Circle over Piedmont, CA

The report, as filed

I was outside and looked up at the moon and noticed what looked like a bright star meandering west to east. I thought maybe it was a satellite catching the rising sun, but it started moving laterally to its direction of motion. Maybe a balloon, but it was a bit early for that... Object maintained movement direction, but occasionally stopped and hovered, then continued on its way. At one point I looked away and had difficulty relocating the object, but finally caught a glimpse of a very tiny dot that then seemed to disappear in a whisper of smoke. Very strange, especially given its luminosity. Probably a shiny balloon but felt compelled to report. The longer I looked the more floaters appeared in my eyes, so it became pretty futile.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #149080). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.