2016-06-04 - Joshua Tree, CA - Oval

Multiple continuously-luminous craft, flying silently at very high speed, with irregular greenish flashes.

This sighting was made during the "Contact in the Desert" event, held 3-6 June 2016 at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center (JTRC) in Joshua Tree, CA. Spanning an approximately 10-minute period beginning at about 10:30 PM, we (my wife and I) observed a total of seven (7) continuously-luminous flying objects approached JTRC at very high speed over the Western horizon (direction of Yucca Valley).

The objects arrived singly, one after the other, and in pairs at irregular intervals over the approximate 10-minute observation period. None of the objects exhibited standard red, green or white blinking aircraft navigation lights.

Each object flew exceedingly smoothly, silently and rapidly towards the East and then each turned smoothly toward the North/Northeast when they arrived directly North of the JTRC grounds. The distance to the flying craft was estimated to be less than two miles, but could have been as little as one mile away at their closest approach to t! he JTRC. Throughout their approach from the West and eventual disappearance to the North, the objects emitted a continuous pale bluish/green to soft amber light. The craft were sufficiently bright and large to be very easily observed without the assistance of night-vision optics or binoculars. At irregular intervals during their flight trajectories, each craft displayed bright flashes of an iridescent green glow. The glowing flashes did not appear to emanate from a fixed point on the craft, but rather seemed to be diffuse in nature and sweep over the craft in an uneven manner. The flash duration was about 1 second or less. As mentioned above, the craft were fairly close (estimated 1-2 miles) and when the green flashes occurred, it was just possible to make out some kind of hull structure to the craft, i.e., the craft did not appear as sharp points of light or amorphous balls of light. When the craft were targeted by one or more hand-held lasers, they sometimes flashed green. But they also flashed a green glow at times when they were n! ot illum inated by lasers. From its first appearance on the western horizon, each object took about 30 seconds (or possibly less) to complete its west-to-east flyby past the JTRC, perform the sweeping northerly turn, and subsequently gradually disappear over the northern horizon.

The estimated distance of the objects when they first appeared over the western horizon was 5 miles. Similarly, the estimated distance to the point of disappearance in the north was also 5 miles, resulting in a total (visible) flight trajectory of 10 miles. Assuming this distance was traveled in 30 seconds or less, the minimum speed of the objects may be estimated at about 1200 miles per hour. Importantly, no sound of any kind was detected as the objects flew past, which would be consistent with an unconventional (i.e., non-jet engine) type of propulsion system.