The catalog
Sightings
Witness reports, held as-reported. Each entry keeps its source, its coordinates where the record has them, and its place in the larger pattern.
3,749 entries
August 20, 2015 · 11:00 PM · CHANGING
Rather not say., IL
A short while later, I saw abother large light coming in the direction the others had just went. It turned from a giant yellowish white mass to a very small blue moving dot in an instant and with the change traveled much much faster. When it was out by the fields it became large. And seemingly mimicked a star. At this point I decided I should walk towards it to get a better look. It didn't seem to be going anywhere, and I had noticed other large moving objects around the fields suddenly stop and look like stars. It was kind of unsettling. After awhile of walking towards the object, I saw that it was above an overgrown field I could not walk into. Besides this was another field that was mainly dirt and dying remainders of plants. I saw a smaller object come from the direction of the light and head towards another of the once moving lights that was above the dirt field. It was extremely low to the ground. So much so that even with it being night time I could easily make out an outline which was reminded me of a flat skipping stone. While the smaller object headed for the second light, I noticed the first light "danced" every so often. It made motions up, down, side to side, diagonal, and loops and circular motions. It really didn't seem to have any reasoning behind the movement. I started to leave feeling uncomfortable and as I walked back I noticed in a 3rd field another dancing light that was growing very large, then dimming to my front and left, then to my front right I saw a massive moving light that I believe to be a meteorite. It was very bright blue and was only in sight for a second before disappating. On my way home (less then 2 blocks) I also saw two shooting stars. The reason I bring this up is because my feeling at the time was the lights had an interest in this stuff. Anyway I ended up sitting outside watching these lights dance about and periodically set themselves in different spots in the sky till almost 3am. They would move sometimes just bluntly to a new spot then all the sudden stop and stay in the new spot awhile or would make the dancing motion and stop in a different spot. When the second way happened it was always shorter distance change but still very obvious. For most the night I took note of four main large lights but du! ring that time I spent my energy mostly observing the closest one, which was very active. It moved in the same line, up down, u shape movements as before. It also would dim greatly and then get very large. It changed color from blue, red, white, and yellow. Moving lights would come seemingly from nowhere underneath or around the big object usually all at once then with a cool off period. I saw both a beam and smaller floating objects come from the 4 large lights. The beam came from a light behind my house that had been moving to the fields. The beam went straight ahead of the object and then another to its side. During this time I also saw three more shooting stars, one looked like it almost hit the object in the sky, and it promptly moved out of the way. I saw another meteor as well which was also abnormally large and also was out of sight in a flash. It had a green tail instead of blue. There were several lights of red that flashed a lot that seemingly paroled the area the entire span of these hours as well. They would make circles around moving slowly and one in particular on three separate occasions got so close to the big light object I thought they would hit each other. Each time the ball of light would move. This red light object looked like a normal plane. I made an observation. And an experiment took place, at which I could get a reaction from the light, and it's behavior changed completely. I would like for now what took place with that to be kept to myself. But I think it's important to say I did experience the object react to certain things someone did on the ground. I am 28 years old. I don't have a degree, I'm a cook at a restaurant. I have no photographic or video evidence to back this up. But I also have no history of mental illness. I also have nothing but redicule to gain as well as lost time writing this. So, I assume this won't help anyone figure out anytime soon what these objects were, aliens, atmospheric stuff, easily explained things etc. But that's my account of what I saw around my house.
August 20, 2015 · 8:40 PM · DIAMOND
Liberty, IL
Diamond shaped, brilliant white light with red light in eastern sky at 12 o’clock. Descended to 6 o’clock position rapidly – lights did not blink.
August 16, 2015 · 4:00 PM · LIGHT
Rolling Meadows, IL
They appear every other day here.
August 13, 2015 · 9:00 PM · CIRCLE
Mokena, IL
Very dark orange almost red ball hovered slowly in the west sky while we sat by the fire. We were looking west all evening, and then out of nowhere a orange glow appeared. My exact words were "I hope a plane didn't just catch on fire in the air" The "thing" slowly settled over the tree line. No clue what it was but it was NOT normal. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
August 11, 2015 · 1:00 AM · UNKNOWN
Ottawa, IL
I saw a transparent object flying low overhead, it looked to be cloaked and the light looked bent around it. Seemed to have a mist surrounding it. I only noticed it when it moved because I could see the mist moving. Once it was noticed by me and a few friends around the fire, it turned and flew off. It also made no noise at all...very eerie. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
August 8, 2015 · 8:57 PM · FIREBALL
Chicago, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
August 7, 2015 · 9:00 PM · LIGHT
Niles, IL
A very bright, white, "cold," LED-type light ball, moving in a very straight line, parallel to the ground East to West, between Shermer and Harlem, approximately 200 ft above the ground. The object travelled about 300 feet at a very high rate of speed, and then the light was extinguished gradually but very quickly (less than 1 second). The ball was approximately 1 foot in diameter. I’ve considered both a “shooting star” and a meteor, but their trajectories are sloping towards the Earth. Also the type of light was definitely superficial. The visibility was good enough to notice if the light was attached to an aircraft, however there was no object visible once the light vanished.
