6 CIRCULAR LIGHTS SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY SKY; THEN SLOWLY FLICKER OUT
LOCATION I live in the hill country which extends within the northwest quadrant of Travis County, Texas at an elevation of 1100 feet above M.S.L. Some of the hills immediately to the west of my home reach 1300+ feet. This location is relevant to my subject report because when the wind is from the south, my home is within 1 mile of a flight path before it enters into its southern bound final leg into Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA). In other words, aircraft is relatively low as they descend over my area of the hill country.
ABIA’s air traffic has increased substantially the past 5 years. With southerly winds present on a clear night and from dusk to midnight, one may sometimes see the landing lights of up to 4 east bound descending ABIA flights that are lined up to the west of our town before passing overhead.
SIGHTING EVENT At 6:31 pm, 23rd day of November, 2019, I stepped onto my back porch to relieve my dog. My porch faces west, so when I go outside I always glance to the west horizon to view flights approaching Austin. This night was overcast with a cloud deck at about 2000 feet, however. I knew then that flights would be obscured by the low clouds and, moreover, a cold front had passed through our area earlier in that morning. This wind shift from the north means that flights would be approaching ABIA from southern Travis County, Texas.
Nevertheless, I was astonished when I saw 6 bright lights in a line about 15 degrees above the horizon and estimated at no more than 4 miles to the west. The soundless lights were situated in the sky whereby they would be close to the area of approaching east bound ABIA flights. I immediately omitted aircraft landing lights due to the weather conditions mentioned above. My first impression was that flares had just been dropped but I did not hear aircraft, nor were the lights making a descent. Instead, they moved very slowly to the south in a horizontal direction.
As I watched in amazement for about 60 seconds, 2 of these lights began to flicker out, then reappear after which the outer lights began to flicker out. Another 30 seconds had elapsed while viewing the remaining 4 lights in which event I decided to close my jaw dropping mouth and pull my phone out of my pocket to start a video.
VIDEO SEQUENCE Please bear in mind that my life indulgences exclude social media and texting all day; nor do I use more than 2 apps on my phone. I seldom keep my phone on my person when at home, but this time I was lucky to have done so. I am deeply upset, however, that the video is shaky and poorly documented. The lights are not moving rapidly, but rather my excited hand. The noise is partly north winds and mostly noise from a nearby busy road.
After fumbling with my phone to retrieve my camera app, now 30 seconds more had elapsed before I started my 3 minute video. Upon such start, only 2 lights now remained. By this time, the remaining lights had traveled behind the T-Braces on top of a telephone pole. I quickly moved to another higher location in frames 1-15. Midway through frame 17, I am able to video the two remaining lights before the first disappears, then last light goes out by frame 30. I continue to zoom the sky again when 1 light reappears in frame 55 and snuffs out in frame 59. I scanned the overcast sky for another 2 minutes with no avail. Only regrets that I am bad cameraman.
LOCATION I live in the hill country which extends within the northwest quadrant of Travis County, Texas at an elevation of 1100 feet above M.S.L. Some of the hills immediately to the west of my home reach 1300+ feet. This location is relevant to my subject report because when the wind is from the south, my home is within 1 mile of a flight path before it enters into its southern bound final leg into Austin Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA). In other words, aircraft is relatively low as they descend over my area of the hill country.
ABIA’s air traffic has increased substantially the past 5 years. With southerly winds present on a clear night and from dusk to midnight, one may sometimes see the landing lights of up to 4 east bound descending ABIA flights that are lined up to the west of our town before passing overhead.
SIGHTING EVENT At 6:31 pm, 23rd day of November, 2019, I stepped onto my back porch to relieve my dog. My porch faces west, so when I go outside I always glance to the west horizon to view flights approaching Austin. This night was overcast with a cloud deck at about 2000 feet, however. I knew then that flights would be obscured by the low clouds and, moreover, a cold front had passed through our area earlier in that morning. This wind shift from the north means that flights would be approaching ABIA from southern Travis County, Texas.
Nevertheless, I was astonished when I saw 6 bright lights in a line about 15 degrees above the horizon and estimated at no more than 4 miles to the west. The soundless lights were situated in the sky whereby they would be close to the area of approaching east bound ABIA flights. I immediately omitted aircraft landing lights due to the weather conditions mentioned above. My first impression was that flares had just been dropped but I did not hear aircraft, nor were the lights making a descent. Instead, they moved very slowly to the south in a horizontal direction.
As I watched in amazement for about 60 seconds, 2 of these lights began to flicker out, then reappear after which the outer lights began to flicker out. Another 30 seconds had elapsed while viewing the remaining 4 lights in which event I decided to close my jaw dropping mouth and pull my phone out of my pocket to start a video.
VIDEO SEQUENCE Please bear in mind that my life indulgences exclude social media and texting all day; nor do I use more than 2 apps on my phone. I seldom keep my phone on my person when at home, but this time I was lucky to have done so. I am deeply upset, however, that the video is shaky and poorly documented. The lights are not moving rapidly, but rather my excited hand. The noise is partly north winds and mostly noise from a nearby busy road.
After fumbling with my phone to retrieve my camera app, now 30 seconds more had elapsed before I started my 3 minute video. Upon such start, only 2 lights now remained. By this time, the remaining lights had traveled behind the T-Braces on top of a telephone pole. I quickly moved to another higher location in frames 1-15. Midway through frame 17, I am able to video the two remaining lights before the first disappears, then last light goes out by frame 30. I continue to zoom the sky again when 1 light reappears in frame 55 and snuffs out in frame 59. I scanned the overcast sky for another 2 minutes with no avail. Only regrets that I am bad cameraman.
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Lago Vista
USA
3 minutes
3 minutes
30.45
-97.97
light
TX
Occurred : 11/27/2019 18:31 (Entered as : 11/27/19 18:31) Reported: 11/28/2019 8:30:38 PM 20:30 Posted: 12/1/2019 Location: Lago Vista, TX Shape: Light Duration: 3 minutes
6 CIRCULAR LIGHTS SLOWLY MOVE ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY SKY; THEN SLOWLY FLICKER OUT