Bright pure white cone of light, not moving, over northwestern Connecticut, for about 20 seconds
While watching the stars (as I do each evening with my son), I noticed a very bright, pure white light due south of our location. It was approximately 40 degrees above the horizon, and looked like a light shining down on the Earth -- that is, it was shaped like a cone, brightest at the top and fading out at the lower edge, which was about 5-10 degrees lower. Several things struck me about this event. First, it was very large, covering several degrees of the sky horizontally and vertically. Second, the apex of the cone was flattened, as you would see if someone were shining a flashlight down -- it wouldn't come to a perfect point, it would be flat at the rim of the flashlight. Third, it did not move at all -- at first it reminded me of a comet, but I knew that couldn't be, and then a meteor, but that would be true only if it were coming straight at me (which is possible). I turned to the screen door and called for my wife to come see. When I turned back, ther! e was only a luminescent cloud where the light had been shining. My wife, exiting another door, confirmed this. Could it have been a meteor coming head-on at us? That's the best explanation I can come up with.
There were commercial aircraft in the vicinity, what I believe was regular westbound traffic from Logan or Bradley airports.
((NUFORC Note: Missile launch. PD))
While watching the stars (as I do each evening with my son), I noticed a very bright, pure white light due south of our location. It was approximately 40 degrees above the horizon, and looked like a light shining down on the Earth -- that is, it was shaped like a cone, brightest at the top and fading out at the lower edge, which was about 5-10 degrees lower. Several things struck me about this event. First, it was very large, covering several degrees of the sky horizontally and vertically. Second, the apex of the cone was flattened, as you would see if someone were shining a flashlight down -- it wouldn't come to a perfect point, it would be flat at the rim of the flashlight. Third, it did not move at all -- at first it reminded me of a comet, but I knew that couldn't be, and then a meteor, but that would be true only if it were coming straight at me (which is possible). I turned to the screen door and called for my wife to come see. When I turned back, ther! e was only a luminescent cloud where the light had been shining. My wife, exiting another door, confirmed this. Could it have been a meteor coming head-on at us? That's the best explanation I can come up with.
There were commercial aircraft in the vicinity, what I believe was regular westbound traffic from Logan or Bradley airports.
((NUFORC Note: Missile launch. PD))
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Great Barrington
USA
30 seconds
30 seconds
42.19
-73.36
light
MA
Occurred : 9/19/2009 19:52 (Entered as : 09/19/09 19:52) Reported: 9/19/2009 5:42:32 PM 17:42 Posted: 12/12/2009 Location: Great Barrington, MA Shape: Light Duration: 30 seconds Characteristics: The object left a trail, There was an aura or haze around the object
Bright pure white cone of light, not moving, over northwestern Connecticut, for about 20 sec.. ((NUFORC Note: Missile launch. PD))