SIGHTING: HELENA, MONTANA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"Sighting occurred on a summer night from my home which is out of town away from city lights, also the home is located with a high (elevation) vantage point allowing clear view of the West, North, and East night sky. Recently, within the last three years I have regularly witnessed strange red and blue flashing spheres in a low hover around the Helena, MT valley horizon line...mostly to the North and West. Many locals who have seen the lights attribute the observances to a local Montana National Guard helicopter unit's night maneuvers. However, I have never seen helicopters hover stationary for so long and certainly have never seen one emit a spiral (spark like) light. The spiral light was like a 4th of July sparkler pinwheel. (Like the kind that is attached to an object like a fence and allowed to spin from the propulsion of the gun powder/sparks)Due to a previous encounter during my lifetime I often observe the night sky. For this reason, and as mentioned I recently noticed the reoccurring lights (the aforementioned objects) and it has become a pass time of mine to look at the horizon late at night to see if the objects are observable. On the night of this sighting there were four other witnesses. I was checking the sky the night the spiral was seen, and several house guests along with two other family members witnessed the object which I had identified in the night sky to the Northwest of our location. From our viewpoint the object pulsated with red and blue lights and was observed for several minutes when two aircraft approached the object's location from the North and East...moving right to left across the sky above the silhouette of the ridge-line of the surrounding mountains. (These craft were assumed to be USAF fighter jets from Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, MT and the planes came specifically from the location of the base; North and East ) When the planes got close (Distance unknown) to the object it emitted a spiraling pinwheel of sparking lights and instantaneously shot straight up in the air. None of the witnesses seem to be able to recall where the airplanes went after the object departed because we were were all enthralled about witnessing the spiral. This is the second direct close UFO observation of my lifetime. My first encounter occurred as a child while traveling on a very isolated Western Montana highway in the early 1970's. During that encounter, a craft traveled over my family's car and a brilliant white light (like none I have ever seen since) lit up our vehicle and and much of the surrounding Forrest. (Like daylight and it was late in the evening) Two of my family members directly witnessed the craft that evening as they gazed upward out of the window of the car in which we were traveling. This sighting was witnessed in the early 1970's, I believe 1973, and was well documented at the time in the region as being seen by many throughout the State of Montana. The craft in that incident was described as very large cigar shaped and traveling from West to East. "