PART 2



Msg #: 458 Area: FidoUFO Sent: 05 Dec 92 01:00:00
From: Rick Snydersmith
To: Steve Gresser
Topic: ARIZONA SIGHTING

On 12-01-92 STEVE GRESSER wrote to ALL...

Background: I am in Scottsdale, Arizona, which borders (mostly)
Phoenix's eastern side. I live in the northeastern end of Scottsdale.

To

the north are mountains,

First Question, what is the distance to mountains.

Also, I am a pilot. Suffice to say, my wife and I are familiar with aircraft lights, helicopter lights, military aircraft lighting on a general scale, stars, meteors elevated and a variety of other natural phenomenon that are highly visible over the Phoenix valley area

In short, an informed, experienced observer in a familiar locale. Good.

Report (well, it's about time!): Last night, at about 10:17pm MST, I
was in the street in front of my house (E/W double cul-de-sac) w/no
cross streets). I was going to tell my sister-in-law something in her van, so I walked E towards it, turned towards her (N) and spotted something out of the corner of my eye (W).

Weather report please? Cloud density, ceiling, visibility, storms in area, temperature, etc. Ambient noise levels estimates, street lighting in area,
in the direction of the sighting, Major highways in the direction of the sighting.

still wanted to watch it. Then I realized that the object was not lighted like any aircraft I have ever seen, and the lights were flashing

without a sequence that I could register (rotating beacons, position lights, etc. have a pattern to them - usually "flash, flash, flash" or "flash-flash, flash-flash, flash-flash" - but this had neither) and the lights were brighter than even the closest aircraft that I had seen -
but VERY sharp.

By not lighted like any aircraft, what do you mean, exactly?
Please estimate the number of lights visible? Were they points or diffused? What configuration were the lights in, if any, was noticeable.
Was the main body lit, or were there only flashing beacons?
Did the intensity vary or were they steady state?
could you see light beams radiating from the object? As in landing lights
or were they more light marker beacons?
Compare the brightness to a full moon, the sun, etc.
Did you notice shadows being cast?
If so in what color were they (grey to black),
what direction and what was the approximate length of the shadow.

It was pointed maybe thirty degrees down in the direction of movement, and it moved more quickly than a helicopter, and VERY smooth movement, but not as fast as, say, a low-flying jet.

What was the over all shape?
By pointed do you mean the end was pointed or sloped in that direction or
that
the craft was slanted at an angle toward the direction of the flight path? Could you see and protrusions from the body?
What is your estimate of size?
What is your estimate of the distance at closest approach? at first sight?
at last sight?
Was the speed closer to the speed of a helicopter or the low-flying jet?
By low flying I assume you mean one in a landing approach, is this true?

You state smooth, define to best of ability what made it seem smooth.

seen but not noticed - "That son-of-a-***** is ROTATING!

What gave you the impression of rotation?

As my wife looked at it, it began to turn northeastwards.

What was the turn rate in degrees per second?
What would be the estimate of distance at the time of the turn?

and she decided to dash down to the van my sister-in-law was in and
chase it. I was about to lose sight of it, so I ran down too

Distance to house, at this time
How long after losing sight until you were again position to see the last position the object was seem and till you had a clear view of the direction
of travel?
Did you or your wife notice any animal activity of an unusual nature
"all neighborhood Dogs barking, etc"

On first sight, it appeared to be an overly-lighted aircraft, kind of long, with many lights on it. But the lights looked more light arcing electricity than lights, and were exceptionally sharp and bright.

By arcing, do you mean the color was like and arc welder, very white?
Did it flicker or seem to jump? What do you mean by sharp?
did the light create pain in your eyes, If so how long had you been
outside away from normal interior lighting?

My wife and I were both wearing our glasses.

Did you notice any diffraction patterns on you glasses, multiple images, etc.

The incident was over by 10:19pm MST. The object appeared to be in
three sections because of the lighting and was slowly rotating in a counter-clockwise motion.

Three sections in what configuration, top, middle, bottom or front, middle rear? where the sections pointed, rounded, square at the edges, at the
joining edges, at the ends?
2 minutes of observation to go what approximate distance.

I estimated its altitude to be between 1200 and 1500 feet, but my wife

says it was below 1000 feet. The object itself was not clearly visible
to me at all.

Why the difference if altitude estimate?
What basis is there for each estimate.
By not clearly visible, what exactly do you mean? were the edges fuzzy or

unfocused in appearance? Was the light enough to blind you? Was the object clearly visible to your wife or sister-in-law?

Lastly after this long question period, did anything else come to mind
which was not mention in your first post by answering these questions?
IF so, what.

Rick

Jim Singleton
telnet://ricksbbs.synchro.net:23
http://ricksbbs.synchro.net:8080
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