Unknown over White Plains, MD

The report, as filed

White Plains, MD: We are in the approach/departure flight path (at a higher altitude) for Washington Reagan National Airport, and occasionally Joint Base Andrews, so hearing and seeing airplane traffic is not unusual. I always search the skies to find the plane and watch its flight. At 0530 on Sunday 20 August 2017, I was out in the driveway smoking a cigarette. I began to hear a low rumble, like an airplane getting closer. It was a cloudless morning and stars were still visible, but I could not see an airplane anywhere in the sky. As the low rumble increased in volume, it sounded like it flew right overhead, but I still couldn’t see it. Finally, as it crossed past the house (moving SW to NE), I saw two blinking red lights moving very slowly away from me. I thought, “That’s why I couldn’t find a plane; it’s actually two planes”, because of the spacing of the two lights. However, as I continued to watch, I realized that it wasn’t two planes flying in formation, it was actually one extremely large craft, and it was flying extremely slowly, compared to the aircraft I normally see fly over the house. I assume that the blinking red lights were on the tips of its wings, but there was actually no discernible shape associated with the craft. It was low enough that I should have been able to see wings and a fuselage, but there was nothing in between the lights that was visible at all. The low rumble gradually faded in volume, and as I continued to watch the red lights, they suddenly just disappeared, as did the rumbling noise. I am a former US Navy Sailor and a trained observer, having worked with the Navy police during my career.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #135818). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.