2020-01-07 - Tucumcari, NM - Disk

very bright saucer-shaped object close to Tucumcari

I was driving West along !-40, just past Tucumcari, New Mexico. and there was a very bright light in the sky, WSW. I knew it couldn't be Venus, Saturn, or Jupiter, because the sun had already gone down (it was past 7 PM), and all three planets are now close to the Sun. It soon became apparent that it was in the atmosphere, and that I was very slowly passing it. It was a down-facing crescent, maybe with a slight bulge at the top, and a single ray of light coming down like a spike from the center-bottom of the craft. This "ray" was about twice the length of the ship. The thing was very brilliantly illuminated, but by the time I got to Santa Rosa, it was to my left (South), had lowered in the sky and had lost a lot of its brilliance. I have seen a very brilliant weather balloon, sent up from Fort Sumner, but it was round and turned reddish as the sun set. The thin crescent was tilted slight down to the left the entire time I witnessed it. Since the ar! ea it was located is not that far from Fort Sumner. could it be something they sent up? Steve Eardley, Santa Fe