August 5, 2015 · 11:00 PM · UNKNOWN
Machesney Park, Illinois, IL
It all started early at night, back when I lived in the neighborhood of Machesney Park Illinois. I was with my black pug Zuko out of the pool deck…when he just randomly looked straight up at the sky and started growling, all scared and tensed up like many dogs when they’re extremely on edge, I followed his gaze and when I looked up I saw it just slowly glazed across the sky, making its way over us. Didn’t look to big, but it was up in the sky so it probably looked small cause it was far away, it was only there for what felt like half a minute. It was moving slow enough for me to make out its shape. A mixture of a square and hexagonal shape, mostly square like,but with the end tips like a hexagon, there was also I glowing shape in the center of the bottom, might’ve been a circle or something but it’s kinda blurry in my memory cause the memory is eight years old. The UFO just kept going the direction it was going in (Heading what looked to be North West judging by the direction it was going in, eventually passing over us and out of sight. After that I just went straight to bed and tried to sleep despite my shock, then the next day, just went on with my life and kept quiet about it, and never told anyone up until now.
August 3, 2015 · 11:00 PM · FIREBALL
Morton grove, IL
It passed the moon and was a bit translucent. It then flew east into the sky and disappeared not to be seen again for the rest of the night
August 3, 2015 · 9:50 PM · FIREBALL
Mount Morris, IL
On August 3rd, 2015, at 9:50 PM Central time), I witnessed, along with my wife, what can only be described as 4 to possibly 5 UFO’s flying in a extended single line form formation. My first observation happened when I stepped out onto my deck, facing directly South. The sky was clear, and many stars were visible, along with a couple high altitude aircraft heading westward. I then began to see what at first I thought was a aircraft at a lower altitude, coming from the SW into view and was orange glowing which I thought was its landing lights. We have a small grassy airstrip nearby. After it got closer, I was thinking it should be making some sort of noise which it was not. It see to have a similar speed to a helicopter then a airplane. As the first object moved East and appeared to change course towards the SE I saw another object of the same type come from the same general place the first object did. At this point I ran down to the bedroom and told my wife to look out her window, which she did, and witnessed what I was seeing. We ended up seeing at least 4 objects move at equal spacing across the southern sky, at about 30 degree from my point of observation. Then they all proceeded to fly the same path east, then southeast, and gained altitude and faded one by one. I most definitely cannot come to any other conclusion then what I and my wife witnessed was some sort of UFO that could not be identified as naturally occurring, or a physically identifiable, aircraft. ((names and contact information deleted))
August 3, 2015 · 9:00 PM · FIREBALL
Jonesboro, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. Hoax?? PD
August 1, 2015 · 9:30 PM · LIGHT
Ottawa, IL
It was approximately 21:30 on Saturday, August 1st, 2015. I was driving west on Rt. 71 in Ottawa, Illinois. My passenger looks out her window and says, “What is that? Can you see that?” I look to the North and there are three lines in the sky, obviously ablaze, similar to fireworks trailing. I drive a few blocks further west and pull over into the hospital parking lot, where we watch these lights for another minute. The lights are orange and cylindrical, and appear to be fire-like. They look like they’re falling, but not fast. Simply falling toward the Earth. Not shooting across the sky like a meteor. Then, one at a time, they go out. Each one approximately 10 seconds later than the one before it. When they go out, all that remains is a red light in the sky, similar to that seen on an aircraft.
August 1, 2015 · 9:20 PM · FIREBALL
Marseilles, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 31, 2015 · 10:05 PM · SPHERE
Buffalo Grove, IL
While walking dog we noticed a bright yellowish planet type object moving in the sky from west to east at about 75 deg above horizon. It was a very clear night. It did not appear to be a plane since there was no flashing lights, noise or trail and did not have the movement of a plane as I will explain in detail. I ruled out a satellite or the ISS for the following reasons. I observed the ISS at much lower elevations above the horizon, traveling in a strait path at a consistant speed and following a NW to SE orbit. this was nothing like that. It was not a satellite or ISS because: 1. The object was not traveling at a constant speed. It seemed to slow down then speed up constantly as it moved across the sky 2. At times the object seemed to wiggle or meander at times in a sense that it shifted it's course slightly while moving very slowly then speed up again. We noticed this several times. 3. As it moved east the light did not seem to dim as a satellite or the ISS would from loosing the reflection of the sun on the solar panels. To me this indicated the glow of the light was powered by the object and not reflected from the sun. 4. The object was about the size as one would observe Venus but not quite as bright but more yellow/orange in color. The object was visible at that intensity for several minutes. Much longer than I have observed for anything in orbit.
