2012-07-23 - Duck, NC - Light

Two distinct red lights observed NNE of Duck within 3 - 4 minutes of one another with dramatic speed and direction changes.

Observations were made on a clear night on a deck on top of a house approximately 2 miles north of the Town of Duck, NC. Observers were stargazing given the clear night, and all happened to be looking the same general direction as one was pointing out Polaris, the North Star.

Two distinct objects were observed within 10 minutes of one another. Both appeared in the same approximate area of the sky, NNE of Duck, NC, approximately 60 degrees above the horizon. Both appeared as distinct, continuous red lights.

First moved slowly from east to west below Polaris, slowed down to a hover and held for 30 – 45 seconds. Two observers reported the object simply blinked off while the other two reported the object suddenly flew straight up and disappeared. (I was in the latter group and cannot comment on the direction, it simply seemed to blink off to me.) Several minutes later, a bright red light appeared moving directly towards us as it got noticeably brighter.

Again, the light was distinct, very noticeable, and unwavering. It appeared to approach for several minutes getting continuously brighter. The object then suddenly changed direction and moved at a very high rate of speed immediately off to the east and appeared to travel from approximately 340 degrees (slightly west of direct north of us) to 40 degrees within a second before disappearing in a blink.

Military aircraft are common in the area and have been observed both during the day and night. All observers were very familiar with the movement and light patterns exhibited by military aircraft – these objects moved in both speed and change of direction uncharacteristic of any aircraft known to the observers.