1999: Luminous Formation Over Pennsylvania

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THINK ABOUTIT SIGHTING REPORT

Date: November 16th 1999

Sighting Time: 7:05 P.M.

Day/Night: Night

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Urban or Rural: –

Entity Type:

Entity Description:

Hynek Classification: NL (Nocturnal Light) Point or extended luminous source observed at night.

Duration:

No. of Object(s): 10 to 12

Size of Object(s):

Distance to Object(s):

Shape of Object(s): round

Color of Object(s): mostly orange, with some blue and white colors

Number of Witnesses:

Source:

Summary/Description: I began receiving reports last night indicating that at approximately 7:05 P.M. (11/16/99), a formation of luminous objects were observed over Pennsylvania.

I received sighting reports from Butler county, north of Pittsburgh as well as Indiana county in southwest Pennsylvania. I also talked with the Altoona FAA Flight service station, who had received a number of aircraft sighting reports from various locations including Erie. One observation by two men in Butler County indicated that they watched as the objects passed overhead moving from west to east. They described observing 10 to 12 round objects, each with a luminous trail, in perfect single formation, one behind the other.

These round lights all appeared uniform in size and color. They were described as mostly orange, with some blue and white colors. The trails were the same color. They estimated that they observed the formation pass across the sky in 4 to 7 seconds. No sound was apparent. One witness stated that the lights were very bright, and that when he first saw them approaching, he thought “it was a row of airplanes” until he had a better view.

FYI I checked in with Peter Davenport at the National UFO Reporting Center. Peter was being deluged with UFO reports from about 9 states at that time. It is likely that there will be much controversy as to the origin of these objects, due to the time frame of the current Leonid meteor shower. I am awaiting word from the U.S. Space Command to determine if they can confirm any re-entry of space debris during this time frame.
This current sighting brings back memories of another widely observed event which occurred on March 3, 1968 when multiple witnesses over a large geographic area (including Pennsylvania) reported a formation of fiery objects. This sighting was later identified as burning material associated with the re-entry of Zond 4, a Soviet satellite.

Until all of the information can be gathered on these widespread sightings, it is to early to make a determination as to the origin of the objects observed on the evening of November 16, 1999. If anyone has any other sighting reports from Pennsylvania concerning this incident, please forward to me.

Stan Gordon
E-mail: paufo@westol.com

Report taken from the Skywatch International mailing list and used with permission.