2020-09-16 - Charlottesville, VA - Sphere

Red Sphere moving in the sky

I was outside in the front of my house at approximately 9pm EST on Wednesday 9/16/20 when I saw a small reddish orange object in the South West night sky. I initially thought it was a planet or star, but it was slowly moving towards the North and getting larger, which appeared to me as seeming to get closer. I watched as it slowly continued to move, until it stopped, almost as if directly in front of my view. It was about the same size as might a pea be if held at arm’s length. I got my cell phone camera out and started recording video. It was stopped for about 10 seconds, then it doubled in size (like a dime at arm’s length) without moving. It then slowly moved in a straight line to the right (north), stopped again, and then got as large as a nickel at arm’s length. The size changes were like a balloon quickly being blown up by a helium tank, not instantaneous. It then started to slowly move North as it gradually got smaller. It was at this time that I ! ran in the house and got my girlfriend out of the shower to come see it. When she came out, it had moved a lot further to the North, but it was still visible to her. While we watched it slowly faded out as if going behind clouds or something, but it appeared to be a clear night. It then reappeared, a tad bit larger than when last seen, but this time it was about a hand’s width at arm’s length further East, than when it disappeared. It then disappeared again. I never seemed to make a sound.

I, nor my girlfriend, had ever seen anything like this before in our lives. I was, surprisingly, not afraid during the whole experience. We’ve looked at the video footage I captured repeatedly, trying to find an explanation. We’ve been scouring the internet trying to shed some light on what it may have been. However, we could only conclude what it was NOT. It didn’t seem possible for it to be a planet, meteor, comet, satellite, rocket, blimp, airplane, helicopter, drone, lantern, or balloon. It felt and continues to feel like an unforgettable and life impacting experience. I’m a Computer Engineer and my girlfriend is a Director at a Women’s Health organization. We were not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol, nor do we wear tin foil hats. We are now very curious about what we saw and searching for answers.