Single intermittent flashing white light suddenly appears, traverses a small segment of the sky, then disappears.
On 2 separate occasions now I have observed an unidentified flashing object in the night sky. The first incident happened approximately 2 weeks before the date of this report, and this recent incident is what prompted me to file this report.
The description of the object is as follows: A single white flashing light that is similar to a standard aircraft landing light in size, shape, color, and intensity. I often see standard aircraft in the area turn on their landing lights as they enter the airspace of the Austin and Georgetown area. Their color, as was the color of this object, is different than the light of the stars, and they appear much larger than any of the larger stars, like Vega, or planets you can see, like Jupiter.
The activity of the object is as follows: The first incident appeared in the northwestern sky sometime after midnight around the first of August, 2017, as a white flash that I saw out of the corner of my eye, and that I initially thought was a standard aircraft. However, when I looked in the area where I saw the light, I could see no standard aircraft marking or navigation lights, no strobes, and no shape of any aircraft.
I diverted my attention from the area, and then it appeared again, so I focused on the area and began to count to see if I could pick up some kind of regular interval. After about 19 seconds, I saw the flash, and measured the distance it had traversed to be approximately 4 fingers/125 mils/7 degrees from the southwest to the northeast. I continued to count, and the flash appeared again at 14 seconds, then at 16 seconds, and then seemed to lose intensity and disappear. I was only able to observe this object flash approximately 4 to 5 times, and it traversed approximately 600 mils / 33 degrees! of sky before it simply disappeared.
The second incident happened around 0030 and was similar to the first, however, it occurred in the northeastern part of the sky, was only visible for 4 flashes, and only traversed approximately 125 mils / 7 degrees of sky before it disappeared.
The location of the object was as follows: I observed these objects from Jarrell, TX, which is approximately 12 miles north of Georgetown, TX. The first incident in the western sky appeared approximately 540 mils/30 degrees above the line of the horizon in a northeasterly direction. The second, and most recent incident appeared in the eastern sky approximately 720 mils/40 degrees above the horizon in a eastern/northeastern direction. The objects appeared and disappeared instantaneously, and could not be tracked from horizon to horizon, as can the standard aircraft that fly through the area.
Final thoughts: I would like to think it was a standard aircraft, but it exhibited none of the standard lights visible on most aircraft, nor could any shape or sound be identified, which is usually common, and the flight characteristics and intermittent use of light is completely out of character for any of the aircraft I observe operating in this area, or any rotary or fixed-wing aircraft I observed while serving as a jumpmaster for more than 10 years in the U.S. Army. I simply don't know what it was that I observed, or why it behaved in that manner.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain semi-anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
On 2 separate occasions now I have observed an unidentified flashing object in the night sky. The first incident happened approximately 2 weeks before the date of this report, and this recent incident is what prompted me to file this report.
The description of the object is as follows: A single white flashing light that is similar to a standard aircraft landing light in size, shape, color, and intensity. I often see standard aircraft in the area turn on their landing lights as they enter the airspace of the Austin and Georgetown area. Their color, as was the color of this object, is different than the light of the stars, and they appear much larger than any of the larger stars, like Vega, or planets you can see, like Jupiter.
The activity of the object is as follows: The first incident appeared in the northwestern sky sometime after midnight around the first of August, 2017, as a white flash that I saw out of the corner of my eye, and that I initially thought was a standard aircraft. However, when I looked in the area where I saw the light, I could see no standard aircraft marking or navigation lights, no strobes, and no shape of any aircraft.
I diverted my attention from the area, and then it appeared again, so I focused on the area and began to count to see if I could pick up some kind of regular interval. After about 19 seconds, I saw the flash, and measured the distance it had traversed to be approximately 4 fingers/125 mils/7 degrees from the southwest to the northeast. I continued to count, and the flash appeared again at 14 seconds, then at 16 seconds, and then seemed to lose intensity and disappear. I was only able to observe this object flash approximately 4 to 5 times, and it traversed approximately 600 mils / 33 degrees! of sky before it simply disappeared.
The second incident happened around 0030 and was similar to the first, however, it occurred in the northeastern part of the sky, was only visible for 4 flashes, and only traversed approximately 125 mils / 7 degrees of sky before it disappeared.
The location of the object was as follows: I observed these objects from Jarrell, TX, which is approximately 12 miles north of Georgetown, TX. The first incident in the western sky appeared approximately 540 mils/30 degrees above the line of the horizon in a northeasterly direction. The second, and most recent incident appeared in the eastern sky approximately 720 mils/40 degrees above the horizon in a eastern/northeastern direction. The objects appeared and disappeared instantaneously, and could not be tracked from horizon to horizon, as can the standard aircraft that fly through the area.
Final thoughts: I would like to think it was a standard aircraft, but it exhibited none of the standard lights visible on most aircraft, nor could any shape or sound be identified, which is usually common, and the flight characteristics and intermittent use of light is completely out of character for any of the aircraft I observe operating in this area, or any rotary or fixed-wing aircraft I observed while serving as a jumpmaster for more than 10 years in the U.S. Army. I simply don't know what it was that I observed, or why it behaved in that manner.
((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain semi-anonymous; provides no contact information. PD))
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Off
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Yes
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Georgetown
USA
~2 minutes
~2 minutes
30.66
-97.72
flash
TX
Occurred : 8/15/2017 00:30 (Entered as : 08/15/17 00:30) Reported: 8/15/2017 2:56:29 PM 14:56 Posted: 8/17/2017 Location: Georgetown, TX Shape: Flash Duration: ~2 minutes Characteristics: There were lights on the object
Single intermittent flashing white light suddenly appears, traverses a small segment of the sky, then disappears.