SIGHTING: LONSDALE, ARKANSAS (UNITED STATES)
Witness Testimony
"At approximately 10 p.m. July 2, 2016, I was traveling due west on my motorcycle on highway 70, approximately 1/2 of a mile past the junction of 70 and 128. The night was warm, weather was dry and clear with very good visibility. The road was three lanes wide with approx. forty yards from tree line to tree line. Tree height is 30 to 40 feet. I first noticed flashing lights just entering my view above the tree line to the north of my line of sight. The object appeared to be traveling diagonally across my line of sight to the southwest. It appeared to be at approx. 60 to 70 degrees above the ground. At first I thought it was a low flying small aircraft. However I quickly realized the "navigation lights" were unlike anything I had ever seen on any aircraft. My next thought was that due to its apparent low speed and height (my impression) that it could be a blimp. However it didn't have a traditional navigation light pattern. Here is my description of the object I saw: It had a flashing white light at the back with a second flashing white light slightly below the first. A row of sequentially strobing white light along the (what I took to be) underside with a single red light at the front. Above the bottom lights was a single row of six, square, hard edged "windows" that emitted a bright white light. This all seemed to be attached to a solid structure of a light blue/gray/silver color. I could not see any other hard edges, however I got the impression that the "windows" or "light panels" were attached to a "V" shaped "hull". I could only see the side facing me but it seem that there was a glow from where the other side would be, so one might assume that it was symmetrical. Once or twice when the uppermost rear light flashed, I thought I saw some structure above the light, but I am unsure of that. There were no other lights above the "windows" or anywhere else other than the one I describe. I would like to describe the lights and the order in which they flashed. The first light in the sequence was the uppermost rear white light followed by the lower rear white light (these two were the largest and brightest of the flashing lights). The two rear lights seem to have a longest duration and gap between them. After the lower light flashed, a row of eight to ten, sequentially flashing white light flashed from the rear lower large light to the front (direction of travel). These lights were fast (maybe a half second, rear to front), smaller and less intense than the two rear most lights. At the end of this sequence, at the front most point, the last light to flash was red. After a short (half second) pause, the pattern would repeat. The "windows" or "light panels" maintained a steady bright glow. The light was a very bright white with a blueish tinge. They appeared to be the same size and distance apart, taking up approx. 1/3 of the visible structure.The object stayed in view for approx. one minute before its travel and the height of the surrounding trees blocked my view. The road turned more southerly and I re acquired the object in my view for approx. 10 to 20 seconds and then intermittently through the trees for a short while. It appeared to stay on the same course and height for as long as I had it in my view. If I extended my arm and turned my hand horizontal, I could have covered the object with my thumb, from the tip to midway past the first joint. This is an approximation as I was not able to do this at the time.My only feelings were of curiosity as to what the object was. Some information on myself and that evening. I was clearheaded, I had not consumed any drugs or alcohol. I don't do drugs legal or otherwise (I'm allergic to most narcotic pain killers), I am not on any psychotropic medications (nor do I have reason to believe I should be) and rarely drink. My only thoughts at the time I first saw the object were of getting home and enjoying the ride as the evening cooled off. I live in a relatively high aircraft traffic zone and have seen navigation lights from all angles, heights and on many types of aircraft. I have seen drones of various sizes. I have seen blimps in daytime and I have seen them at night at sporting events, however I have never seen one operating at night in a rural area. The object I saw falls outside of my personal experience, and searching online I was unable to find any aircraft with lights of this type, including blimps and the Virgin lightships. I am a rationalist and a firm believer in Occam's razor. I enjoy debunking other people's misidentifications and wild conclusions. I would be quite happy to have you identify this as a blimp, if, in fact that's what this was."
