Light over Simla, CO
A witness account on file, unevaluated. Most of the archive rests here, and honestly so.
The report, as filed
Used stargazing app to rule out planet or star. Observed a stationary, bright, orange-tinged light (as large as a bright star) in eastern sky. It was below and to the right/south of Orion. I observed for several minutes before remarking aloud that it had to be Mars. As I said so it faded and disappeared to black. After about 10 seconds it reappeared slightly higher and to the left/north of where it had been. Remained for about 30 seconds before fading to black again. There was a small cloud in the eastern sky but it was thin and I could still make out Orion in it; this light was brighter than any around it. I could barely make out faint lights beneath it that appeared to be moving. Recorded with iPhone.
Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #161318). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.
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For a dated, located U.S. sighting, FAA radar data and ATC communications are the records most likely to exist. Through Aletheca, the house instrument, anyone can commission the request — filed, chased, and published in the open, refusals included. The draft goes over already written: the records sought, and the date window they would live in.
Routed to: Federal Aviation Administration · records window 2020-12-19 → 2021-01-05
From the same sky