SIGHTING: ARCADIA, IOWA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"I was driving west on a blacktop road about 1/4 mile from Arcadia, in west central IA. It was about 9:30 pm central time. The sky was clear with visible stars and moon. The temperature was probably in the 30's. The moon was west and slightly south of the road. The object caught my attention due to its intense fire-like red/orange color. The upper edge of the object seemed to have a slight, vertical glare of color. My first thought was that something was on fire. I pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine with the window rolled down. The object was slightly south and closer to the ground than the moon, which was a very bright white. I realized that the object was not burning, as the color did not vary or flicker, and the shape of the object remained perfectly circular. I could not judge the height or distance of the object from my position. It appeared to be about the size of a penny held at arm's length.The object was stationary at first sight. After approximately one minute it began to move eastward. I grabbed my camera and took a shot. I checked the shot and noted that the shutter speed was too slow, resulting in a photo with motion blur and light trails. I changed the settings but by this time the object had moved further east and behind some trees, and appeared much smaller. It moved east past the trees and then just vanished. The object made no sound. It moved in a steady direction without changing speed. This was unlike any aircraft I've seen. There were no flashing lights, just a solid orb of color. We have fighter jets flying over from Omaha quite frequently, but they are extremely loud. I felt a great sense of amazement watching the object. I photograph landscapes frequently and am always looking at the sky for good light and clouds, but this was completely different than anything I've ever observed.The first photo shows the position of the object in relation to the moon. The second is an enlarged portion of the first photo showing just the object. All of the light trails are due to the motion of the camera. The object itself had no light trail at all. The color of the object is very accurate when compared to what I saw. I truly regret not getting a better shot."