak, I would estimate the major axis of the ellipse which was horizontal to be about 25’ to 30’ and the minor axis to be about 1/3 that. It was clearly lit from below by the early morning sun and appeared the white "color" of the sun, a highly reflective surface which added no spectral modification of its own. It was totally opaque.
The linear distance from the road, my observation point, to the object was about 0.20 miles. This is estimated from the topographic map of the area. If I had been home and looking out the south-facing windows of the house, I would have been looking down on the object and had a much longer sighting Too bad!
Just for interest sake, this was by far not my first sighting nor, hopefully, will be my last. It is the first I have reported to NUFORC.
I am ((50's-60's)) years old, am a practicing ((deleted))engineer, and have a degree in ((deleted--a science)). Interests are amateur radio, optical and radio astronomy, general relativity, mineralogy and geology, UFOology, and "pushing the limits" of electromagnetics.
I presently work as an ((deleted--large, technical company)) in the Denver, Colorado area. This is all to imply I consider myself a credible witness.
No
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Off
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No
Fort Collins
USA
3 to 4 seconds
3 to 4 seconds
40.56
-105.07
oval
CO
Occurred : 3/10/2008 07:30 (Entered as : 03/10/08 7:30) Reported: 3/29/2008 2:58:21 PM 14:58 Posted: 3/31/2008 Location: Fort Collins (near), CO Shape: Oval Duration: 3 to 4 seconds
Slow moving ellipse lit from beneath by the early-morning sun.