SIGHTING: FORT IRWIN, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"I am 50 yr old male retired soldier. I have finnished HS and associates degree in business. I was at National Training Center (NTC) FT Erwin, Cal. Majave desert @ April to July 2002. Myself and one other was alone about a week in desolate position in desert. One night as we lay on our cot out in the open under the bright stars we watched for shooting stars and passing sattelites also iridium flares. It was about ten o'clock PM, we then noticed a light like that of a star. The light was different we both noticed it at the same time. We began talking about it, we even jokingly scoffed that it was a UFO. The light was getting brighter, it was not moving. We had time to discuss what it may be, we had time for discussion the entire event took maybe 7 minutes. The light was getting brighter by the second then suddenly it was so bright I looked at my friend and he looked at me and "IT LIT UP OUR FACES!" We was suddenly shocked, scared even, my adrenaline kicked in. The light then began to dim at about the same rate as it brightened minutes before. I got up when we no longer could see the light at all and went to our radio, I could hear different units reporting to our headquarters about seeing what we saw. We discussed what we seen and both agreed we saw a Super Novea or maybe a beam of light from a Pulsar. My question is did we indeed see a known or undiscovered super novea event? Below is a little more info about our training before we went to Iraq in 2004. The largest movement of military equipment in the state since the Tennessee Maneuvers of World War II began on 26 April 2002 at Fort Campbell, KY. Tennessee's largest National Guard combat force, the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment, undertook it's greatest training challenge on 01 June 2002 at the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California. But first the 5,000 plus members of the Regiment shipped everything from M-1 Abrams tanks and Blackhawk helicopters to individual helmets and computers to this remote training area in southern California. The National Training Center (NTC) is the premier training center for the United States Army. It is located in the heart of the Mohave Desert, and is the most realistic combat training scenario in the world. It's harsh environment and excellent opposing force soldiers test the endurance, knowledge, and resourcefulness of both active duty and reserve component forces. Tennessee's equipment constituted more than 585 rail cars being shipped from 5 different locations beginning on 26 April and continuing during the month of May. I sent this same letter to Cornell university. They wrote back "maybe it was a balloon"! I have spent years thinking about this event also studying astronomy and watching Iridium Flares. This was no flare!"