SIGHTING: DUBAI, DUBAI (UNITED ARAB EMIRATES)

Witness Testimony

"At around 10pm on night of 11 April 2010 we left our villa to take our dog for a walk to the vacant lot at the end of our street, I was accompanied by my wife, youngest son (aged 9 yrs) and the dog. It was a warm Dubai spring evening, temp about 25C, with clear skies and stars visible, visibility was greater than 10 km. We reached the vacant lot and released the dog. As we were looking over Al Wasl Road towards the Arabian Gulf and the Burj Al Arab Hotel, we noticed a bright orange light out over the Gulf which was traveling towards the coast / Dubai at a medium speed. The light was small and spherical / star like, orange coloured and had the look, luminosity and intensity of the Sodium Vapour street lamps they have along the main roads here. The object���s speed was difficult to estimate, somewhere between that of the fast corporate helicopters that regularly fly up and down the coast and the approach speed of a jet airliner on descent into Dubai International Airport. In elevation it appeared to be approximately level with the top of the Burj al Arab.The light increased in size, colour and intensity as it flew towards the coast until it resembled airliner approach lights seen at a distance, appearing to maintain its altitude / elevation. We observed it for a couple of minutes and l remarked to the others that an orange light was not usual for an aircraft, but that it was probably a helicopter or airliner and would resolve itself into white landing, red and green navigation lights of an aircraft as it got closer. My wife turned and walked home. My son and I continued watching the light for another minute or so as it flew obliquely towards us. The light maintained its altitude and colour, crossing the coast slightly to our north and passing abeam us as it flew towards the Dubai CBD at a medium altitude (estimate 2-3000 feet) in the direction of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at 818 metres high. The orange light was clearly visible over the glow from the lights of the city and I said to my son that it was unusual that we still couldn���t see any navigation lights, which we should have done if it was an airliner or a helicopter. As we continued watching, the object approached the vicinity of the Burj Khalifa (approximately 5km way from our location) and climbed vertically, accelerating out of sight at great speed and disappearing amongst the stars in seconds. The rate of climb was phenomenal. The light grew fainter as it climbed indicating that it was of constant size / intensity. There was no noise. We both saw the object climb of sight and discussed what we had seen, I told my son that we may have seen a UFO and explained my rationale. He was excited and just as amazed as I was. We called our dog, put him back onto his leash and walked home to tell my wife who had seen the orange light when it was over the sea.As a former military pilot, aircraft and weapons enthusiast, I can state that the object / phenomenon we observed was no ordinary aircraft (civil or military), or routine atmospheric condition. The light remained a constant orange colour and intensity when observed from all aspects front, side and beneath as it climbed. The object���s motion and flight appeared controlled and it���s climb rate exceeded that of a supersonic fighter, yet there was no noise. No known conventional aircraft could have accelerated and climbed vertically at that speed without breaking the sound barrier in the climb, the sonic boom would have been heard from the ground. A few days later I ran into a neighbour who is a senior meteorologist at Dubai International Airport and asked him whether anything unusual aerial phenomenon had been reported or tracked on radar, that night. He told me that he was not aware of anything unusual being reported. We experienced no ill effects from the sighting and noticed no unusual behaviour or reaction from the dog. "