Dark cigar-shaped object; daylight; hovered motionless against the wind; moved off silently
I was in Issaquah, Washington, standing outside the passenger side of my car, finishing a business phone call. I was in the south parking lot of Gilman Village, a boutique shopping center. The GPS coordinates are 47.538391, -122.040947. My elevation was 108 feet. The time was 3:58 p.m. PST. Cloud cover was about 70 percent. Light snow was falling. A reas of blue sky were scattered around the south and north. The sun was not visible. The temperature was 31 degrees. The wind was from the SW at 7 mph.
Near the end of my call I started staring at an area of blue sky in front of me, directly to the south. After maybe 30 seconds I saw the object. I didn’t see it arrive, I just suddenly noticed it. I finished my phone call and looked at my watch - 3:58 pm and 25 seconds. The object was charcoal gray and cigar shaped. There was a very slight bulge in the center, on top and bottom of the object. At arm’s length it was about 9.5 millimeters long. It just hung in the blue sky, motionless. A couple of small clouds drifted past the object, one just above it and one directly at it. When the cloud reached it, the object was inside the cloud for about 3 seconds.
A full layer of cloud cover was gradually approaching this area of blue sky. The cloud base was at 2450 feet, so that may be an approximate altitude for the object. According to the log law calculation, at 2450 feet the wind speed was 17 mph and the temperature was about 23 degrees. The object’s direction was directly South of me. I was looking up at it at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal.
Paragliders, small planes, hobbyists with drones and bald eagles are frequent sights in Issaquah. The object wasn’t a paraglider - no colorful rectangular parachute and no person hanging in a seat beneath it; it was 23 degrees up there with a 17-mph wind, too cold and windy to paraglide; and it was motionless. It was not a small plane – no wings; no engine sound; and it was motionless.
It wasn’t a hobbyist drone –at the apparent size it should have been close enough for me to hear the buzzing whine; a drone would not likely be covered by a cloud at 2450 feet altitude; a drone would not likely be flying while it was snowing; and there would have been visible movement caused by the wind velocity, whether it was a 7 mph or a 17 mph wind. But it was motionless. It was not an eagle – even in warm air with updrafts there is always some movement of the eagle's wings or body; if it was trying to stay aloft with a 17-mph wind hitting it, obvious movement would be necessary, but it was motionless.
After about 3 minutes and 20 seconds he object suddenly began to move, traveling to the Southeast. It appeared to move at the low end of the speeds I see single engine propeller planes travel near Issaquah, around 110 mph. It obtained that speed instantly from the moment it moved, no acceleration. It traveled in a perfectly straight line, totally smooth, exactly at the horizontal, no change in altitude.
The object headed southeast on a line that would take it barely south of Tiger Mountain, a 3000 foot mountain on the southeast border of Issaquah. The trajectory would have taken it over the Cascades near Snoqualmie Pass, and then over the city of Cle Elum. After the object traveled for about 5 seconds a stand of fir trees blocked my view. I ran to a clear area, but by then the object was gone from my view.
I am a trial attorney. I have a bachelor's degree, a master’s degree and a law degree. I have lived in the Seattle area since 1995.
I was in Issaquah, Washington, standing outside the passenger side of my car, finishing a business phone call. I was in the south parking lot of Gilman Village, a boutique shopping center. The GPS coordinates are 47.538391, -122.040947. My elevation was 108 feet. The time was 3:58 p.m. PST. Cloud cover was about 70 percent. Light snow was falling. A reas of blue sky were scattered around the south and north. The sun was not visible. The temperature was 31 degrees. The wind was from the SW at 7 mph.
Near the end of my call I started staring at an area of blue sky in front of me, directly to the south. After maybe 30 seconds I saw the object. I didn’t see it arrive, I just suddenly noticed it. I finished my phone call and looked at my watch - 3:58 pm and 25 seconds. The object was charcoal gray and cigar shaped. There was a very slight bulge in the center, on top and bottom of the object. At arm’s length it was about 9.5 millimeters long. It just hung in the blue sky, motionless. A couple of small clouds drifted past the object, one just above it and one directly at it. When the cloud reached it, the object was inside the cloud for about 3 seconds.
A full layer of cloud cover was gradually approaching this area of blue sky. The cloud base was at 2450 feet, so that may be an approximate altitude for the object. According to the log law calculation, at 2450 feet the wind speed was 17 mph and the temperature was about 23 degrees. The object’s direction was directly South of me. I was looking up at it at a 45-degree angle from the horizontal.
Paragliders, small planes, hobbyists with drones and bald eagles are frequent sights in Issaquah. The object wasn’t a paraglider - no colorful rectangular parachute and no person hanging in a seat beneath it; it was 23 degrees up there with a 17-mph wind, too cold and windy to paraglide; and it was motionless. It was not a small plane – no wings; no engine sound; and it was motionless.
It wasn’t a hobbyist drone –at the apparent size it should have been close enough for me to hear the buzzing whine; a drone would not likely be covered by a cloud at 2450 feet altitude; a drone would not likely be flying while it was snowing; and there would have been visible movement caused by the wind velocity, whether it was a 7 mph or a 17 mph wind. But it was motionless. It was not an eagle – even in warm air with updrafts there is always some movement of the eagle's wings or body; if it was trying to stay aloft with a 17-mph wind hitting it, obvious movement would be necessary, but it was motionless.
After about 3 minutes and 20 seconds he object suddenly began to move, traveling to the Southeast. It appeared to move at the low end of the speeds I see single engine propeller planes travel near Issaquah, around 110 mph. It obtained that speed instantly from the moment it moved, no acceleration. It traveled in a perfectly straight line, totally smooth, exactly at the horizontal, no change in altitude.
The object headed southeast on a line that would take it barely south of Tiger Mountain, a 3000 foot mountain on the southeast border of Issaquah. The trajectory would have taken it over the Cascades near Snoqualmie Pass, and then over the city of Cle Elum. After the object traveled for about 5 seconds a stand of fir trees blocked my view. I ran to a clear area, but by then the object was gone from my view.
I am a trial attorney. I have a bachelor's degree, a master’s degree and a law degree. I have lived in the Seattle area since 1995.
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Issaquah
USA
3 minutes
3 minutes
47.52
-122.00
cigar
WA
Occurred : 1/14/2020 15:58 (Entered as : 01/14/2020 15:58) Reported: 1/16/2020 11:06:20 PM 23:06 Posted: 1/31/2020 Location: Issaquah, WA Shape: Cigar Duration: 3 minutes
Dark cigar-shaped object; daylight; hovered motionless against the wind; moved off silently