2010-11-07 - Eagle Lake, MN - Sphere

Bright airborne object that moved in extrodinary way.

I would like to preface this report by giving a little bit of back ground. I formerly was enlisted in the United States Navy and was attached to an Intruder squadron. I have seen almost all types of military and civilian aircraft and am familiar with flight mechanics. Also I was not under any influence of any drugs or alcohol. I am normal and healthy with no history of mental illness.

November, 7th 2010/6:50am I was returning home from work traveling East on Hwy 14 near Eagle Lake, MN. Upon clearing a crest in the hill I noticed a bright blinding light to the East about 300 to 400 feet in the air. Having experience in the aviation field my first thought was that it had to be landing lights of an airplane since there was a local airport only a couple miles away. The object was at the time was between 1 and 1.5 miles away.

After traveling 30-40 seconds the light neither moved in altitude or distance. It appeared to be stationary. I started approaching the object driving about 55 MPH. As I got closer I was able to start to distinguish the shape of the object. Initially it looked just like a ball of light. As I could start to make out features it looked like a shiny metallic surface with intense light shining from the underside of the object. At this point I was able to eliminate airplanes, jets, and helicopters as possible objects.

Not being able to Identify it as any aircraft I know. I attempted to turn to a second line of reasoning. The object looked similar to a giant Mylar foil balloon. Based on the size of the tree's below the object it was about the size of a normal 3 bedroom home. My thought at the time was perhaps they were trying out a new type of weather balloon or I also heard that the military was trying out new dirigibles to patrol the boarders between the United States and Canada. Perhaps it could have been one of those. As I approached, the object started moving west the same direction I was heading. ((sic. Witness was going east. Please see below. PD)) I was traveling at the posted rate of speed 55 yet the object was pulling away quickly. Having no cars in front of me and knowing the road was straight I accelerated to about 85mph in an effort to get closer. *never will I condone breaking the law but something was obviously not right. At this point the object swiftly pulled away veered North and shot across the sky at an extreme rate of speed. After about 8 to 12 seconds it was out of my visual range. Total elapsed time from first sighting, until loss of visual was about 7 minutes.

Since I was in my car driving at highway speeds I was unable to hear any type of engine noise. There were no vapor trails. To reference how fast this object was moving.. I have seen F-14's flying at full speed. This object was moving at least twice that speed. And I also know that any soft surface of a dirigible would not be able to hold up at those speeds therefore the surface had to be solid. I cannot tell you what this was. I can tell you what it was not. I told my now ex-wife about it and she seemed quite skeptical.. The only other person I have told about this is my sister. And It sounds crazy.. If I heard someone telling it I would think they sounded crazy.. But I cannot forget about it. And the least I can do is report it.


((ADDENDUM FROM WITNESS))

I just noticed I switched my east and west up in the second to last paragraph.. I was heading east. I was never heading west. I always took Hwy 14 west in to work, and Hwy 14 east from work. I was returning home. A misprint on my part spell check did not catch it.