2010-07-03 - Waynesboro, PA - Circle

Red, circular object sighted in night sky before fireworks display

On the night of Saturday July 3, 2010, myself, my husband, sister, and young son attended the Waynesboro Fireworks display. The fireworks are set off in a field located behind and to the left ( if you are facing the front of the school) of the local high school, and to the right of the middle school and were slated to start at 9:30 PM, but in the end were not set of until around 9:45.

My family and I decided to take seat in the field which is across the street located in front of the high school to view the evenings display. There were many people around us. Just to include some background info, they had already set of several "test" fireworks at around 9:15 PM. Again these fireworks, when viewed from our orientation, were located behind and to the left of the high school.

As we were waiting for the display to begin, at around 9:25, I was looking at the sky and noticed a red, circular object, with a kind of haze around the outside edges. It lined up with the left corner of the high school, however much farther south than the school was, and was just floating there.

I alerted my husband and sister to the object (my son is 2 and took no interest), and it began to move in an east to west direction, but could also have been moving away in an east to south-west direction. From our viewpoint it seemed to travel the length of the school (east to west). It was also slowly climbing in altitude, which quickly made us realize this was not a flare.

The object also seemed to be pulsating, as in the light would grow smaller, get bigger, and grow smaller again,but was not blinking.

Once it reached about the middle of the high school, as it was climbing very slowly in altitude it began to disappear. It would flicker out, then reappear and flicker out. It did this very slowly. Eventually, it either shrunk and disappeared or flew so far that the light was no longer visible. This object was visible for between one and two minutes.

I have tried to calculate the distance away and altitude just now, but find it hard to triangulate it without going back to the site and using proper tools, less I give and improper estimate.

After viewing the object, we were all puzzled as to what it could be. There were people behind us whom I know noticed it, and were confused also because I heard them saying, "What in the world is that?"

We did not discuss the matter with them, however.

This object was in no way a plane, helicopter, flare, or firework. It moved too slowly to be a plane or helicopter, and was like no fire work I have ever seen.

It also did not originate from the area where the fireworks were being set off at, and it went in a direction against the wind. I am able to remember this because the fireworks were being blown toward us to the north, and the object was moving to the west.

The object seemed to just appear all the sudden, also. I would have though it was possibly a flare, being happy to arrive at a known solution; however it traveled in a direction, and lasted an amount of time uncommon for a flare. Usually a flare will still be lit after it travels upward and begins to fall to the ground.

This object at no time fell in altitude, it rose. I have seen flares before, and this was not a flare.

I am at a loss as to what this object was, and it has bothered me since.

I hope this report was of service, and if there are any further questions, feel free to contact me.