2011-05-25 - Cincinnati, OH - Sphere

Red sphere over Cincinnati, OH

I had just taken our dog out for a potty break when I noticed a very unusual object come into view straight up in the southern sky. The object was reddish orange in color, twice the size of Venus, but about the same brightness as Venus.

I instantly called the wife and two kids out to see the object. It did shimmer a bit, so my wife instantly said it looked similar to a Chinese lantern. I disagreed; the object moved too fast and steady for it to be in any wind pattern. It took the object approximately 10-12 seconds to move from horizon to horizon, traveling silently from south to north in a straight line.

I’ve observed the ISS in the past, and this object was much bigger and seemed a lot lower in the atmosphere. I’ve also considered that it may have been a meteorite; it certainly moved like one, but the red color seemed all wrong. We did have some severe weather move through the area a couple of hours later, so maybe the atmospheric conditions gave it the red color.

I can say that its brightness stayed consistent, so I don’t think it was reflecting sunlight; tt appeared to be self luminous. While I’m sure it was natural in origin, there was just something very odd about its appearance.

I just thought I would make the report with the hope that you might be able to tell me what the heck it was.

Thanks.