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.
3,270 entries
February 29, 2016 · 9:05 AM · UNKNOWN
Cherryville, NC
Loud sound like an ocean liner in the middle of town, hundreds of miles from beach here. The sound was so loud my neighbor went outside to investigate it, too. My daughter and I recorded it on a mobile device. We also drove in the direction of where the suspected sound originated believing it was a nearby event, (tuba players in unison??) however no such event involving loud horns or alarms was occurring in any direction at the school stadium or at our local fire dept. Also noted a man in the street looking in the same suspected area while talking on the telephone about what he had heard. After thirty minutes, it had stopped. It may be nothing, but I had not experienced any sound like it before now and felt obligated to report it. The only proof I have is an audio recording in which the sound is clearly audible a few times. This was not a train, nor a truck braking, nor any other usual "city" noise. This was an unusual phenomenon and unlike anything I've heard.
February 28, 2016 · 3:00 PM · OTHER
Charlotte (outside of; I-485), NC
My mom and I witnessed several motionless jets in the sky over 485 outside Charlotte, NC, on our drive from 85 north to 77 north. The jets appeared to be Boeing 737s and they were only a few hundred feet above the highway. The weather on Sunday, February 28, 2016, was sunny and completely clear with only light winds.
February 22, 2016 · 7:00 PM · LIGHT
Durham, NC
Observed over "pickle" building in South Square. Two green lights, and one flashing white light. Lights flew straight up, hovered, flew a bit further up, then went directly left. Witnessed at the stoplight in front of Rooms To Go on 15-501. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
February 20, 2016 · 8:30 PM · CIRCLE
Oak Island, NC
On April 20, 2016, from about 8:30 PM to about 9:15 PM, we saw at least ten red-orange colored circle shaped objects appear at about 15 or 20 degrees over the ocean horizon in the southern direction. The circles would suddenly appear (sometimes one at a time)and then quickly disappear. It was almost impossible to ascertain if it was moving or another one lighting up. Several times more than 5 appeared rather far apart in space yet, short in lighted time duration. Some of the circles quickly flickered while others appeared stationary and simply faded away. It was obvious they were not flares since there were no tails or trails of any sort and the circle had crisp and distinct edges. The event went on and off for about 30 - 45 minutes. The sky was starlight and an almost full moon was about 35 degrees above horizon in the eastern direction of the sky. Some planets were also visible. It was quite obvious the color and size was much, much different than any of tho! se. When the circles disappeared they seemed to cave in upon themselves at times. Other times they disappeared quickly. The events ended as quickly as they started. After events an aircraft appeared to be returning from the general area. This aircraft was viewed for a long time and had mostly red lights un-like all other aircraft in the sky. This report was posted on April 29, 2016, but with a flawed date, which we have corrected. PD
February 16, 2016 · 7:19 PM · FIREBALL
Kill Devil Hills, NC
Looked like a ball of fire going fast across sky and disappear into the west sky.
February 16, 2016 · 7:12 PM · SPHERE
Hertford, NC
We were driving south on Snug Harbor Rd.--between Rt 17 and Burnt Mill Rd. A round object came across the sky from an east to west direction. The object appeared to be on fire with a green flame and a tail. It was not very high in the sky, we could see alot of detail. It seemed to disappear - we did not see it drop (but since it was dark we would not have seen it fall once the flame went out). Approx. latitude 36.119282 - Approx longitude -76.482885
February 13, 2016 · 9:00 PM · TRIANGLE
Greensboro, NC
I only saw this for a few seconds, passing over the center of the city, a black triangular shaped craft, lined with lights along what I think was the entire perimeter that were very faint. Straight line, silent, and it appeared to be low in altitude from my perspective, otherwise it would have been massive in size and traveling very fast if it high altitude.
February 11, 2016 · 6:00 PM · OTHER
Henderson, NC
My husband, son, I and a friend was walking in dark, home from parents' house up road from us and in the southern sky, heading north was 7 lights, with a oval shape with the lights the head light first light was way brighter than the rest there was no sound what so ever they were all perfectly spaced bright white lights no flashing of any kind.
February 8, 2016 · 3:00 AM · LIGHT
Graham, NC
The light began "bouncing" (I can think of no other word to describe the movement) up and down at first, and then left to right. This continued for around 20 minutes, until the light seemed to dissipate.
February 6, 2016 · 6:30 AM · CIRCLE
Winston-Salem, NC
My grandma and I were going down 52b and at 1st we saw a super bright light and were first though that it was a plane, but as we got closer, we saw it coming towards us, and then as I went to take a picture of it, it shot up super swiftly.
