Cigar over Alma, NE

The report, as filed

Hoping to get a better look at the thing, I pushed through the pine boughs. Standing approximately 1,000 feet from the shoreline, I watched as this airship cruised about thirty degrees above the horizon. It was cigar shaped, and it must have been 100 yards in length—about the length of a football field, and I would estimate it was several hundred feet in diameter. At first sight, this thing was lit up like a Christmas tree. Red, green, blue, yellow, purple, all these colorful lights were shining in every which direction. Some of the lights appeared to search the far side of the shore, while other lights were pointed skyward and remained motionless. As it continued to move slowly westward, above the north shore of Harlan County Lake, I distinctly heard some sort of mechanical sound. The sound had an industrial quality, although I couldn’t see an engine or propellers or, for that matter, any moving parts. But, after several minutes, a dull gray super-structure became visible. Dotted with numerous cupulas or transparent domes, several of these looked as if they were illuminated. By my watch it was 7:31 PM, and I must have watched for twenty-five minutes before it disappeared into overcast skies. The temperature was about 30 degrees and there was a light breeze from the north. Lately, I’ve made it a point to take this route back to town, but I haven’t seen the airship again. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #138835). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.