Triangle over Pingree Grove, IL

The report, as filed

I was driving east down route 72. I began my commute around 5:10 pm. On the horizon I noted an extraordinary amount of “stars.” Upon further thought, I dismissed them as planets as they seemed much too bright to be stars. There was a cluster of three directly ahead of me. When I looked to the left and right of them, I noted an unusual amount of points of light. I thought it was peculiar. One of the points of light, my so called “planet,” shot straight north. That is when I told myself, “Oh. That’s no planet. Planets don’t do that.” Suddenly, the entire sky was nearly pitch-black. The sunset had completed itself though it seemed faster than normal. I began watching the sky after I saw the “planet” shoot north. I saw a flying object, triangular in shape. It had light on the three points (red and white). The lights were solid and then they began to flash, almost mimicking an airplane. Then another object appeared. I had stopped at the red light at the intersection of 72 and 47, headed east, towards Elgin, Illinois. At the light, I starred at the sky and kept watching the flying objects. Once I cleared the stoplight, I pulled over the side of the road, slightly pass the John Deere place. I exited my vehicle and looked at the night sky. Some of the flying objects looked like airplanes, some were triangular and unfamiliar to me. Some made airplane noises, some were silent. I took out my cell phone to record footage but the quality is much too poor. I put my phone away and decided to watch for a bit. Some of the flying objects seemed to be flying in harmony—it almost looked like they were communicating. All the vehicles were flying at different heights. I looked at one of the triangles, one closes to the ground, and I thought to myself, “Come closer,” and almost instantly the vehicle came closer, hovered above me and my car and then flew off. Its lights were off and it felt like I was being watched. I cannot say how far off the ground it was. My highest count at any given moment was 14 flying objects—some airplanes, some unknown. I got back into my car and drove into South Elgin, Illinois. I stopped at a store on Randall Road. When I exited my car in the parking lot, I checked out the sky and noted only 4 flying vehicles. Three were definitely airplanes and the other was too far away to say. I told my friend of the encounter and she said she and her mother witnessed it, too, near their home in Kirkland, IL.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #124435). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.