February 5, 2016 · 8:35 PM · CROSS
Southmont, NC
I first heard the low rumble pass over our house and thought it was an odd sound, not something I had heard before. As the first passed and a second one passed over, I went to the door and barely caught site of the lights fading. Moving to the open front porch, A few seconds later a third craft went over. It had a red beacon flashing underneath and appeared to be cross-shaped. As it passed over its sound matched nothing I've ever heard and the sound faded quickly. A fourth craft passed over which looked similar to the third with the same beacon beneath. The fifth and final craft was much larger but also cross-shaped. What struck me the most is the near silence between each craft when only 10 seconds passed until the next went over and how quickly the sound faded. I've spent considerable time on air force bases and have seen all types of aircraft including vintage prop planes and never have I experienced the sound that these craft made. My wife looked out of the bedroom window and witnessed the last 2 but could only make out the vague shape and the red light underneath.
February 5, 2016 · 8:00 PM · UNKNOWN
Cooleemee, NC
On the night of February 05, 2016, at 8 pm in Cooleemee, NC, my wife and I stepped out of our house to walk the dog. I was looking due west into the night sky when I noticed a dark mass moving slowly from north to south appeared to be following the South Yadkin river, I estimated that the object was no more that 100 feet off the tree tops and a half a mile away. The object was very large but I was unable to discern a shape, my first thought was that it was a C-17 cargo plane. I did not hear any engine noise and assumed that it would catch up as jet aircraft tend to be seen first then heard. I stepped further up closer toward the road in my front yard to continue to walk the dog, when I saw another object traveling in the same direction at the same altitude and the same speed with no apparent engine noise. I was still not able to determine the shape of the object but noticed that it had a single steady red light that was approximately 3 times bigger than a star. In all there were 7 objects that we counted that passed us, all at the same altitude moving in the same direction at the same speed with no engine noise. However, there were 2 objects that were different, the fourth object had in addition to the steady red light, had a white light, towards the front of he object, shining directly down below the object and the fifth object had just the red light as the others did but had two slime green colored lights that were illuminated what appeared to be the upper aft section of the object. I have spent the last 18 years working in Army Aviation Maintenance in the Avionics/Electrical section and immediately assumed that they were formation lights, so my initial impression was that they were military aircraft despite the lack of seeing an Anti Collision light illuminate on any of the objects. As my wife and I stood there and watched them continue moving south, then south easterly, I witnessed the last objects red light move thru the trees and disappear and during the entire sighting my wife and I never heard any engine noise. These data are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at the NCDC - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Climatological Report (Daily) 000 CDUS42 KRAH 060926 CLIGSO CLIMATE REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 410 AM EST SAT FEB 6 2016 ................................. .THE PIEDMONT TRIAD INTL AIRPORT NC CLIMATE SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 5 2016... CLIMATE NORMAL PERIOD 1981 TO 2010 CLIMATE RECORD PERIOD 1903 TO 2016 WEATHER ITEM OBSERVED TIME RECORD YEAR NORMAL DEPARTURE LAST VALUE (LST) VALUE VALUE FROM YEAR NORMAL ................................................................ TEMPERATURE (F) YESTERDAY MAXIMUM 47 418 PM 74 2008 50 -3 45 MINIMUM 32 1155 PM 1 1996 31 1 24 1917 AVERAGE 40 41 -1 35 PRECIPITATION (IN) YESTERDAY 0.01 1.59 1960 0.10 -0.09 0.00 MONTH TO DATE 1.00 0.50 0.50 0.38 SINCE DEC 1 9.56 6.54 3.02 4.63 SINCE JAN 1 2.91 3.56 -0.65 2.42 SNOWFALL (IN) YESTERDAY T 4.5 1905 0.1 -0.1 0.0 MONTH TO DATE T 0.5 -0.5 0.0 SINCE DEC 1 2.5 4.7 -2.2 T SINCE JUL 1 2.5 4.8 -2.3 T SNOW DEPTH 0 DEGREE DAYS HEATING YESTERDAY 25 24 1 30 MONTH TO DATE 63 124 -61 132 SINCE DEC 1 1288 1667 -379 1603 SINCE JUL 1 1802 2347 -545 2353 COOLING YESTERDAY 0 0 0 0 MONTH TO DATE 0 0 0 0 SINCE DEC 1 15 1 14 0 SINCE JAN 1 0 0 0 0 ................................................................ WIND (MPH) HIGHEST WIND SPEED 18 HIGHEST WIND DIRECTION NW (320) HIGHEST GUST SPEED 25 HIGHEST GUST DIRECTION N (10) AVERAGE WIND SPEED 7.7 SKY COVER POSSIBLE SUNSHINE MM AVERAGE SKY COVER 0.5 WEATHER CONDITIONS THE FOLLOWING WEATHER WAS RECORDED YESTERDAY. LIGHT RAIN SNOW LIGHT SNOW FOG RELATIVE HUMIDITY (PERCENT) HIGHEST 56 700 AM LOWEST 23 300 PM AVERAGE 40 ........................................................ THE PIEDMONT TRIAD INTL AIRPORT NC CLIMATE NORMALS FOR TODAY NORMAL RECORD YEAR MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE (F) 51 74 1927 MINIMUM TEMPERATURE (F) 31 1 1917 SUNRISE AND SUNSET FEBRUARY 6 2016......SUNRISE 717 AM EST SUNSET 551 PM EST FEBRUARY 7 2016......SUNRISE 716 AM EST SUNSET 552 PM EST - INDICATES NEGATIVE NUMBERS. R INDICATES RECORD WAS SET OR TIED. MM INDICATES DATA IS MISSING. T INDICATES TRACE AMOUNT. The U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) computes astronomical data. Therefore, the NWS does not record, certify, or authenticate astronomical data. Computed times of sunrise, sunset, moonrise, moonset; and twilight, moon phases and other astronomical data are available from USNO's Astronomical Applications Department (http://www.usno.navy.mil). See http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/astronomical-information-center/litigation for information on using these data for legal purposes Explanation of the Preliminary Monthly Climate Data (F6) Product These data are preliminary and have not undergone final quality control by the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC). Therefore, these data are subject to revision. Final and certified climate data can be accessed at the NCDC - http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov. WFO Monthly/Daily Climate Data 000 CXUS52 KRAH 141345 CF6GSO PRELIMINARY LOCAL CLIMATOLOGICAL DATA (WS FORM: F-6) STATION: PIEDMONT TRIAD INTL AIRPORT NC MONTH: FEBRUARY YEAR: 2016 LATITUDE: 36 4 N LONGITUDE: 79 57 W TEMPERATURE IN F: :PCPN: SNOW: WIND :SUNSHINE: SKY :PK WND ================================================================================ 1 2 3 4 5 6A 6B 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12Z AVG MX 2MIN DY MAX MIN AVG DEP HDD CDD WTR SNW DPTH SPD SPD DIR MIN PSBL S-S WX SPD DR ================================================================================ 1 70 47 59 19 6 0 0.17 0.0 0 7.6 17 220 M M 8 12 25 240 2 56 48 52 12 13 0 T 0.0 0 8.4 18 50 M M 10 12 22 60 3 66 52 59 19 6 0 0.82 0.0 0 11.5 26 190 M M 10 1 37 200 4 61 43 52 12 13 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.8 15 10 M M 9 1 25 340 5 47 32 40 -1 25 0 0.01 T 0 7.7 18 320 M M 5 1 25 10 6 48 27 38 -3 27 0 0.00 0.0 0 1.1 9 320 M M 5 16 310 7 47 33 40 -1 25 0 0.00 0.0 0 6.0 15 20 M M 9 21 20 8 50 27 39 -2 26 0 T 0.0 0 5.2 20 230 M M 7 26 230 9 42 24 33 -8 32 0 0.00 0.0 0 11.3 21 300 M M 8 28 280 10 37 20 29 -12 36 0 0.00 0.0 0 12.0 24 290 M M 2 30 290 11 40 15 28 -14 37 0 0.00 0.0 0 7.2 20 300 M M 1 24 300 12 37 23 30 -12 35 0 T T 0 5.6 20 310 M M 8 25 310 13 37 19 28 -14 37 0 0.00 0.0 0 14.1 30 310 M M 2 37 300 ================================================================================ SM 638 410 318 0 1.00 T 104.5 M 84 ================================================================================ AV 49.1 31.5 8.0 FASTST M M 6 MAX(MPH) MISC ----> # 30 310 # 37 200 =
February 5, 2016 · 7:00 PM · FORMATION
Durham, NC
The engine noise emitted was a low rumble, unlike that made by any airplane or helicopter I have ever heard. There were inconsistencies in the placement of the lights yet they all moved in a very slow but consistent fashion.
