2013-12-24 - Fayetteville, AR - Formation

Two waves of orange/yellow orbs with 'afterburner' like emissions visible from the rear upon passing overhead.

I was taking some shopping bags out of my car trunk at the apartment complex where I live (near the University of Arkansas campus) when I noticed moving lights at the edge of my vision. I was closing the trunk lid when I sighted the group of 3 orange/yellow lights/orbs moving overhead from my right to my left. The orbs displayed a bright nucleus of light surrounded by a softer glowing aura of a paler shade. The orbs were arrayed in a loose single file pattern moving overhead from the south toward the north at an altitude one generally see's a single engine prop plane fly at. If one held a pencil eraser at arm's length and noted it's perceived diameter the orbs would have been of a like diameter. The light emitted by each orb was consistent and didn't flicker and was surrounded by a translucent aura as mentioned previously. There was no noticeable sound coming from the orbs and the night sky was mostly clear with only a few diffuse clouds overhead. The orbs were moving along at a brisk and steady pace. When the orbs finally passed by me I could see that each had what appeared to be a pair of “afterburner” like lights/emissions trailing behind them as they moved toward the northern horizon. The 3 orbs finally disappeared from my view. Then I again looked toward the southern sky and was surprised to see a group of 5 more orange/yellow orbs coming towards my position headed along a similar flight path. 4 of the orbs were grouped in a broad non-linear cluster but the 5th orb was much higher in altitude periodically obscured by some wispy clouds underneath it. As the group of 5 orbs passed by me they too displayed what appeared to be rear mounted jet-like afterburners in their wake.

All 5 orbs disappeared shortly into the northern sky. This group of orbs made no sounds as they passed into the distance.

As a side note I was fortunate to attend a lecture by Dr. J. Allen Hynek (Project Bluebook) in the early 70's and e! ven spoke to him briefly. I found his presentation both fasci! nating a nd thought provoking. I'm cautiously skeptical regarding unidentified lights and this is my first time seeing an odd aerial display of this nature.

I've witnessed a couple of Chinese lantern launches in person and these lighted orbs were unlike the lanterns I saw on those occasions.

These orbs were quite a sight to behold.