SIGHTING: LAKEPORT, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"On 09/02/11, between 2100 hrs. and 2115 hrs., my family and I were sitting in our backyard looking at the stars. It was about a half hour after sunset and it was clear with no clouds. We observed a round, orange colored, bright light traveling in the western sky over the Cow Mt. Wilderness area. It was traveling at a high rate of speed and was moving from the N/W towards the S/E. Even though it was dark where we were, I believe the sun was reflecting off of the object making it a bright orange color. It traveled in a straight line as it continued across the sky. When viewed through high powered binoculars the object appeared to be round. As it continued S/E through the sky it dimmed to a light orange reddish color.The speed of this object was incredible. We lost sight of it as it went behind Mt. Konocti. It's last trajectory was taking in the direction of the Sacramento Valley. We observed it for a total of about 4 minutes.Based on my experience of years of watching the night sky, I have never seen anything like this object before. I have seen thousands of satellites, meteors, etc. in the sky and this object was not a satellite, meteor or plane. The object appeared to be much lower and inside the atmosphere. It made no sound and there were no flashing lights. It left no trail behind it as it traveled through the sky. The object appeared to be holding the same elevation as it crossed the sky.We were able take a picture of it with a cell phone. (See attached photo). No stars are visible in the picture, indicating how bright the object was. "