Fast moving triangular craft observed through a third generation night vision scope while observing the Perseids meteor shower.
I am 51 years old and consider myself an amateur astronomer. I was observing the Perseids meteor shower with my mother and father in the front yard facing a north to north east direction. Most of the time when I am observing meteor showers, I use a 1x third generation night vision scope as I have found I can usually see triple the number of meteors compared to when I am observing naked eye.
I had seen a fairly bright meteor about a minute before my sighting. Many times, meteors come in pairs, so I was observing a specific area of the sky waiting for a second meteor. The star Capella was observable in the upper right corner of my night scope. From the right upper corner of field of view, I thought I sensed movement near Capella.
When I focused on the spot, I could clearly see a dark object moving very fast. As I started to track the object, I realized I was looking at a triangle. Besides being a triangular shape, there are several things which I found unusual.
1. There were no lights on the craft. Even the dimmest light would have shown in the night vision.
2. There was no sound.
3. It must have been flying fairly low because it looked to be about the size of my thumbnail held at arm’s length or was very large flying at a high elevation. I sensed it was flying at a lower elevation since it appeared there was a slight glow or haze to the object, maybe from light reflecting from the city lights on it.
4. It was not an equilateral triangle. The 2 sides were narrower than the back end. All the sides were flat.
5. It was a dark aircraft. I could not sense any details other than the general shape of the craft. Generally, if I see an aircraft through the night vision, it is light in color and much smaller compared to this object.
The object was moving from north to a generally south direction. I tracked it for about 10-15 seconds until it disappeared behind our house. I estimate I tracked it for about 85 degrees of sky.
My first thought was that maybe I was looking at a B2 Bomber. I could see the object good enough that I could tell the back end was perfectly straight, unlike the B2. Perhaps it was another military craft that I am not familiar with. I don’t know if the military is allowed to fly without any running lights.
I have observed many planes through the night vision. It is very unusual to see a plane flying low enough at night that I can see its silhouette. Usually, I just see the lights with a slight hint of an aircraft between the lights and I always hear the aircraft, especially if it is flying as low as this one appeared to be flying. This is only the second time I have seen a plane flying without running lights. The only other time I have seen a plane flying at night without lights was immediately after the 9-11 attacks.
While observing the object, I immediately started telling my folks what I was observing. Neither one of them were able to see the object.
I know this was a short duration sighting and maybe it was just an unknown military craft, but I thought I would throw it out there.
I am 51 years old and consider myself an amateur astronomer. I was observing the Perseids meteor shower with my mother and father in the front yard facing a north to north east direction. Most of the time when I am observing meteor showers, I use a 1x third generation night vision scope as I have found I can usually see triple the number of meteors compared to when I am observing naked eye.
I had seen a fairly bright meteor about a minute before my sighting. Many times, meteors come in pairs, so I was observing a specific area of the sky waiting for a second meteor. The star Capella was observable in the upper right corner of my night scope. From the right upper corner of field of view, I thought I sensed movement near Capella.
When I focused on the spot, I could clearly see a dark object moving very fast. As I started to track the object, I realized I was looking at a triangle. Besides being a triangular shape, there are several things which I found unusual.
1. There were no lights on the craft. Even the dimmest light would have shown in the night vision.
2. There was no sound.
3. It must have been flying fairly low because it looked to be about the size of my thumbnail held at arm’s length or was very large flying at a high elevation. I sensed it was flying at a lower elevation since it appeared there was a slight glow or haze to the object, maybe from light reflecting from the city lights on it.
4. It was not an equilateral triangle. The 2 sides were narrower than the back end. All the sides were flat.
5. It was a dark aircraft. I could not sense any details other than the general shape of the craft. Generally, if I see an aircraft through the night vision, it is light in color and much smaller compared to this object.
The object was moving from north to a generally south direction. I tracked it for about 10-15 seconds until it disappeared behind our house. I estimate I tracked it for about 85 degrees of sky.
My first thought was that maybe I was looking at a B2 Bomber. I could see the object good enough that I could tell the back end was perfectly straight, unlike the B2. Perhaps it was another military craft that I am not familiar with. I don’t know if the military is allowed to fly without any running lights.
I have observed many planes through the night vision. It is very unusual to see a plane flying low enough at night that I can see its silhouette. Usually, I just see the lights with a slight hint of an aircraft between the lights and I always hear the aircraft, especially if it is flying as low as this one appeared to be flying. This is only the second time I have seen a plane flying without running lights. The only other time I have seen a plane flying at night without lights was immediately after the 9-11 attacks.
While observing the object, I immediately started telling my folks what I was observing. Neither one of them were able to see the object.
I know this was a short duration sighting and maybe it was just an unknown military craft, but I thought I would throw it out there.
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Yes
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Off
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No
Santa Fe
USA
15 seconds
15 seconds
35.65
-105.94
triangle
NM
Occurred : 8/13/2021 03:30 (Entered as : 8-13-2021 3:30) Reported: 8/14/2021 2:35:34 AM 02:35 Posted: 8/16/2021 Location: Santa Fe, NM Shape: Triangle Duration: 15 seconds Characteristics: There was an aura or haze around the object
Fast moving triangular craft observed through a third generation night vision scope while observing the Perseids meteor shower.