Light over Palatine, IL
A witness account on file, unevaluated. Most of the archive rests here, and honestly so.
The report, as filed
I saw a bright white light traveling slowly with no sound from west to east. The object had no blinking lights indicating a conventional airplane. I recorded it for a period to show what I had witnessed. Using a plane tracking app shows no registered aircraft in the vicinity. Looking at the object through binoculars didn’t provide any more detail, the white light was just larger. I can’t say what it was but I know that it wasn’t an drone or an airplane.
Held as-reported from National UFO Reporting Center (record NUFORC #178307). Witness text is preserved verbatim, including its spelling; nothing is edited beyond formatting.
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Routed to: Federal Aviation Administration · records window 2023-09-10 → 2023-09-27
From the same sky
Related entries
April 11, 2021 · 10:00 AM · LIGHT
Palatine, IL
Three sporadically moving zig zagging lit objects just below the overcast dark clouds. Witnessed them mid morning for about 5 minutes in the Westerly skies. After approximately 5 minutes the three flying objects went straight up through the clouds and disappeared. I have no idea what this could have been.
March 9, 2021 · 9:04 PM · LIGHT
Palatine, IL
I often go outside to shoot pictures of the stars, planets and Moon. On March 9 it was very clear outside, so I went out to shoot some time-lapse images of the stars. From 21:04 to 22:10 I shot about 33 photos, most at a :30 second shutter. Upon review of the first photo of the night, and only the first photo, there is erratic movement in the sky during the :30 second shot. This shot is pointing South by Southwest, and the unidentified object draws a bouncing line from point to point. Maybe this is a common camera abnormality, but I am not familiar with it. While the camera is stationary, and shows all the stars and trees in the background to be stationary, this object moved around the shot in the :30 second shutter time. Of the other 30+ shots I took that night, I don’t see anything else like this, including the shots in the same direction that I took shortly after the first. I hope you can tell me what this is? I can provide other images from that ! night, if you think it could help.
September 19, 2019 · 8:00 PM · CIRCLE
Palatine, IL
Looked up at the stars and saw a bright white light moving across the sky not very high, I am guessing 10,000 feet, I grabbed my binoculars and could not see it any better than with my naked eye. No blinking lights and no sound that I could hear. Also, when it disappeared it was like a dimming light that just went out. This was my second time seeing this, I didn’t report the first one a few weeks ago.
April 3, 2016 · 10:20 PM · FORMATION
Palatine, IL
Sunday, 04/03/2016, approximately 10:20PM: I opened the back door to let my dog out, and was greeted by an incredible sight. Three bright lights in a diagonal formation on the horizon in the southeast sky toward O'Hare...hovering for at least 10 minutes and pulsing brilliant white, the middle one brighter than the other two. No unusual sounds. Planes from O'Hare passing both above and below the objects, and the lights from the planes much smaller (1/8th the size) of the white orbs. My wife got a digital camera shot of all 3; by zooming in you can see them clearly between the power lines with the water tower light for contrast. We also have video of all 3 lights with planes in the sky as well. At approximately 10:30PM, all three lights floated (best word possible) to the southwest and disappeared; the middle light, which was the largest and brightest, was the last to go. With all due respect to healthy skepticism, I am both elated & mystified. Both my wife and I are police officers.
July 2, 2015 · 3:00 PM · OTHER
Palatine, IL
I was stopped at a red light in Palatine, Illinois, and looked up at the sky and saw this grayish square shaped structure flying through the air above. It was not an airplane. The way it moved through the clouds was something I have never seen before. I tried following it with my eyes but the red light changed to green and I had to keep moving with traffic. I knew I had just seen a UFO. I stopped off to get some gasoline for my car and as I was driving home I saw another grayish square shaped structure in the sky. I doubt if it was the same one. This one was seen in Buffalo Grove, Illinois.
May 23, 2015 · 11:50 PM · LIGHT
Palatine, IL
Honestly, they were probably just lanterns flying in the sky, but I can't find reference to them anywhere, and oddly enough they either went out or disappeared over my street. At that time of night they would have probably been floating for a fair amount of time if they were coming from a carnival or firework display of some sort. Just would love to confirm this since they were rather interesting and beautiful floating much lower than a plane or helicopter-they were in a crooked line, and perhaps as high as one might see a large balloon or high flying kite. No photos; my phone was dead.