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
April 11, 2015 · 10:00 PM · TRIANGLE
Oswego, IL
My friends and I have seen these crafts many times before and they sometimes follow us. They are not planes, they become very bright looking like a shooting star but then dim down and follow us if we drive out of our neighborhood. They are shaped like small triangles and can be bright white or sometimes red. Also, the street lights would go out as it passed them like the energy was too strong.
April 11, 2015 · 7:00 PM · DIAMOND
Crystal lake, IL
Walking around the neighborhood, we stopped for a rest quick and continued our conversation. Naturally I was looking into the sky, I noticed something. Which could almost be explained as flying fairly transparent Dimond shaped crafts. Swinging amongst each other as if part of a symphony. I say this because there is no other way to portray it. It most definitely was not a flock of birds. The light admitted was faint, very dull, and blending in with the horizon. It lasted all of 20 seconds, and even if i had recorded it. The cell phone video would not have picked up the low light admittance. Ive been looking ever since to try and catch the same thing. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
April 11, 2015 · 1:00 AM · FIREBALL
Jonesboro, IL
Object moved in a horizontal position for 3 seconds and then shot downwards with a white tail into the east.
April 10, 2015 · 10:00 PM · TRIANGLE
Oswego, IL
My friends and I saw a bright white triangle shaped aircraft that we occasionally see on a regular basis and it sometimes follows us through our neighborhood. There were also two smaller aircrafts traveling together at the same speed which were bright blue and sometimes they would all turn red at the same time. We were driving in our car but they would follow us from the sky and as they passed our street lights, the lights would go out. This occurred for a long time because we were afraid to go back home. Also, this was not the first time this has happened. It happens regularly and people tend to think we're crazy when we tell them but if we take them with and try to show them, it sometimes happens again. We have tried to get videos and pictures but it's difficult to get it to show up on our phone cameras.
April 9, 2015 · 11:30 PM · LIGHT
Bartlet, IL
Intermittent changing lights in sky west of Bartlet. Blue, yellow, purple. The lights dropped 1 by 1 then vanished. Happened numerous times intermittently
April 2, 2015 · 12:15 AM · CHEVRON
Rockford, IL
A large chevron shaped aircraft passed slowly by at speeds too low for a winged craft and there were no rotor noises. The craft flew at an altitude of approximately 200-300 feet and had a jet engine sound but with a much lower amplitutude than a commercial or military jet. There were 2 lights pointing in the direction of flight, and the lights were inbound from the tips of the wing. There were 2 red lights flashing/pulsating on each side of the craft. The craft flew past about 100 feet in front of us and we watched it until it was lost in the horizon or tree tops. The craft circled around and made similar passes at least 5 times. It was cloudy and slightly foggy so it was impossible to make out any detail of the craft due to the diffusion or glare caused by its onboard lighting. I have seen the V-22 Osprey and this was definitely not one of them or any type of jet airplane that can hover or fly at low speeds that I've ever seen. It flew nearly overhead and h! ad absolutely no propellor or rotor noise. It sounded like a turbine driven craft. During the last pass we heard a few smaller higher pitched turbine sounds emanating from the craft which sounded similar to mechanical adjustments being made, similar to when a jetliner sets it flaps. My estimate is that the size of the craft was in the neighborhood of 150 ft long by 200-250 ft wide, and the body/fuselage appeard to be somewhat bulky as if it could carry large cargo. We did manage to take pictures and will transfer them to the PC in the morning. My impression was that the craft was military and not extraterrestrial. I am a skydiver having over 100 jumps, including 2 jumps from a Boeing 727 jetliner, in addition to attending many Air Shows over the years as an aviation enthusiast. I also studied to become a private pilot and am very familiar with the many types of aircraft, the speeds at which they can fly, and their sound characteristics. This was like nothing I had ever seen or heard and the other 2 witnesses have the same opinion.
