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Date: July 26, 2004 9:51 p.m.
Location: Appleton, Wisconsin
County: Outagamie
Source: UFOwisconsin.com report by Eric Z.
Details of Incident:
My girlfriend and I had just finished watching the Tour de France
on television last night. I walked her to her car which was parked in my
driveway. The sky was very clear last night. Ursa major was directly overhead,
Venus was clearly visible in the west, and the moon, in a half-moon phase, was
clearly visible to the southwest. We talked a for few minutes near her car as
we looked at the planets and constellations. It was at this time that I noticed
a bright light in the evening sky as we faced the south. The light caught our
collective attention for several reasons. First, it was the brightest object in
the sky. I would estimate it's brightness or nagnitude as three times that of
Venus last evening. Second, the diameter of the light was larger than the
typical star or planet out last night. Again I would estimate the diameter of
the light at 3-4 times that of Venus. Third, the light was moving in a
direction roughly west to the east. The speed of the li!
ght reminded me of watching a satellite pass overhead - not fast like a
low-altitude jet but methodical. The light may have moved in a slightly arcuate
fashion but I'm not sure.
Our attention seemed to focus on the light because there was no sound associated
with it's movement. My home, located in the northernmost part of Appleton, is
close to the Outagamie Airport (ten minutes away driving time)and I am very
familiar with seeing jet planes passing overhead. This moving light has no
sound. If it was a conventional craft the sound should have carried easily to
my home because there was a moderate wind last night blowing from the southeast
right into our faces. The sound from a jet or aircraft would have carried quite
easily in the quiet night sky. In addition, there were no wings lights or any
other lights visible on this craft.
My first inclination upon seeing the light was that it must be the landing
lights of a jet. This would account for the brightness of the lights.
Initially, I assumed the object was a jet that had taken off from Outagamie
Airport around 9:50 pm last night and I was looking straight into it's landing
lights. However I now rule out that hypothesis because there we no red or green
wing lights. I will attempt to "position" the object in the night sky. If the
horizon is zero degrees and the point of thte sky directly over my head is 90
degrees, then this light was at an attitude of approximately 50 degrees. The
light migrated slowly from the S-SW to the S-SE over a time span of
approximately 20-25 seconds. What is unusual is that the brightness and
intensity of the light did not change at all as the light/object changed
attitude relative to our position.
At this time we were extremely focused on the light. It then appeared to
diminish in size (e.g. diameter) and brightness and moved upward into the night
sky at a 30 degree angle from its relative position. My girlfriend and I both
found this display disturbing and unusual. If this represented the landing
lights of a jet, the lights should have disappeared as the jet changed course.
Yet this light did not. It changed its diameter and slowly extinguished over a
time period of about 5 seconds. It changed course from a relatively steady
horizontal flight path, roughly west to east, to a 30 degree ascension into the
south-southeastern night sky.
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