SIGHTING: CARDWELL, MISSOURI (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"My other witness and I were walking north, when something caught my eye to my left. The night was clear, and there was a crescent moon in the west. We were surprised to see a group of 5 lights about the size of Venus when at its brightest, but not as bright as the planet,seemed somewhat orb-like and they were all of a similar reddish/orange tint. They were all in an irregular spacing, both vertically and horizontally,that is, some were somewhat higher or lower than the others, and some nearer or farther horizontally than the others. They were all travelling in a straight-line course, apparently due South. I would say they were a bit lower than the moon, perhaps 25 or 30 degrees above the horizon. They were all moving at the same speed, and never varied in speed or movement. We noted the time to be 7:25 P.M. CDT. After a couple of minutes,they were mostly lost from view behind trees to the south,then a group of three more similar lights followed, in the exact same way. Finally, two more followed, the same as the others, except these two appeared noticeably larger than the others. We thought at first they might be helicopters; but the lights appeared the wrong color and there were no flashing strobes, etc. Also, there was absolutely no sound that we could detect. The episode lasted just about 5 minutes, until we lost sight of them behind trees to the southwest. There was no way I could judge the distance nor the size of the lights/objects. Their consistent speed and straight line of motion gave the impression that they were moving deliberately, not at random; but I have no idea of what they could have been; just that I've never observed anything quite like them. "