SIGHTING: LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"I went to camp and explore the lava flows, cinder cones, and volcano remnants in Dona Anna County, New Mexico. (do not attempt to drive through the area without a good 4-wheel drive vehicle or ATV and bring at least 1 gal. of water per person, per day) After spending the night at Aden Crater I went to Demming, NM to get food and water. On Saturday night ( Sunday morning) while camping at Kilbourne's Hole, Dona Anna County, New Mexico, I woke up to nature's call at approx. 1:15am. I have a tent set up in the back of my Jeep for cold nights. I crawled out of the tent, grabbed my cell phone to see the time-1:19 am. The moon was half full 45 deg (approx) and setting to the west. The skies were clear. I decided to light a cigarette and look at the stars. I was camped inside the upper crater on a plateau just on the edge of the South inner rim. For approx. 20 min I observed (commercial aircraft and meteors had been seen earlier in the night) a commercial airliner flying NW to NE. I was facing the crater looking North with my head turned West to see the moon. I turned my head to the North looking at the stars when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a white light to the East just over the top of the crater's outer rim . As I turned to face the light, it grew in an instant to a large, brilliant, hovering orange-red plasma sphere with yellow and white outer plasma ring. The object was approximately 100-150 feet in diameter. The object actually lit up the walls of the crater near me slightly and cast shadows off the crater rim to the East as it's position was over the desert outside of the crater rim overpowering the half full moon to the West. I took a few steps toward my Jeep and stood at the driver's side windshield by the driver side door looking over the roof. The object was approx. half a mile from my location approx. 2-300 ft elevation above the Southeast crater rim. I was dumbfounded (and glad my Jeep was there for cover) as the center two thirds of the object which appeared as a deep red and orange much like hot lava with the outer one third brilliantly "white and shimmering like plasma, began to ascend very slowly ". I observed the object for a few seconds trying to rationalize what I was seeing. I grabbed my iPhone from my back pocket, switched the camera to video and tried to film the object. I hit record, tried to steady my hand on the hard to of the Jeep, however the object started to ascend more quickly. As it ascended, the orange-red center of the sphere shrank and the yellow-white outer rim collapsed around it becoming a bright white spec in an instant. The object shot off at mind-numbing speed up, and to the East away from me.. I was only able to capture the object ascending for a few seconds, and what appeared to be out of the atmosphere. I took a few minutes to get a grip on what I had just observed...looked around to see if it might reappear, however all was quiet as it had been before the observation. I noticed an airliner flying in over the horizon from Southwest, waited for it to get overhead and decided to call it a night.iPhone can't upload drawings/sketches to this web-form.This info with sketches sent to MUFON New Mexico"