Circle over Mooresville, Charlotte, NC

The report, as filed

I have a Ph.D. and am an amateur photographer. I set up my Tamron ultra-telephoto zoom lens (SP 150-600 mm f5-6.3 DiVC) on a tripod to shoot the Starlink satellite pass over Lake Norman last night. I focused on the area where according to my Stellarium App the satellites would be visible from 8.20 PM onwards. I saw a yellow "star" that to the naked eye I assumed was probably Venus, but on closer examination through my lens it appeared to be a large circle surrounded by a ring of bright white lights. Thinking this may be part of the satellite system I started shooting. When I developed the shots, most were blurry because the object was moving faster or more erratically than expected. I enhanced the clearest shot, which looks to be a bit too symmetrical for a planet or star. My neighbors were also watching from their docks and saw only the "star" but suggested sending the clear shot to you for further analysis.

Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #167586). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.