Circle over Arlington, VA
A witness account on file, unevaluated. Most of the archive rests here, and honestly so.
The report, as filed
On the night of May 29 ar 10 pm while walking our dog I noticed a white and greenish flashing object that moved at a constant rate of speed traveling from west to east. I followed the object with my wife until it disappeared. The video I captured reveals a diamond shaped object when the video is zoomed in.
Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #170205). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.
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Routed to: Federal Aviation Administration · records window 2022-05-26 → 2022-06-12
From the same sky
Related entries
October 4, 2023 · 7:05 PM · LIGHT
Arlington, VA
Local weather: KDCA 070252Z 16005KT 10SM FEW060 FEW085 BKN150 22/19 A2989 RMK AO2 SLP120 T02220194 58005 (I live about 3 miles from DCA) [DECODED Weather: Temperature: 22.2°C ( 72°F) Dewpoint: 19.4°C ( 67°F) [RH = 84%] Pressure (altimeter): 29.89 inches Hg (1012.3 mb) [Sea level pressure: 1012.0 mb] Winds: from the SSE (160 degrees) at 6 MPH (5 knots; 2.6 m/s) Visibility: 10 or more sm (16+ km) Ceiling: 15000 feet AGL Clouds: few clouds at 6000 feet AGL, few clouds at 8500 feet AGL, broken clouds at 15000 feet AGL] About me: I rent this apartment (since 2017) because of the panoramic view facing east and because of the proximity to Washington/National (DCA) airport. I am passionate about military and civilian aviation and, as a result, I spend an inordinate amount of time looking at airplanes [noting their make/model, company (owner), path, assumed route, and deviations], weather, and the sky. My Observations: On Wednesday, 04 October 2023, at approximately 1910 local, while sitting on my easterly facing balcony with a friend, talking, I was facing approximately NNE. I observed three lights that "popped into my view", suddenly, causing me to say "whoa" out loud. I did not have to point out the lights to my friend, I simply said something like what are those lights in the sky over the Kenedy Center. She observed the same lights and had no idea what they were. I observed that three dots heading together in a due north direction, at a satallite's passing overhead speed, in an open triangle formation. The three lights were on a triangle, with one light "leading" the formation to the north and two more lights all equidistant from each other to the south. These did not look like the Starlink sattelite pattern of lights so frequestly seen in the sky. Then, within a minute, they all disappeared, first the most northly, then the other two, one after another. The lights were a whitish (with a hint of blue) color. There was no variation in color. There was no variation in the path nor movement. The lights appeared about 35 - 45 degrees above the horizon. They appeared that they were over the surface a great distance away, guessing maybe at least 75 miles away(?) if they were even within low earth atmosphere. They were possibly operating (as I suspect they were) in space. There was no sound. I knew the sun set recently, so I first considered what I was seeing to be a reflection. I disregarded that because the lights "popped" into view versus gradually illuminating - plus, I should have seen a "reflection" well before passing so far north in the sky. (In other words, since the lights traveled south to north, perpendicular to the sun's path, I would have seen any reflection that high in the sky much, much sooner in the more southern sky.) My next thought was that I was seeing satellites - but satellites do not fly in triangle formation in "close" proximity to each other. We did see a satellite later that evening that I suspect was the space station traveling overhead from west to east and very brightly illuminated. The three lights looked completely different. I am familliar (very) with UFP/UAP history, incidents, and converasations, etc. My initial reaction was not that I was seeing a UFO/UAP, but was a "head tilting" but was a "what the heck was that" reaction. Then I concluded that, from my perspective, since it was unknown to me, it was, by definition, an unknown flying object / unknown aerial phenomena. I thought of trying to take a picture, but I know from experience that my cell phone would not have captured the lights.
June 2, 2023 · 9:02 PM · SPHERE
Arlington, VA
I was looking at the moon and what I thought was a star or Venus but the star was moving. Definitely not an airplane and I don’t think Satellites move that way. I took the video in slo mo and the movement was erratic.
September 25, 2022 · 10:56 AM · DISK
Arlington, VA
My living window is 16 floors up in Northern Virginia with unencumbered views all the way into Maryland. As the crow flies I am 2-3 miles from Reagan National Airport and see tons of airplanes flying through the sky daily. I am familiar with the expected trajectory, speed, and duration of visibility simply through observation. Whatever this was, it was not flying like anything I had seen before. In addition to circling above while moving west to east, the "craft" itself was rotating and flying very, very fast. The planes I see out my window always fly away from Northern Virginia. This one flew right over head and then disappeared. When I first saw it, I thought through all possible alternatives before settling on "UFO", and I'm not sure I'm saying I think it was for sure. I thought very large bird? (because of the circling). Marine One coming in for a landing at DCA?
