SIGHTING: CLARKSTON, WA

Witness Testimony

"Red/Orange fireball-type light moves east, then west, then ascends and dims out.On December 31, 2013 at 19:01 local time, while walking to my car from a retail parking lot, I observed in the sky a red/orange light in the sky. The object appeared to be approximately five to six thousand feet in altitude and four to five miles west-southwest of downtown Clarkston, Washington. The object appeared to flicker a bit during the nine minute observation of the object before it finally dimmed out completely. At the object’s brightest (when I first observed it), it appeared to be about the intensity of the planet, Venus, shortly after sunset. The object appeared to travel east, then reverse direction and ascend slightly before dimming out to the point where it was no longer visible. It dimmed out completely at 19:01.This object was most definitely not an aircraft of any sort. The object did not have a rotating beacon, strobes, or any other position (navigation) lights required for nighttime flight. I am a commercial pilot with single engine and multi-engine ratings, as well as an FAA certificated flight instructor, so I’m very familiar with what aircraft of all sorts look like in both daytime and nighttime flight.((NUFORC Note: Witness elects to remain totally anonymous; provides no contact information. PD)) "