2008-07-19 - State College, PA - Unknown

[State College, PA -- 2008.07.19+03:27] UPDATE!!!

PETER, THIS IS JUST AN UPDATE. I NEEDED TO CONFIRM WITH MY FRIENDS WHAT TIME IT WAS WHEN I CHECKED MY WATCH. "B" CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS 03:27, NOT 02:27. OTHERWISE, I HAVE NOT DISCUSSED THE SIGHTING WITH HER. SORRY FOR THE ERROR. ~Sc'Eric [State College, PA -- approx. 2008.07.19+03:27] A hot, muggy night. I was with 3 friends: A, B and B's 14 yr-old nephew E. We had decided to visit the Penn State golf course to cool off in the sprinklers. The sprinklers were not running, so we just laid in the grass and looked at the few stars we could see through the haze.

At approximately 02:27, near the zenith, I saw something move that made me do a double-take. Something about the way it moved was incongruous. About the same time I said, "Whoa, what was that?", then B chimed in with something similar. We lay watching as two white lights (which appeared to be connected) moved from approximatley West to East (left to right, across our field of vision). We all saw it moving, but I'm not sure how long it took A and E to lock onto it after we pointed it out. We watched as it traveled eastward (perhaps northeastward) from the zenith toward the constellation of Cassiopaea.

One of the first things we noticed was that there was a light on each end, one leading the other. This contrasts what most would expect to see: 2 lights moving parallel to one another, as the lights on a winged aircraft. I recall they were not much larger or different in intensity than the surrounding stars. I also recall that as they passed over the background of stars, they seemed relatively close to Earth, perhaps within Earth orbit or closer, though I cannot qualify what gives me that impression. They definitely seem closer than the communications satellites I've seen pass over since I was a kid. I did not think to observe whether any of the background stars were "blotted out" in the space between the two lights.

As we watched, the lights began to change configuration. B was the first to notice, exclaiming how they appeared to be moving closer together. I remember commenting that the configuration shift seemed consistent with the notion that the lights were part of a larger craft and that craft was rotating (in an anti-clockwise fashion). Additionally, the "object" appeared to be rotating in multiple planes--hence the lights moving closer together. In about the width of 2 fists (held at arms length) the alleged object had rotated a full ninety-degrees and continued doing so as it traversed the sky toward Cassiopaea. It was at this point that I began realising (out loud) what subconsciously made me focus on the object: the fact that the lights were moving in a way that was completely inconsistent with the likes of traditional aircraft. (And, in retrospect, I would also like to point out that the haze and general cloud-cover would seem to preclude the notion that we were observing an orbiting satellite, as we could barely see the stars themselves.) The two lights started out approximately one or two finger-widths apart (at arms-length)--their widest configuration. I specifically kept looking for, but found no evidence of, a third light-source which may have formed a triangle.

Once the object entered the Cassiopaea, I lost it. B was able to track it about a minute longer before it disappeared into the haze. In all the entire duration of the observation was about 1 to 1.5 minutes (for me) and about 2 minutes for B and A. I never thought to ask E about his observations.