2008-08-13 - Washington, DC - Cylinder

Cylindrical object over Washington D.C. viewd from near Smithsonian Metro Station

My friends and I went on a trip to Washington D.C. on August 13 2008, at about 8:00 pm or a little after we were walking west on the mall towards the Smithsonian Metro Station when I noticed an object in the sky. It appeared to be cylindrical in shape and dark, gray maybe or a dull metallic color; it was relatively well offset by the colors of the evening sky so it was plainly visible to the naked eye. It seemed to be fairly large and distant; it stayed completely stationary for some time. After I first noticed it I didn’t point it out until I realized that it had not moved at all for close to 30 sec. I pointed it out to my 4 friends who all saw I but we could not decided what it was, the general consensus seemed to be that it might be a kite of some sort but to me it seemed too high in the sky and large, also the area of the sky it was in did not see like a place where anyone would fly a kite of any sort. I pulled out my cell phone to take a picture the clouds behind the object could be seen on the screen the but object did not appear despite that fact that as I mentioned before it was plainly visible to the naked eye, a fact that I pointed out to my friends, and all of my group saw it. If I recall I also heard someone in another group we passed mention noticing it. The object remained stationary for several minutes thereafter until it moved slightly down and to the right and from view.

The object was perhaps 30 to 40 degrees in the sky to the WNW, generally in the area of the sky between the Washington monument and the White House but probably more distant. It particularly struck me as odd because this is not a residential area, and as far as I know restricted air space, also this is the area of the sky were aircraft approach Regan National airport.