March 27, 2015 · 10:35 PM · FORMATION
Vernon Hills, IL
My daughter and I were out on our balcony looking for the Andromeda galaxy. When we suddenly noticed what looked like a lone wisp of smoke traveling across the clear, night sky. As we focused on this movement, we both realized that it was multiple pin-point lights that traveled in a V formation, with an occasional slight wave-like movement in this formation, like a flock of birds. We followed it until it went out of our vision over the roof. We went to the front of the house to continue looking and it disappeared.
March 21, 2015 · 8:15 PM · CHEVRON
Chicago, IL
Bright light high above Chicago, flashing red lights toward southeast in sky. Also saw 2 chevron shaped craft red lights, silent craft heading east in the sky. Have video of the flashing light high above Chicago. ((BEGIN ADDENDUM FROM WITNESS)) Please delete earlier report from Chicago, might have been Arcturus. Sorry about hasty report. ((END ADDENDUMN)) Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
March 19, 2015 · 8:15 PM · LIGHT
Carbondale, IL
I was driving north from Makanda to Carbondale at 8:15 pm. About a mile north of the south end of Union Hill, I saw some lights in the sky to the north of me. 2 large white lights floating motionless in the sky, and some smaller colored lights that appeared to be helicopters. The white lights were, from my vantage, about 5 degrees above the horizon. Apparently floating 500' above Hwy 13, or somewhere to the north of Hwy 13. The light on the left was floating about 200' higher than they one on the right (This is a very rough estimate). They were bright, big, glowing, white. The helicopters were moving to the left and right, back and forth, maybe circling. 2 were flying around near the SIU farms, west of McLafferty and South of Chataqua. The other 3 were roving around in the vicinity of the 2 white lights. I was driving into Carbondale to visit a friend. From his house I could see the white lights and 1 helicopter. I went inside his house for 2 minutes and dragged him outside to see. He saw the helicopter. The Light seemed to have moved a bit when I saw it again, it had drifted a little lower, partially hidden by trees and buildings. I went inside. Came back out 15 minutes later. No sign of lights or helicopters. ((ADDENDUM FROM WITNESS)) Yes, April. (sic. March 19, 2015) Just learned that they local small airport was holding night-flying training that night. Which doesn't explain the 2 white lights but I dunno, maybe they were some kind of markers. I'm feeling like my report may have been a false alarm. Sure was spooky tho. ((END ADDENDUM))
March 19, 2015 · 3:52 AM · TRIANGLE
Wheaton, IL
We were driving east on Roosevelt Road and spotted a very bright white light that looked to be way off in the distance. Within a minute we were along side the craft to the North of Roosevelt Rd. Besides the very bright white lights we could now see a V or triangle shape. There were two flashing white lights on either side with a couple red lights in the middle section. The craft was heading west at either a vey slow speed or stopped. It did not resemble a helicopter at all.
March 17, 2015 · 7:10 PM · CHEVRON
Grayslake, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
March 16, 2015 · 9:00 PM · CHEVRON
West Frankfort, IL
I am constantly looking towards the sky. My boyfriend has spotted other UFO's. He said there were three sets of triangular shaped crafts that would fly together then separate into a triangular formation. That was about 3 months ago. The most recent was March 16, 2015. We were walking our dogs around 9 p.m. I was looking around at the stars, and I always notice this patch in the sky that looks like a greyish blue cluster, I am still not sure what it is, but I see it when the sky is clear. So I was looking at that then something caught my eye to the right. I felt like something was there but I didn’t see it within a couple of seconds, so I look back at that grey cluster. Then I see something again so I look more up and to the right and see a huge grey, black, chevron shaped flying object. It moved quick, but steady. It did not have any lights. I looked away and back towards it to see if I was seeing things, or my imagination running wild as usual. well I wasn't. I can't give you exact distances but It was low, close to the trees but not close enough to touch the trees. I seen it traveling for about 1 -3 minutes. I was in shock or something because it seemed like I was standing there for awhile, but it wasn’t there very long. It disappeared as it went up further into the atmosphere. I was reading about the lights of ufo's. It mentioned when the craft is in motion there is no sound and usually low, or no lights at all. I am trying to figure out why I did not see any lights, when most of the sightings of this craft have lights. After about 2 minutes I met my boyfriend on the porch. I seen these lights way up in the stars a few nights ago, but my boyfriend said it could just be stars. Well I am not sure but I was reading about the Chevron shaped craft, and found another type of craft called fireballs. What I seen was white, and moving very quickly, and shifting in various directions, unlike a plane or star. The first night I seen them, it was a full moon and the lights were flying towards the moon! My boyfriend seen it last night, there was only one, and now he thinks they were moving fast, and strange jus like I was telling him the first night I seen them. We have had other encounters, such as a bright ball of light coming from the sky, close to us. Thank you for your time, and I would really like to know more about what I saw. I am very interested in space!
