Light over Cedar Rapids, IA

The report, as filed

I am a college graduate, in the dental profession, and a UFO skeptic. (Until I had this experience and went online to research where to report it, I had no idea that there have been so many UFO sightings, especially on the 4th of July of each year.) After watching the city fireworks from our back balcony, I noticed a bright red, round light floating from east to west,across the southern sky. It had no sound, and at first I wondered if I was seeing a satellite. But it was a bright red, bigger and brighter light than a satellite, and it looked to be be much closer. Its light intensity seemed to get a bit brighter and dimmer alternately, but still remained a bright red. It looked like it was at the altitude that a low-flying plane would be coming in to land, but it floated levelly and had no small navigational red or white blinking lights on it, like planes do. (We have planes frequently flying over our home, heading to the local airport for landings, and this appeared very different than those.) As it passed by our house, it finally seemed to turn "outward", (away from us and the earth), and it quickly just faded away and was gone. The whole incident took approximately 15 seconds, but seemed much longer. As I was trying to make sense of what I had just witnessed, I noticed another red, round light to the left (east) of the first one, in the same area that we'd watched the fireworks just 10 minutes prior. This red light was the same shape, color and intensity as the first one. It hovered briefly rather high in the sky, then just descended, going straight down, towards land. It went behind the treeline, whereby I couldn't see it any longer. This whole incident also took approximately 15 seconds. Like the first one, this light had no additional navigational lights like planes do. It was silent, and seemed to have a smooth, "floating" quality to it. I was so baffled and almost flabbergasted by the sight of these two objects, that I did not even think to try to take a photograph. I was in this kind of momentary "time warp," where I was just awestruck by the whole experience--not really understanding or knowing for sure what I had actually just witnessed. I have never before witnessed this type of phenomenon, nor have I been a person who has an unusual interest or intrigue with UFO's. Because it was late and my husband had already gone to bed, I had no other witnesses to this event.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #120066). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.