2014-01-01 - Fort Worth, TX - Oval

Orange ball stationary in sky above neighborhood south of Fort Worth before leaving northbound

While driving northbound out of the Carson Ranch estates, north of Crowley and south of Fort Worth TX, my daughter and I observed an orange light or “thing” floating completely motionless above the neighborhood at an altitude of what I perceived to be between 50 and 100 ft. It seemed to appear out of nowhere. The sky was clear.

At first we thought it was some kind of flaring firework because people had been setting off fireworks in the area as the New Year began 45 minutes prior. We were baffled that this “firework” was suspended motionless in the air as we were driving past it. It was more baffling that, upon further observation, the light appeared to be an illuminated, orange ball hovering in the sky. It did not appear perfectly round like a sphere; but, rather, it looked more ecliptic or egg shaped.

The object was to the right, or east, of us by a perceived 200 or 300 meters away. After looking at it for about 15 or 20 seconds as we were driving by, the object suddenly started moving! It travelled northward. Neither my daughter nor I heard any noise emanating from it.

With my curiosity peaked, I proceeded to “chase” the object and turned eastbound as it continued northbound, east of us. The object appeared to start accelerating and gaining altitude as I drove under its path of flight. At this point, I got my phone camera rolling. I turned northbound at the next street. However, the object was now going too fast to catch up while driving down residential roads. I stopped my car and continued filming for a few more seconds until it was too far and faint for the camera to pick up anymore. However, I could still see it with my eyes as it changed its heading from north to northeast. I could tell that it changed course by using a street light as a reference point.

As the object was moving, its illumination had a slow, subtle pulse to it in about 2 or 3 second intervals, from bright to dim then bright again, repeatedly. The pulsing was very subtle and not immediately obvious.

This was NO Chinese lantern! It had started moving from its initial stationary position much too quickly. It was not windy; 5 mph at the most. This also had too much range and speed to be a remote controlled helicopter. If it was a drone or UAV, why would it be illuminated orange as a whole? And why so low? I am very curious as to what this object could have been.