March 16, 2015 · 8:50 PM · LIGHT
Bloomington, IL
There is a large starlike object currently West of my location. It has reappeared 3 times in last 3 weeks, and it is verified that it is not a star. It is the brightest thing in the sky, unmoving. Planes can be seen flying near it, and for comparison i would say 20 X larger than the jet liners at least. There is no star in that side of the sky that is even 1/10 as bright. Can anyone check this out with some tech? Sirius?? PD
March 15, 2015 · 8:39 PM · DISK
Chicago, IL
Witnessed 6-8 white-ish disks fly in a straight line 2-3x faster than a plane beneath sparse cloud cover over downtown Chicago. Mid-60s in temp.
March 11, 2015 · 11:30 PM · LIGHT
Streamwood, IL
At about 11:30pm on 03/11/2015 I heard a high pitched noise above my house. A noise I've never heard before. So I looked in the way I heard it was going and I saw a bright light in the sky. It's a clear night tonight and I've never seen a light that bright or stay in that spot before. My current position is 42°1'25"N, 88°12'2"W. It's in my vision of anywhere from 220° SW-230° SW. As I'm writing this it is now 12:13am 03/12/2015 and the light object seems to slowly move more west. Thank you for your time. Possible sighting of a celestial body? PD
March 11, 2015 · 11:30 PM
Chicago, IL
As I'm writing this it is now 12:13am 03/12/2015 and the light object seems to slowly move more west. My email is ((e-address deleted)) Thank you for your time! We spoke via telephone with the witness, and he sounded to us to be quite sober-minded. We suspect that he is a reliable witness. PD
March 6, 2015 · 4:47 PM · LIGHT
Oak Lawn, IL
I was driving down 95th St. As I drove past Fannie May Candies, I noticed a bright light flying towards Chicago Ridge Mall. When I was next driving past Chicago Ridge Mall on 95th St I noticed at around 4:48PM the bright light stopped flying and stood still. I rolled down the driver side window, I got my camera, I zoomed in and took 8 photos out my driver side window. It slowly started to diminish. It finally diminished all the way. I noticed 5 hours later when analyzing the photos only 6 out of 8 photos had the light in the sky on them. It was a clear sky and there was no planes. I see and report these lights sometimes. This was the first time I actually took photos of them. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
March 5, 2015 · 8:30 PM · FIREBALL
Alton, IL
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/news/152223390/Fireball-in-sky-over-Alton-creates-buzz. ‘Fireball’ in sky over Alton creates buzz ALTON — Did little green men take a cruise in their spaceship over Alton? Probably not — but something strange in the sky caught the attention of several Telegraph readers Thursday evening. According to Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society (AMS), reports of a fireball came from across the state Thursday evening. “The sightings were clustered right around Chicago,” Lunsford said. “We’ve only received a couple from the St. Louis area. We have 34 total sightings. St. Louis seems to be on the southwestern edge of our reports. It was apparently seen as far away as Ann Arbor, Michigan.” Lunsford added that similar sightings came from Texas and Louisiana around 2 a.m. Friday. He said the southern fireball had about half as many reports as the one over Illinois. Such bright fireballs are common in February, March and April, he added. “This is the peak time for evening fireballs,” he said. “I have no doubt that it was a meteor.” Lunsford said most of the reports claimed to have seen a large green fireball, but some were blue or yellow. According to Lunsford, the seemingly strange colors are actually quite common when a large chunk of space debris enters Earth’s atmosphere. “Entering the atmosphere excites the oxygen molecules and creates a sort of greenish glow,” he said. The AMS is still investigating