February 5, 2016 · 6:58 PM · LIGHT
Durham, NC
First thought it was a string or airplanes, but they were perfectly in a line. Then one light appeared, separate, much brighter than the others, white. Drones? Would have required extremely precise coordination. No sound. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
February 2, 2016 · 3:00 PM · SPHERE
Raleigh, NC
I am a 48 year old woman who works full time for a Non-Profit Energy Efficiency Company. I was talking with a co-worker about what I saw while driving to my son's house on 2/2/16. She recommended that I report it here, so here it goes! I was driving on Buck Jones Road going to my son's house (toward Cary, NC). It was a nice sunny afternoon when a shiny, sphere-like object caught my eye in the sky to my left. It appeared to be floating very slowly downward and I watched it for approx. 5-10 whole seconds. I passed a couple of large trees on my left that blocked my view for a mere second and once I passed them, the object was nowhere to be found.
January 27, 2016 · 8:45 PM · TRIANGLE
Arden, NC
((ADDENDUM FROM WITNESS)) My apologies it was 8:45 pm. ((END ADDENDUM)) We have amended the time above, to reflect a nighttime sighting. PD
January 24, 2016 · 10:30 PM · LIGHT
Four Oaks, NC
Last night around 10:30 pm, I saw a yellow light to the Northwest of Four Oaks (somewhere near Garner, NC, & 3 cell-phone towers). It changed from red to yellow, then a second object emerged. After moving around some they disappeared, been seeing these lights almost every night between 10 pm and 1 am for the last 2 weeks starting on January 10. I've seen airplanes, meteors and even spacecraft; but never anything like the lights. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD
January 21, 2016 · 6:24 PM · TRIANGLE
Durham, NC
I was standing on my porch talking on my cell phone when i spotted 3 lights in a triangle formation fly directly in front of my house. It sounded like a distant rumble. I quickly got my wife's attention and she was able to snap 2 photos before it flew out of view.
January 21, 2016 · 11:30 AM · UNKNOWN
Asheville, NC
At 11:30 am, I witnessed a seemingly round craft flying west to east in the sky directly above me. I saw it for approximately 30 seconds and in the blink of an eye it disappeared. It left little to no trail behind it like you would see coming from a jet. After it disappeared, at least 7 jets moving in rapid succession, flew in all directions as if they were looking for the object. Right now it is 12:12 pm and jets are still flying overhead as I'm typing this. My friend who is also a ((deleted--public employee)) in downtown Asheville witnessed the same thing as we talked on the phone.
January 21, 2016 · 11:30 AM · UNKNOWN
Asheville, NC
A friend and I were talking on the phone as we worked outside. He quickly interupted the conversation by yelling, "Dude dude dude!!! Do you see that? Somethings falling from the sky!??!" At this time, I did not see anything. We were working on different sides of the city and looking at the sky from different angles. About a minute later, I saw something and asked if that's what he was seeing. He said, "Yes!" At first I was skeptical. It looked like a small odd shaped cloud, with a small, fat trail behind it. I thought maybe it was a jet, but it was moving and in a strange way far off in the sky. I lost it for a minute behind some trees and I ask my friend if it was gone and he agreed that it had just disappeared into thin air. We were talking about what we saw when oddly enough a jet appeared from the area where the object had vanished and flew in a Southwest direction. Then I saw 2 jets, 3, 4, and literally stopped counting at 15. All! actual jets flying in the same direction. East to Southwest. Like they were following or chasing something which was the strangest part of all of this. It was an extremely strange experience to say the least.
