Formation over Astoria, OR

The report, as filed

I went out on my porch to have a cigarette and look at the stars, around 22:30 to 23:00. The fog hadn't moved in yet and the sky was very clear. I noticed a light traveling from the northeast to southwest of my position. At first, I though it was a satellite, which I often see at night from my porch about the same time. However, then I realized that it was going in the opposite direction of how they usually go, and I also realized that there were two lights traveling side by side. As they got overhead of my position, one reversed and went back toward the northeast while the other continued on toward the southwest for about a minute or two. When the one going southwest was almost out of my sight line, it reversed, heading toward the northeast and sped up to travel along side the other light. I watched them until they disappeared in the northeast, out of my sight. They stayed in a side by side formation until they disappeared. The most intriguing thing about these lights is the way they changed direction. There were no turning maneuvers. They simply changed direction by reversing their fight path. There was no sound, but they were very high; about the level of what a satellite would travel. They flew very smoothly, steadily and about the same speed a satellite would travel. I see many types of aircraft flying, at night, over my area, because we are on the flight path for the Portland Airport and also because there is a Coast Guard station nearby. These lights did not maneuver or travel in the same way a plane or Coast Guard helicopter would and were not following the same flight path as the satellites that fly over this area. Also, satellites do not change direction in flight.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #120247). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.