the case, which includes looking for evidence that the meteor metamorphosed into a meteorite by hitting the surface of Earth. “There’s still a possibility that it did,” Lunsford said. “We look for signs of sonic booms that indicate that the object entered the lower atmosphere. We haven’t had any of those so far.” Social media in the Riverbend was abuzz with chatter about the fireball — or whatever it was — late Thursday and early Friday. Facebook user Jason Cox wrote on the Telegraph’s wall that he saw the object around 8:30 p.m. Thursday evening while traveling north on Homer Adams Parkway off Broadway. Another user, Berthal Allsman said he saw a similar object on Homer Adams Parkway and described it as “kool as h—-.” Mandi Carroll wrote that she saw it while driving on Missouri Route 367 towards Alton. Most Facebook users that claimed to have seen the object on the Telegraph’s page described it as a meteor. Others jokingly theorized that it was a spaceship, a methamphetamine lab explosion or popular Star Trek character Spock, portrayed by the recently deceased Leonard Nimoy, reaching his destination on the final frontier. The Alton Police Department said that they did not receive any calls on the matter. Alton Police spokesperson Emily Hejna speculated that it was most likely not a visiting life form from the far reaches of the cosmos. The Telegraph also reached out to NASA regarding the matter, but nobody from the administration had responded to the request as of press time. An official did confirm they were investigating the reports, however. The official echoed the belief that it was probably not a spaceship.
March 5, 2015 · 7:30 PM · CIRCLE
Aurora, IL
Looking west spotted a still air craft. The shape was circular with a bright light and several lime green lights that were constant and not flashing. There were 3 airplanes that moved in the air so it was easy to see the difference in movement and altitude. One airplane flew northeast and then abruptly turned northwest. Did not see the still craft leave but checked 2 hours later and it was no longer visible.
March 4, 2015 · 7:00 PM · TRIANGLE
Buffalo Grove, IL
Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
March 1, 2015 · 9:44 PM · FIREBALL
Sycamore, IL
I was driving down rt 23 when I seen a giant light brighten up the sky. It lasted only 2 seconds appeared to be only a fireball but it came from out of the black of the sky and passed closer than I have ever seen a fireball pass before ....
February 28, 2015 · 9:35 PM · LIGHT
Libertyville, IL
It was about 9:30 at night, driving home from dinner. A strong thick beam of light, not instantly but took about 5 seconds to “fall,” came down and a large portion of the sky around it turned green. This stayed this way for about 20 seconds, and then the beam went up and the sky went black again… I need answers.
February 24, 2015 · 7:30 PM · FLASH
Villa Park, IL
Flashes of blue, orange, and green light in the night sky. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
February 23, 2015 · 1:00 AM · UNKNOWN
Edwardsville, IL
My friend and I were driving on Highway 143 towards St. Louis and saw some bright flashing lights in the sky to the side of the road. We pulled off on Blackburn Road and stopped the car to watch. There were numerous bright flashing lights putting on quite a light show. These lights flashed singly and in pairs and then several would appear in a straight line. At one time the lights turned red and formed a spiral made of a lot of small red lights. We did take a video and it is quite impressive. We watched the show for about 45 minutes then continued on our way. They were still flashing as we left. There is little out there besides fields and it was very cold around 10 degrees. I have never seen anything like this in my life. We have invited the witness to share the video with our Center. We may post it, if it is of high-quality. PD