June 9, 2021 · 1:30 PM · FORMATION
Arlington, VA
Proceeding Eastbound on Route 66. Took Fairfax Drive/Glebe Road Exit. While stopped in traffic at light at intersection of Fairfax Drive and Glebe Road, facing East towards Washington, DC, I was surprised to see multiple objects in front of me, at an elevation of about 45 degrees and at a height of about 1,500 feet. Ultimately, I counted three objects. Each of which was followed by a long, twisted, winding contrail, of perhaps 1,000 feet or more. The contrails were identical for each object, but were not the typical contrail from condensation of water vapor. Rather, they were brown/reddish in color. The three objects moved helter-skelter, crossing each other's paths. I initially thought that they might be helicopters that had been struck by surface to air missiles (very reminiscent of a scene in "London has Fallen." But there was no sound. Then I saw what appeared to be a regular airplane in the nearby area, flying--it was a mid-sized plane with! what appeared to be a fixed (non-retracted) nose landing gear. This led me to think that perhaps the objects were "sky divers" or hang-gliders. But the airplane was oblivious and was flying in a direction different from the three object. In an instant, two of the objects--and their contrails--vanished. Only one object remained. Then the last object and its contrail also vanished. I had a smartphone and thought of taking a picture; but I fumbled around unable to figure out how to use and it was too late anyway. I called my friend as the matter was unfolding and asked if he was aware of what I had just seen. He was not and said he would check the news. Very odd as I thought the objects were in restricted airspace. I suggested that maybe it had been a publicity stunt. I'm reporting for what it's worth in case no one else does. This happened in broad daylight, in plain view. I would be surprised if it was not observed by many people in addition to myself. !
June 9, 2021 · 1:30 PM · FORMATION
Arlington, VA
Proceeding Eastbound on Route 66. Took Fairfax Drive/Glebe Road Exit. While stopped in traffic at light at intersection of Fairfax Drive and Glebe Road, looking Eastward, I was surprised to see multiple objects in front of me, at an elevation of about 45 degrees and an elevation of about 1,500 feet. Ultimately, I counted three objects. Each of which was followed by a long, twisted, winding contrail, of perhaps 1,000 feet or more. The contrails were identical for each object, but were not the typical contrail from condensation of water vapor. Rather, they were brown/reddish in color. The three objects moved helter skelter, crossing each other's paths. I initially thought that they might be helicopters that had been struck by surface to air missiles (very reminiscent of a scene in "London has Fallen." But there was no sound. Then I saw what appeared to be a regular airplane in the nearby area--it was a mid-sized plane with what appeared to be a fi! xed (non-retracted) nose landing gear. This led me to think that perhaps the objects were "sky divers" or hang-gliders. But the airplane was oblivious and in an instant, two of the objects--and their contrails--vanished. Only one object remained. Then it and its contrail also vanished. I had a smartphone and thought of taking a picture; but I fumbled around unable to figure out how to use and it was too late anyway. I called my friend as the matter was unfolding and asked if he was aware of what I had just seen. He was not and said he would check the news. Very odd as I thought the objects were in restricted airspace. I suggested that maybe it had been a publicity stunt. I'm reporting for what it's worth in case no one else does. This happened in broad daylight, in plain view. I would be surprised if it was not observed by many people in addition to myself.
February 23, 2021 · 4:21 AM · SPHERE
Arlington, VA
My bedroom is where I can easily see the moon. Before I went to bed around 11:40 pm, I noticed the moon was high in the sky and very bright. (Just a ritual of mine to look for the moon before closing my bedroom curtains up on the 22nd floor. There was nothing unususl about the moon: bright white, where it should be at that time of night, etc. I went to bed. At 4:20 a.m., I was awake because my spouse was snoring loudly. As well, Finnegan (my cat) was being very loud, knocking some things over loudly outside our bedroom, near the living room. I felt angry with my spouse (who had been intending to get his CPAP machine, but had been neglecting it), and I was annoyed with my cat, who was acting so strange and being even clumsier than he usually is. I just got right up, to feed the cat (again), hoping this would calm Finnegan down some—and also to sleep on the chaise lounge in the family room (away from snoring husband). Because he'd not picked up his CPAP machine, I was rather accustomed to sleeping in the other room: I'd arranged a tall room divider around the chaise lounge to block out the early-morning light when I'd retreat there to sleep there once every two or three nights. My husband had moved the room divider that day, & I noticed it would not block the sun from the closest window when it rose in just a couple hours. As I looked over at the window to confirm this, before repositioning the room divider, I was very confused because at first, it seemed there was almost a large harvest moon (though not perfectly round & higher in the sky—and impossible, as I'd seen the normal moon earlier, and the moon NEVER is seem in that direction/area.) This glowing, orange orb was in the distance adjacent (just to the right of) the top of one of those red-lit (radio?) towers. I walked to the window and couldn't believe my eyes. Then, I grabbed my iPad to take a picture of it through the window. As I snapped a couple pictures, I imagined showing my older son and my spouse the next day and them saying, "Must have been a