SIGHTING: ARLEE, MT
Witness Testimony
"Orange steady light, white flashing light, silent, moving South above Arlee.While driving home from a trip to Missoula, Myself and two other witnesses observed an object in the sky heading South. The conditions for 8:48 P.M. 03-30-04 were clear and warm. My possition on the ground was 1 mile north and 1 mile West of the town of Arlee. I turned West on the country road towards my house. After taking a turn, the road paralleled Highway 93. I was facing South. To the East at an altitude of approximatly 4000 ft. was an Orange light. It was a dark orange with a flashing white light. At first sighting, it seemed to have an erratic movement. Then it smoothed out and continued South at the same altitude. I stopped the car and told my passengers to look. I rolled down the window and turned the engine off. I wanted to listen for distinct airplane or helicopter sounds. I could not hear any, only the sounds of the dogs in town barking wildly. I asked my passenger to get our new Sony Cybershot digital camera out of the glove box. I fumbled out of the car and tried to take some pictures. The first picture the flash went off. After I turned the flash off, I tried to take a couple more pictures. By then the object had continued heading South, and went beyond the mountains. I got back into the car and proceeded to drive South towards Missoula. I got to the Missoula valley, and searched the sky. I also checked the airport runway. There was an airplane just taking off. There were no recently landed aircraft as far as I could see. I observe aircraft constantly, and am very fimiliar with the lighting and flight paths of air traffic. I am also an amatuer astronomer. My other pictures did not capture the lights."
