2013-12-03 - Burtonsville, MD - Light

Bright, very slow moving light with blue sparkles seen by 5 for 30 minutes above Silver Spring, MD.

It was a very clear night, and I saw the very bright light from inside my house through a window. I went outside on the front porch, and the light was maybe 25 degrees above the SW horizon and stationary. It was much brighter than any star I have ever seen. My wife and 2 neighbor kids said they could see blue sparkles around it. I could not (too old). Over the next 30 minutes it slowly moved to the WSW until it passed beyond the trees. The total movement from my point of view was very slight over that time. Because I could still see it by going upstairs, we could estimate its height over distance by considering the relative position of the object from the 2 viewing positions.

The only possible alternative explanation would be a police helicopter, but one would expect it to move at some point or see the light move if it was searching for someone. No sounds were heard by any of us.

Because we could clearly see jets flying between NY and Atlanta passing above it, I would estimate the height at 5-20K feet, perhaps 3-10 miles distant, which would place it near or above Silver Spring, MD, if any other reports come in.

If interested, I have a picture taken from inside my home using a flash to orient the position in the sky. The light can be seen through a window even with the flash!