2009-02-04 - Austin, TX - Circle

It was right after dark, Wednesday, February 4, 2009. I had just let the dog out for a run. The sky was clear with only a few stars visible and the moon was not up yet. It was unusually quiet. There were no airliners, private planes, helicopters or military jets in the sky at the time.

I was alone, standing at the edge of the walkway, in the dark at my rural home, looking at the stars. The only light was my yellow porch light which was 35 or 40 feet behind me. I was looking toward the north west and noticed a large very bright round object moving toward me very slowly. I thought it had to be either the ISS or STS so I ran into my house to get my binoculars so I could watch it clearly. I also made a note of the time. It was 18:59.

As I watched the object approach I noticed that it appeared to be flying at an even altitude and it was traveling in a weaving pattern, moving from the left then back to the right. The object made no sound. It had no navigational lights and no FAA red and green strobe lights. It emitted a steady white light. I have no idea how far up this object was. I had difficulty looking at it. It was so bright it hurt my eyes. It did appear to be the size of a dinner plate The object came to a dead stop right across from me and sat still for about 10 seconds. Then it blinked out and moved to the south west, right above me. Needless to say, I almost panicked and ran but I couldn’t move. I was frozen and I could not breath. I felt as if it was staring at me while I was staring at it. I immediately thought, what is this thing and how can it see me in the dark? It sat there for almost a minute, then it started moving again, to the south east, at a faster pace and in a straighter line. When it was almost out of sight it veered to the left and disappeared. I got my dog and ran into the house, closed and locked my door and looked at the time. It was 19:03.

I have lived either on or outside of military bases my entire life and I have seen some pretty unusual objects in the sky and in the water, but I have never experienced this before. I sincerely hope that I continue to see UFO’s, but only at a distance.

I did not report this sighting to any law enforcement agencies but I did contact NASA in Houston to ask if they knew what this object might be. They did not know but they did say that it was not one of their satellites. Their satellites do not zig zag across the sky and they do not stop in mid air.

I hope reading this helps anyone who has had a similar experience.