Light over Payson, IL

The report, as filed

My wife, Barbara and I were sitting in the backyard enjoying the sunset looking due west. Clear conditions, sun at the horizon, no haze, light N breeze. Just a few degrees South of the sun, which was sitting on the horizon and at about 30 degrees angle above the horizon, (about where the star Diadem would be - I checked that location on my star chart on my phone) we saw a dim "star" appear. It remained stationary throughout the entire sighting that lasted about 5 minutes (or so it seemed). It slowly got brighter until it gleamed like the sun reflecting on a jetliner fuselage, brighter than any star. And there were no other stars in the sky. The moon was behind a cloud bank behind us and to the south. The light dimmed slowly back to very faint, then it ramped up again to the metallic bright gleam for a few moments, and then faded slowly until it was barely visible. I looked at the Star Chart to confirm the name of the star in that location as a way describe the light, and when I looked for the light again,it was nowhere to be seen and did not reappear.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #159307). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.