Light over Portland, OR
A witness account on file, unevaluated. Most of the archive rests here, and honestly so.
The report, as filed
23:15: To the south, in the PDX northern flight path, I saw 4 solid, pronounced amber or bright red(ish) orange lights in a square formation. One moved down and disappeared into cloud cover as the remaining three shifted and made an equilateral triangle. They fixed like this for 10- 15 seconds, then formed a isosceles triangle where two got very close to one another and the third was far from them, fixed into being equidistant from them for maybe 10 seconds. Then they all started shifting again, and one left the group and slowly faded away (no cloud cover), and the other two did the same in different directions, one at a time. Over by 23:18. My partner and I have seen satellites, meteor showers, and the space station before. This was VERY different in color and movement pattern from those or any aircraft I've ever seen. They could turn and reverse without an arc or pause. Amateur sky observers. My partner went outside after this. At about 23:45 he saw (lone observer), one by one, 6 of the same lights appear one-by-one in the same part of the sky, move around one another in the same way and then one by one leave in different directions and fade away (not into clouds). He said this took 4 minutes.
Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #161930). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.
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Routed to: Federal Aviation Administration · records window 2021-02-02 → 2021-02-19
From the same sky
Related entries
October 19, 2023 · 8:20 PM · TRIANGLE
Portland, OR
My girlfriend picked me up to go to the store. As soon as we started heading south we noticed 3 very bright lights in the sky, flashing colors not typical of aircraft, satellites, planets or stars. I immediately had a gut feeling I knew what it was. Upon driving to the store to get a better view, I noticed they changed positions slightly. Once at the door I was able to locate them again and finally snap a picture with my phone that has 100x zoom. As you can see, the light pattern is not typical of anything usual. I proceeded to try and take video, but my camera can't take video at that zoom level. We went into the store and came out. They were all gone.
October 18, 2023 · 10:35 PM · CHANGING
Portland, OR
In sky above me in SE portland oregon. I first noticed bright light in sky hovering at 10:35pm and when I zoomed in saw it changing shape and size. A streak went across sky from one end of horizon to another. From north to south. A friend an hour away in newburg about same time saw bright light across sky too. I have video and pictures of everything but the streak
October 4, 2023 · 6:09 PM · SPHERE
Portland, OR
Exited swan mart with 4 year old son. While placing son in car seat, he reports “look at those lights, mama.” I look around parking lot and said, “what lights?” He stated, “No mama, in the sky.” I viewed glimmer lights, about 15 orbs in a V formation, at the same altitude as birds(was low) at onset. Secured son in car seat with tablet to distract, closed door of car. I then took pictures and video for 3-4 min or strange lights. . They were nothing I had seen. No sound or wings observed. The orbs reflected light and were glimmering. Initially, moved north but dissolving into the sky at times, very hard to see. Orbs, reappeared far in the distance (toward the NE) on one occasion briefly, then again dissolved into the clear sky that evening. Reappeared one final time, near the SW and disappeared into the sky. [NUFORC annotation: Birds - Possible]
September 6, 2023 · 11:19 AM · CIRCLE
Portland, OR
See above
September 6, 2023 · 11:00 AM · SPHERE
Portland, OR
Slowly moving and hovering over the City for the last hour.
August 23, 2023 · 4:53 AM · SPHERE
Portland, OR
Saw stationary lights in the sky northeast of me. At first I thought they were the lights of a cell phone tower. But I know the area well and there was no tower in that direction. Observed lights for about 23 minutes. Lights remained stationary for a long time. Then they shifted very quickly to the right. And again remained stationary. I was able to take pictures with my cell phone, but It’s an old flip phone and doesn’t have a great camera. At the end of the sighting the lights moved away to the north out of view. This movement was extremely fast. Almost in an instant. That the thing that astounded me about this sighting. Is how it remained stationary for so long. Then in an instant it moved. First to another position in the sky. And then out of sight. Is speed was incredible. For the entire encounter the lights were silent. I worked in the airlines for over 20 years. I’ve worked security for 3 years. I’ve never seen anything like it. From experience, I know this was not plane, helicopter, and it moved too fast to be a drone. I’m stumped.