2013-03-28 - Kelso, WA - Unknown

Bright Red & Orange light travelling north over Columbia River in SW Washington

Sitting at the dining table, looking through windows directly south toward the Columbia River and the Oregon hills, I saw a large, very solid red light, surrounded by a distinct orange, partial surrounding (missing the orange at the bottom), moving at a fair clip in a trajectory roughly following the I-5 freeway. Assuming this was a helicopter, I started watching more closely, wondering why a helicopter was coming so close to us, as we sit up on a hill, with a broad view. The craft slowed and came to a stop, somewhere above the freeway, as it appeared to me. It didn't turn, the lights didn't flash, it just stopped, for approximately 4 or 5 seconds, then moved to the north east, closer to us, then stopped again. At this point, we scrambled to get up and go outside, cameras, etc. It took us several seconds to do that. We got out side and watched this light. There was no sound, although if it had been a plane or helicopter of that size and location, we w! ould normally hear it. It was large, appearing much larger than stars normally appear. There was a light cloud cover beginning to move in, and ultimately, the stopped craft seemed to disappear behind the clouds as they closed in on it. The clouds seemed rather opaque as they covered it, although it otherwise appeared to be very light cloud cover, that I would have assumed that you could have perhaps seen such a bright light through. Interestingly, the camera would not focus in on whatever the object was, which was unusual, I frequently take pictures of the moon, bright stars, planes, etc.