January 16, 2016 · 7:35 PM · CIGAR
Mill Spring, NC
A bit of info on my background: I am disabled with RA and heart problems so I spend a lot of time here at home. I was a chef and restaurant manager, but I've also worked as a journalist and photographer (which is what I studied in college). I mention that because I do consider myself a good observer and I've been trained to notice details... for descriptive purposes and setting up photographs. I'm an amateur sky-watcher and often spend nights outside with my Son during meteor showers or other celestial events. I've seen plenty of aircraft, satellites and often the International Space Station. Many times we have observed strange lights or craft, but in every single instance we have come up with a rational explanation. For example I'll mark the time and direction of travel and with a bit of research on the internet or with an app on the iPhone it's not too hard to name a satellite or natural object that fits perfectly with what we have seen. I'm open minded about UFOs, but I'm always going to look for the most logical explanation... a way to identify that object first. To me the truth is what is most interesting. Well, tonight I'm at a loss. I was sitting on my couch in my office watching a football game when a flickering light in my window kept getting my attention. I'm naturally curious about everything in the sky and I thought it was a helicopter which I don't see often at night. So I turned off my TV and decided to watch it. I live many miles away from a small town so there is no light pollution. I don't have any immediate neighbors or streetlights. The area is wooded and extremely hilly, nestled nicely in the western NC mountains. The lights from the craft were to the northwest of me over some nearby peaks. There are trees between me and the mountains, but the lack of leaves in the winter allowed me to keep a visual continuously. It took me less than a minute of observation to realize this was not an airplane or a helicopter. At the distance of my viewing I never got to see the solid body of the craft, but the outline of the of the lights led me to believe that it was a cigar type shape. There were four or five lights in a horizontal line that constantly flashed on and off in linear sequence. The timing of the sequence was fast... less than a second... and then it repeated throughout the entire sighting. All I could think of that it reminded me of was the flashers on some police cars... but stretched out. If the craft I saw simply displayed these strange lights and moved off in a steady manner like a conventional aircraft I would have just shrugged my shoulders and went back to the football game. But, the way this thing moved got me clamoring for my overcoat and smartphone. Standing on my back porch gave me a much better view and I could not (and still don't) believe what I was watching! I found a nice gap in the trees and stood there amazed as this thing with strobe lights moved around in the night sky like something was wrong with it. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING should be able to maneuver like this object was. It was jumping/skipping from spot to spot; not great distances, but up, then over, then back where it started. The movement was erratic with no pattern that I could discern. It almost looked like I was seeing some sort of video game glitch. I watched this same action for, I'm guessing, about four minutes. There was no sound, but that really doesn't mean much because I see many aircraft in these mountains and often there is no sound or very little, it just gets swallowed up. I mention that because there were planes in the sky at the same time. I had been seeing another aircraft to my left (farther to the west) and didn't pay it much attention at first. All of a sudden the second craft moved rapidly in a straight line toward the first, pausing for about twenty seconds when the two were extremely close as if investigating - but, that is just conjecture on my part. This new craft then moved around the strange flashing object (I could not tell if it went in front of or behind it) and flew off out of sight into the mountains to the north at a high rate of speed. This second craft very likely could have been a helicopter as it moved like one... but I have no way of knowing for sure. I do know that the interaction of the two objects was very unconventional. Manned aircraft don't get that close to each other on purpose, especially at night. I tried taking a video with my iPhone but, I'm pretty sure I got nothing... too dark, and too far away. I did grab my camera and got in my Jeep and tried to ride to a better vantage point to get a picture. I saw an aircraft that could have been the possible helicopter involved, but I never could find the strange object again. If anyone has an explanation I'd love to hear it.
January 14, 2016 · 10:30 PM · LIGHT
Mount Airy, NC
I observed a bright blue light stop and hover for about 15 seconds, then quickly shot down toward the ground, then immediately shot back up and disappeared. Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. Hoax?? PD
January 14, 2016 · 6:30 AM · LIGHT
Hendersonville, NC
My husband and I saw a very bright object in the sky to the east. It was about a centimeter in diameter, with a faint red light at the top, hovering above a mountain behind our house. It moved very slowly to the right for over an hour, and then moved upwards for another hour. An airplane flew in the distance behind the object, so I know for a fact it was not a star. We were still able to see the object for about 30 minutes after the sun came up. My husband and I are still in awe, and we are both positive now that we are not alone in the universe.
January 11, 2016 · 8:00 PM · LIGHT
Nashville, NC
I noticed a large bright reddish star outside my dining room window. I brought it to the attention of my parents, a retired middle school teacher of 32 years and a retired Corrections Officer/truck driver turned truck driving instructor and certified license examiner. We watched the "star" flicker between reddish orange and white as it slowly moved East across the sky. My father noted that any plane moving that slowly would have fallen from the sky. The light dimmed as the "star" turned South and began moving faster toward our house. My mother and I quickly went outside to see if we could see the actual craft instead of just the light. It changed course slightly, instead taking it higher and further to the side behind some trees rather than directly overhead. We never heard the sound of a plane engine or rotor of a helicopter. As we were watching the "star" through the trees now heading Southeast, another object flew Northeast overhead very low but much quicker. It looked like the lights of a helicopter, but again, absolutely no sound. We are very accustomed to hospital helicopters flying overhead between Rocky Mount, Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Greenville at all hours. We know how they look and what they sound like. We know the sounds of the occasional military helicopter making a night flight. These lights looked like helicopters, but moved too slowly and were completely silent. This is not the first time we have seen lights with no sound.