Formation over Portland, OR
A witness account on file, unevaluated. Most of the archive rests here, and honestly so.
The report, as filed
It was New Year's Eve in NE Portland near NE Sandy, it had just turned midnight and we went outside to let our kiddo bang pans and ring in the new year. My kid hurt his hand and yelled out, I turned to see if he was okay and was now facing north toward I-84, I looked at his hand and then he ran back into the house, with his father following him. I did not follow because as I looked up, I saw some reddish orange orbs in the sky, maybe 50 feet up (just above the one story roof lines of our complex). They appeared to be floating straight towards me, flickering like candles but synchronized. I called my husband to come back out. At first, I was afraid they were some huge embers from NYE fireworks or something and was watching to see if they would burn out or land on our building. Before they reached our building, they took a turn to the left (about 12 feet or so from me) though the turn was a right angle, the orbs floated smoothly, not particularly fast, just g! liding and flickering, more kept coming, spaced evenly apart and in some kind of formation, at the same height, spacing and rate. They were almost floating lantern like but not that and way to small for that. There were around 8 or so in all. We walked closer and watched them floating by and flickering, not sure what the heck they were, they moved out of our sight and we went back inside. It kept nagging at me, so I began to look to see if embers like these were even possible from fireworks (I could find nothing.) I looked for fires or other reports of these orbs in the local news and saw none but then I stumbled upon a bunch of information online about others reporting floating orange orbs in the sky, all over the world. (I've never heard of such a thing before.) I came here to check out reports for Portland on new year's and found nothing, so I thought I should report it. We are stunned to find this may be UFO phenomena.
Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #116459). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.
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Routed to: Federal Aviation Administration · records window 2014-12-29 → 2015-01-15
From the same sky
Related entries
October 19, 2023 · 8:20 PM · TRIANGLE
Portland, OR
My girlfriend picked me up to go to the store. As soon as we started heading south we noticed 3 very bright lights in the sky, flashing colors not typical of aircraft, satellites, planets or stars. I immediately had a gut feeling I knew what it was. Upon driving to the store to get a better view, I noticed they changed positions slightly. Once at the door I was able to locate them again and finally snap a picture with my phone that has 100x zoom. As you can see, the light pattern is not typical of anything usual. I proceeded to try and take video, but my camera can't take video at that zoom level. We went into the store and came out. They were all gone.
October 18, 2023 · 10:35 PM · CHANGING
Portland, OR
In sky above me in SE portland oregon. I first noticed bright light in sky hovering at 10:35pm and when I zoomed in saw it changing shape and size. A streak went across sky from one end of horizon to another. From north to south. A friend an hour away in newburg about same time saw bright light across sky too. I have video and pictures of everything but the streak
October 4, 2023 · 6:09 PM · SPHERE
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Exited swan mart with 4 year old son. While placing son in car seat, he reports “look at those lights, mama.” I look around parking lot and said, “what lights?” He stated, “No mama, in the sky.” I viewed glimmer lights, about 15 orbs in a V formation, at the same altitude as birds(was low) at onset. Secured son in car seat with tablet to distract, closed door of car. I then took pictures and video for 3-4 min or strange lights. . They were nothing I had seen. No sound or wings observed. The orbs reflected light and were glimmering. Initially, moved north but dissolving into the sky at times, very hard to see. Orbs, reappeared far in the distance (toward the NE) on one occasion briefly, then again dissolved into the clear sky that evening. Reappeared one final time, near the SW and disappeared into the sky. [NUFORC annotation: Birds - Possible]
September 6, 2023 · 11:19 AM · CIRCLE
Portland, OR
See above
September 6, 2023 · 11:00 AM · SPHERE
Portland, OR
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August 23, 2023 · 4:53 AM · SPHERE
Portland, OR
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