Triangle over Wichita, KS

The report, as filed

On January 3, 2019, at approximately 9:30pm, our 11 month old son was fussy, so I took him out for a car ride. I suspected that it might take a while to get him to go to sleep and since it was a nice night, I decided to head north out of town. We live in N.E. Wichita just outside of Bel Aire. I drove North on Oliver to 53rd St. N. I then turned East on 53rd to Greenwich. At Greenwich I turned South until 45th St. At 45th St I then proceeded back to the West. At some point, as I was approaching Rock Rd. (on 45th St.), I noticed a rather large and bright light ahead of me on the horizon. The light looked white or a white/yellow. I thought at first it might be a light on the water tower or a radio tower in the distance. As I continued West on 45th I realized that the water tower and its lights were not in line with this light (which seemed to be stationary). I passed the water tower and proceeded West on 45th St and could now see the radio tower in the distance an it’s lights. The tower was North of the light in question. The light at this time had begun to dim and didn’t seem as bright. It was however in the same position (or so it seemed) as it was when I first noticed it (1.5 miles ago). As I approached Oliver (sti! ll on 45th St.) the light seemed to be getting lower, as it was now becoming obstructed by trees. At this time, my best guess was that the light was a mile or two in front of me. As I approached Hydraulic (still on 45th St.), I stopped for a train which was crossing the road. I believe there were 2 cars in front of me. While waiting for the train (2 minutes) the light did not move. If it did it may have moved toward me. Just before the train finished passing, the light began to move toward me and to the North. As I approached the intersection of 45th & Hydraulic I could now see 3 lights in the shape of a triangle. It crossed Hydraulic at approximately 1/4 of a mile to the North of 45th St. The front light (front as in relation to its travel E-NE) was blue in color. The two rear lights were white or slightly whitish-yellow. I also noticed that the lights did not blink or flash, as I expected to see a helicopter or some type of plane. When the object passed over Hydraulic, I e! stimate that it may have been at an altitude of about 1,000 ft. As it passed over Hydraulic I turned North to try an follow it as it was moving rather slow. As I traveled further North on Hydraulic I started to lose sight of it out the passenger side of our van. I approached 53rd St and turned East where I could see it ahead of me. It seemed to begin moving at a faster rate of speed. By the time I approached Oliver it was well off in the distance. I would estimate that it was 10 miles away by that time. I debated whether or not to post this report for fear of some kind of misidentification on my part but after watching the air traffic in the night sky the following days I became more sure about the differences in this object and that of other aircraft. Most aircraft I’ve seen have some kind of red light, this had none. The altitude at which the object in question was also odd. The aircraft I see here are in a landing pattern or take off at that altitude and this object did not fit the typical flight pattern of other aircraft from the surrounding airports. The main difference was the 3 solid lights beneath the object. They did not flash or blink. There was also no beacon light on this object. I believe that at the close proximity in which I was to the object I would have seen a beacon light, however the 3 lights beneath the object were the only ones I could see. At 45th & Hydraulic (my closest position to the object) it was moving very slow. I also rolled the windows down a! t that point and could not hear the propellers of a plane or helicopter. Also, I do believe the vehicle stopped in front of me while waiting for the train took notice of it and tried to follow it as well. The car turned North on Hydraulic then East on 53rd, then South on Oliver back to 45th where it then turned West again on 45th. The drivers behavior seemed to be very distracted as if they were watching the objects flight. I hope this might encourage others in the Wichita area to consider sharing their sightings as well.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #144368). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.