2008-09-22 - Springfield, IL - Disk

white glowing craft travels overhead and changes direction

I was just starting to walk with my dog for the evening. I looked up to scan the night sky and saw an object coming from the western sky that did not appear to be an airplane. It was coming directly from the west and I was hoping it would be a satellite reflecting the light from the sun that had set an hour earlier. I did not see flashing lights, or colored lights; just a steady glow. As the object drew closer, it appeared it was about as high as some of the jet airliners that often pass overhead to other cities. I was just outside of my house, so I ran back in to get binoculars (7x35) to see the object better. It appeared to be traveling as fast as military jets at high altitude, but it did not look like a plane.

Using the binoculars, I was then able to tell that the quality of light was much brighter than reflected sunlight and that the object appeared to be creating the light. It was a round shape; glowing a very bright white with a slight hint of blue at the edges. Again, I could not see any standard aircraft lighting. Based on the altitude of normal aircraft, the diameter of the object appeared to be as big as the length of an airliner. It was now about overhead, and I was thinking it could still be a satellite, when it then began changing its eastern course and then began heading in a northeastern direction. I could not see jet thrusters or wings on the craft. I continued to watch it as it disappeared. If it was satellite, it should have lost intensity as it went further from the horizon, and it would not have changed directions.