You're far from the first person in this area I've heard say they have seen a UFO. With so much military in the area it's hard to say what anything is. For the record I've never seen anything in the sky I couldn't identify but some of the descriptions I've heard from others are hard to connect with anything I'm familiar with, which doesn't mean much. The last report I heard, about 4-5 years ago, was a can shaped object hovering over downtown Salt lake in mid-day, broad daylight. The object hovered for about 20 minutes before it moved off, straight up. The witnesses (3, different locations and not related) all said it was anywhere from a half mile to a mile above the city. Unfortunately I didn't hear about it till after it left and none of the 3 I know had a camera at the time so I did not see it. For better or worse it gets thrown in with a lot of other sightings you just can do anything with. I have no idea what it could be based on the descriptions, I'm also inclined to attribute these things to something very Earthly. I beleive most UFOs are mis-identifications, I'm sure a great many are military aircraft. But you just never know. I would rather debate this than Global Warming. It's much more interesting and the sides are not divided along party lines. Bob -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Kim Sent: Saturday, March 14, 2009 12:53 PM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: [Utah-astronomy] UFO alert! I was just doing some work outside when I noticed a bright object directly above my house. At first I thought it might be Venus, but it was so bright that I knew it couldn't be, and it was in the wrong location in the sky. I soon noticed that it was moving in a northeasterly direction, much more slowly than an airplane, and it appeared to be perhaps three or four thousand feet above me (my best guess). I grabbed my 9x2.5 binoculars, all that I could get to quickly, to see if I could identify the object. It was whitish, with no obvious shape - in fact, it looked like it was continually changing shape or tumbling as I watched it, for perhaps one or two minutes.
From where I was observing, it passed behind the house at an apparent altitude of about 20 degrees, but by the time I moved so that I could continue watching, it seemed to have vanished. I couldn't relocate it.
Obviously, Earth is under attack by unknown alien forces, so I recommend that everyone take appropriate action. Guy, get out your largest weapon. (Kidding.) I really am baffled by what I saw, and I have only one working theory: Perhaps it was a partially deflated and falling weather balloon. I simply couldn't see enough detail to identify it. If anyone else saw it, or has any other ideas, let me know. This is only my second bona fide UFO sighting. However, let me be clear: My definition of a UFO is something that flies and that is unidentifiable by those who observe it. I DO NOT believe that extraterrestrials ever have or ever will visit planet Earth. My first UFO sighting was at night, of a greenish object visible in the west from Rush Valley. It was likely a flare of some kind in use at Dugway by the military, but since it was moving in the sky and I couldn't identify it - voila! a UFO. OK, now we can all go back to debating global warming. Kim No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.557 / Virus Database: 270.11.10 - Release Date: 3/10/2009 12:00 AM _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com