2012-05-31 - Praia (Santiago) - Oval

I am writing this letter in order to submit the sighting form with regard to my observations. I was away on vacation in the Cape Verde islands on the island of Santiago from May 23, 2012 to June 1, 2012/. The area of the island I was staying was very quiet and desolate, facing the ocean and a near by Island was visible off in the distance.

On the night of May 30, 2012, I was admiring the moon and how it appeared to have set into the ocean. The stars were very visible and abundant. A friend and I noticed one particular star that appeared to be glowing and moving as if on an axis. While noticing this "star", we observed an orange strobe moving toward that "star." The orange strobe was pointed out as an airplane by my friend.

This orange strobe was moving faster than a plane given the distance away. As it approached the "star," the orange strobe circled around it, the "star" appeared to move, and the orange strobe vanished.

My friend and I were puzzled and we called to another friend to come outside and view the "star."

While calling a third friend to come outside, a very bright light appeared in the sky and moved faster than anything I had ever seen. If the "star" was at 1 o’clock on an imaginary clock in the sky, then this very bright light I believed was a shooting star, was at 12 o’clock. This event was so bright and so fast that it startled me and my friend. This occurred around 0030 hours Cape Verde time, which is 3 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

While still noticing this "star" appearing to be on an axis and moving, we observed another orange light, appearing to be blinking. This orange strobe moved from 1 o’clock to about 5 o’clock over about 10 minutes. I had time to go inside the residence, running, to get a camera with the hopes of capturing a photograph or a video. I retrieved the camera but based on its low quality, it could not capture my observations. The orange strobe vanished after being viewed for approximately 10 minutes.

A third orange strobe was located and observed travelling from left to right in the same area and height but from 1 o’clock to only about 3 before vanishing. The first strobe described above was viewed travelling from right to left and vanished after circling near the "star." This "star" was located in the area where the moon was last seen before it set into the ocean. This "star" was also located in the area where the neighboring island was visible during the daylight hours.

At some point, we observed another flash of light and or shooting star. From where we were standing, this occurred directly above us at the center of the sky. This was not nearly as bright as the first event described above.

These events had me absolutely sure that the objects I could see were not airplanes. I believed this is the first time in my life that I have ever witnessed a UFO, or several. The activity in this area was unlike anything I have ever seen.

I spoke to a pilot who works out of Praia International Airport who stated that there are no airplanes that should be travelling at that altitude at that time. I attempted to research the FAA to research any flights in the area during these hours but was unsuccessful.

I hope that you can shed some information on what I may have observed.

Sincerely, ((name deleted))