Very Bright in due West, Hovered about 2 min's, then accelerated very fast stright up.
Driving due west toward the mountains, approaching north HWY 287 in Fort Collins, I saw a very bright light between 18 to 20 degrees west above the mountains. At first I dismissed this as a planet, as it looked as if it was stationary. The time was about 6:48am and in Fort Collins, this is during Civil Twilight where the sun is 6 degrees or less below the horizon. (Sun rise is at 7:08am). I was about to dismiss this object and turn north to go home, when I had to stop at a red light. I lined up three points using my Bronco, a tree for line of sight, just to make sure that the object was not moving. I watched it hover for about 10 or 15 seconds, when I noticed that it was indeed moving very slowly. At first, I thought that this was my imagination, but the object started to accelerate, and I knew it was not a planet. When the light turned green, I did not turn north, but went through the intersection and pulled over as fast as I could. I got out of my Bronco, and watched for about 30 seconds. The object moved about 1/3 the distance it was from the ground in about 4 seconds. It accelerated very quickly, and then disappeared. Still assuming that this might be a Jet that was reflecting the sun light, and possibly approaching my line of sight until it turned, which would look as if it were hovering, and then accelerating, I went home and crunched the numbers. This is what I got: The altitudes of most commercial jets are about 30,000 feet. If the object was 18 to 20 degrees from my line of sight, that would make it 16.61 to 18.32 miles away from me. I went to Fort Collins airport, and found the visibility for 7:00am, and it was 10 miles. This indicated that the object was close to double the distance for visibility. With the sun hitting an object, one might still be able to see it, so I calculated the speed. It the object moved 1/3 its altitude in 4 seconds, then it would be traveling close to 2400 feet per second, (rounding off). This equates to 1630 mph, which commercial jet cannot do. My conclusions suggest that unless this was a military craft that was reflecting the sun and traveling directly into my line of sight, (which made it look like it was hovering for over two minutes), and then shot straight up at a climbing rate of 1630 mph, then it is something unique. Lastly, if the object was indeed moving at a velocity of 1630 mph, and was coming directly at me for over two minutes, then it would have covered a distance of 54 miles, which would have brought the craft over my head in less than 60 seconds, which it did not do. I would be interested if anyone else saw this object from another direction so I can get better numbers.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
Driving due west toward the mountains, approaching north HWY 287 in Fort Collins, I saw a very bright light between 18 to 20 degrees west above the mountains. At first I dismissed this as a planet, as it looked as if it was stationary. The time was about 6:48am and in Fort Collins, this is during Civil Twilight where the sun is 6 degrees or less below the horizon. (Sun rise is at 7:08am). I was about to dismiss this object and turn north to go home, when I had to stop at a red light. I lined up three points using my Bronco, a tree for line of sight, just to make sure that the object was not moving. I watched it hover for about 10 or 15 seconds, when I noticed that it was indeed moving very slowly. At first, I thought that this was my imagination, but the object started to accelerate, and I knew it was not a planet. When the light turned green, I did not turn north, but went through the intersection and pulled over as fast as I could. I got out of my Bronco, and watched for about 30 seconds. The object moved about 1/3 the distance it was from the ground in about 4 seconds. It accelerated very quickly, and then disappeared. Still assuming that this might be a Jet that was reflecting the sun light, and possibly approaching my line of sight until it turned, which would look as if it were hovering, and then accelerating, I went home and crunched the numbers. This is what I got: The altitudes of most commercial jets are about 30,000 feet. If the object was 18 to 20 degrees from my line of sight, that would make it 16.61 to 18.32 miles away from me. I went to Fort Collins airport, and found the visibility for 7:00am, and it was 10 miles. This indicated that the object was close to double the distance for visibility. With the sun hitting an object, one might still be able to see it, so I calculated the speed. It the object moved 1/3 its altitude in 4 seconds, then it would be traveling close to 2400 feet per second, (rounding off). This equates to 1630 mph, which commercial jet cannot do. My conclusions suggest that unless this was a military craft that was reflecting the sun and traveling directly into my line of sight, (which made it look like it was hovering for over two minutes), and then shot straight up at a climbing rate of 1630 mph, then it is something unique. Lastly, if the object was indeed moving at a velocity of 1630 mph, and was coming directly at me for over two minutes, then it would have covered a distance of 54 miles, which would have brought the craft over my head in less than 60 seconds, which it did not do. I would be interested if anyone else saw this object from another direction so I can get better numbers.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
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Fort Collins
USA
8 min
8 min
40.56
-105.07
light
CO
Occurred : 1/27/2010 06:00 (Entered as : 1-27-2010 6:00) Reported: 1/27/2010 11:11:09 AM 11:11 Posted: 2/14/2010 Location: Fort Collins, CO Shape: Light Duration: 8 min Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Very Bright in due West, Hovered about 2 min's, then accelerated very fast stright up.