July 31, 2015 · 9:45 PM · CIRCLE
Frankfort, IL
On Friday, July 31, 2015, one adult male and adult female were driving 80th avenue heading north, about a half mile from route 30. At the stop sign of 80th ave. and WN Ave. The male first saw about six lights in a jagged line seeming to be hovering in one spot. The first craft had a red light, the others were orange. The female got out of the car to video tape the event when all the crafts began to move from north west to south east in a straight line, the red one in front. As they moved passed the two adults one buy one they blinked out. The last one continues to be seen until it went behind some trees.
July 31, 2015 · 9:00 PM · OVAL
Johnsburg, IL
Many vertical lights constant no blinking, going across the sky, slower than a plane lower than a plane, but not a helicopter. Moved from the Northwest to the southeast and disappeared out of site.
July 31, 2015 · 9:00 PM · CIRCLE
Woodstock, IL
I am a teacher of 14 years and my husband is a police officer of 21 years. On July 31, 2015 at approximately 9:00 p.m. (21:00), I looked out of my living room window and noticed a round orange light. It wasn’t perfectly round and had a little nub coming off the left side. The object was travelling in a straight direction heading south. I tried to get a better look, but it was difficult to see it because my backyard trees were in the way. I was sidetracked briefly by one of my children, then mentioned the object to my husband who went out on the deck to look at it. I then grabbed some binoculars to get a closer look. The object did not blink, but had a steady orange color. When I had joined my husband, the object looked smaller. A typical passenger jet airliner happened to be passing by in view at the same time so I could clearly tell the object was not an airplane. The airplane was travelling in an east, southeasterly direction. The object was farther up in the sky than the airplane. The object then passed by the moon and looked smaller. It then suddenly disappeared. I would also like to mention this was a night we had a blue moon.
July 30, 2015 · 9:00 PM · CHANGING
Bloomington (outside; north of), IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 26, 2015 · 11:30 PM · TRIANGLE
River Grove, IL
I could make out a contour line that looked like a flat triangle shape object. The brighter light became dimer while the other became brighter, the light hovered over the ground for around 2-3 minutes and then disappeared completely. The sky had some clouds, but normal airplanes coming from O'Hare airport were easily seen and recognized, but that thing had way to bright lights to be an airplane. Also, as an Army Veteran I know that lights do not just hover in the sky for 3 minutes.
July 25, 2015 · 10:40 AM · FIREBALL
Neoga/Mattoon (between; on I-57), IL
It almost looked like a fireball or a rocket exploding as it streaked across the sky then vanished. Quite high in the sky. Again definitely NOT a firework. And no sound either. I almost thought a plane exploded at first. Very strange.
July 23, 2015 · 4:50 PM · OTHER
Burbank, IL
I was driving and saw a hazey white boomarang-shaped object flying with sun glaring off it sometimes. It was standing tall while flying. It had a little boomerang shape in it and triangle to it. The top of the boomarang was a little bit longer than the bottom. It sorta was featureless. It kinda reminded me of an Angelfish with a longer fin on top than the bottom but had a triangle body with no tail. The top fin was slightly in a diffent angle from the smaller bottom fin. The hazey look to it made it look blurry. I was driving on Cicero looking on the side of Best Buy towards Midway Airport, when I noticed it. I got my camera ready and stuck my arm out when I was parked at a red light. It disappeared right before the second I took the picture like it knew to disappear before I would of got a picture of it. I made a drawing of it on my Wii U art program and posted it on Facebook. I have the photo I took on my cellphone showing a Best Buy Sign right before it disappeared. It look to be as big as a small passenger plane but was super taller like an angelfish. It was almost like watching if like a angelfish if it was flying in the sky but an angelfish wouldn't have sun glaring off it sometime. I was thinking it was an experimental aircraft, at first, until it disappeared. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
July 22, 2015 · 9:10 PM · CIRCLE
Tremont, IL
Orange, white light with 2 smaller lights on objects left side which where white and green, as it got closer a sphere appeared in the gases surrounding it darker than the orange gas cloud the object moved eradicly paused then moved s.west in a arching path slowly then appeared to fade away.
July 22, 2015 · 8:15 PM · LIGHT
Chicago, IL
on my lunch break smoking a cig looked up n seen a bright orange light no shape just light midway area then turn 90 degrees out of no where then disappear in clouds it was going one way real fast then turned the opposite way like nothing n disappear left a trail of cloud behind it in the sky! We have amended the time above, assuming that the sighting occurred at night. PD
July 16, 2015 · 10:05 PM · FIREBALL
Chicago, IL
This happened twice in the same area about 30 minutes apart. My friend was with me and saw it too. I saw it when I was driving home. Then my neighbor said he saw it too.