reflection or something." So, I walked to our large balcony on the 22nd floor to capture it on my device. Right before I stepped outside, I became afraid/spooked and thought, "Am I really going to step out here in the dark with no cars or anyone, anywhere—with this inexplicable orb out there?! What a perfect opportunity to be freaking abducted!" So, I just opened the door a bit to get the picture— didn't step out at first.. Once I'd opened the door, though, my fear mostly disappeared, and I simply stepped right out, I just felt a sense of awe, and a sort of happiness about the amazing nature of our universe. (I'm not a sky watcher or anything—and trips to, say, planetariums don't really interest me much, and I just find all the stuff about just regular SPACE spooky, so that whole "amazement-instead-of-fear. thing was a bit odd.) I stood outside far longer then I'd intended, just captivated by this orb. My *expected* "normal" reaction to such a thing would be: sustained fear, running to wake my spouse and kids to see this thing, taking some melatonin to calm my anxiety, etc. But so strangely, I just suddenly felt so calm & SLEEPY [moments before, I assumed it'd take me an hour to get to sleep because I was so angry that my spouse didn't care enough about my ability to sleep to get his freaking CPAP, and I was irritated with my bizarrely nutty cat. So, the sudden calm, sleepiness thing doesn't make ANY sense. Have you ever have surgery, and you're nervous, and the anesthesiologist tells you everything will be totally fine and says, "Count backward from 10," and right when you get to 9 or 8, you feel SO (thankfully) calm and relaxed? It was sort of like that, but more protracted. Anyhow, the orb seemed to change very subtly in position and appearance, but not in any odd or even really perceptible/obvious way. It mostly seemed to hover and emit a lovely, peaceful orange glow. It didn't fall or descend swiftly, or ascend while I was observing. I remember thinking, before I went back inside to sleep immediately, on the lounge-thing, "Whoever's in that thing or controlling it from afar—they're just interested in what's going on here. And it was nice they waited until there's usually not a person awake to get panicked—they're not bothering anyone at all." It didn't seem strange to me at the time that I was so chilled out. [By the way, I do not drink [a glass of wine makes me nauseated] or use any intoxicating substances—never been one to crave it. As well, I do not have visual hallucinations or vision problems. Plus, I'd always been very skeptical about reports of UFOs & non-human-animal sentient life forms, etc.] Anyway, I was so sleepy by the time I started to walk in that, when I got to the balcony door, I turned to take one last picture, but as I was closing the balcony door, I noticed the last "picture" wasn't a picture–I'd accidentally pushed the "video" button—NO CLUE WHY I DID NOT *INTENTIONALLY* TAKE A VIDEO—just this quick, accidental video. No clue why I didn't stay around until the thing disappeared, videotaping the entire time. So, my sudden calm sleepiness actually, later, I interpreted as influenced somehow by the orb or sentient beings associated with it. This is especially the case, as well because I never have "happy dreams at night." Now and then I have bad dreams/nightmares, but I couldn't recall the last time I had a happy dream. When I immediately fell asleep back inside, the entire time I slept I had the happiest dream I can recall. It was simple: o being out with some very fun/funny friends, just hanging out, having a great time. laughing a lot. Another extremely strange thing about this is that after I woke, I didn't even RECALL the orb or ANYTHING the ENTIRE DAY. The following night, I did my usual, normal thing of looking out at the phase of the moon before bed. THEN, I suddenly remembered, grabbed my iPad, showed the pictures to my spouse, who (a scientist) said, "That is amazing! That CAN'T be anything from this world at this time." He usually can't stay awake past midnight, but he stayed awake a long time, urging me to report this, etc. I called, on (I think) the night of February 23, 2021 [late at night] the hotline associated with this site. A nice gentleman answered. I apologized for calling late—I thought I'd get voice mail. He was very interested and asked me to send the pictures and video I took, to him via email, which I did, I also included a written description of all this in my email because, for at least two nights, the site's form section was down. Tonight, I found the site again but saw my emailed report had not been posted, so I'm just posting it now. All my immediate family members have looked at the pictures and short video and have agreed that this thing isn't and "normal"or "Earthly." My older son was HIGHLY spooked out by it, as he sees the area right from his main bedroom window and just cannot think of any explanation (though he would have been said, "Mama, you're just crazy sometimes," had I not taken the pictures, etc,). He avoids discussion of anything about it, but he doesn't worry actively. My younger kiddo is really fascinated. This all occurred on the eve of a difficult birthday for me. *On* my birthday, February 24, I looked at Youtube with my younger son to see if others had reported (& taken better video) of such orbs–they had! And one of the very first comments I read was from a guy who explained he saw basically what I saw, *also on the eve of HIS birthday, and that he had the same thoughts and feelings I did!* EVERY NIGHT since, I've checked outside, hoping to again see this beautiful orb. It hasn't returned. My birthday is approaching again, so I got a new tripod and set up my telescope, just in case whoever or whatever is responsible for the orb is back in my area at that time of year. By the way, to verify this, I want to point out that I did publiclybask community members on an Arlington