2009-07-20 - Bozeman, MT - Light

Big light seen moving toward me from high up suddenly reverses itself as it notices that I am looking at it.

This sighting lasted probably less than a minute. I walked outside on my patio early that morning and looked up at the stars in the clear predawn sky. I turned my head to the left and at that moment I noticed a bright light, maybe twice the size of Venus. The light appeared to be moving right at me even though very high up and it seems that as it noticed that I was looking straight at it, it then began to move backwards and then to go up even higher until it finally became non-visible.

So many thoughts went through my head at a rapid speed regarding what I might have thought this thing to be as I was looking at it. I knew that it couldn’t be a satellite because it was just too bright and because of the way that it had just suddenly reversed itself and went straight up till it disappeared. I have never seen satellites behave that way. There were no running lights, no port or starboard lights on what I was seeing. It was just a big ball of light. The light also seemed to be sort of flickering at the center. I say flicker, but I mean that it was more like if one were to take some crinkled tin foil and move it around in the hand just slightly so that it throws light reflections around.

There actually was a car going by at exactly the same time that I saw this light in the sky. I remember thinking as it happened that the lights on this car could be reflecting on something and causing this light in the sky, but quickly dismissed that idea since the car was down below me and on the street behind my apartment, which is on the second level, and the bright light I saw in the sky seemed too high up to be a reflection from anything on the ground.

This sighting affected me in a very unfamiliar way. I feel that my reaction to it was very instinctual and quick. I became very afraid as I stood there watching it move up into non-visibility. I think the hair on my arms stood up and that it made my skin crawl. The one thing that really got to me was that I felt this light was being stealthy and creeping in on me and when I turned my head to look at it, it just backed away, as though it knew that I was looking at it and sort of catching it in the act. I felt like a frightened animal, or a cornered animal. I then just gave up on watching it disappear and bolted back inside. Upon entering I looked at the clock and it was 4 a.m. My clock on the wall is two minutes fast, so the actual time was more like 3:58 a.m.