SIGHTING: WINNIPEG, MANITOBA (CANADA)

Witness Testimony

"I was at my workplace looking through the open shipping door at just before 1:30 am (i checked my watch after and it said 1:30 am). i saw an orange light to the southeast and it appeared to be heading towards the airport which is roughly west of my workplace. i assumed it was an aircraft heading towards the airport as i see these occasionally at night all the time, especially the police helicopter. the size of the light was roughly normal for the front light of an aircraft, maybe slightly larger, if it were flying low on approach to the airport. i thought it was unusual due to the color as usually the front light of the helicopter and other aircraft is white. the light flew directly 'towards me', passing directly overhead in a straight line roughly se-nw. at no point did i see any other light than the orange light which i felt was odd as normal aircraft have red and green lights. the light remained consistently shaped and bright throughout the encounter which i also felt was odd afterward as if it was 'in front' of an aircraft it should have gotten dimmer or changed shape after passing overhead. as the light got close to being overhead i went outside into the parking lot to try to continue observing it. i saw it pass directly over the building. when it was overhead i could see what almost looked like a 'shock wave' directly in front of the light. the light moved past the roof line of the building so i moved further out into the parking lot to try to regain sight of it. i did not see it again. all together i'd estimate i saw the light for one or two minutes. the light moved in a straight line from when i first observed it to when i lost sight of it with no variation. the speed was pretty similar to a conventional aircraft coming in to the airport. the sky was pretty clear with only a few clouds at the time. there was a slight breeze but i don't know the direction. although i'm assuming this is some kind of conventional aircraft that i'm unfamiliar with (due to our proximity to the airport) i felt that what i saw was odd enough to write down my observations at the time to make a submission later. the things i found odd were the color of the light (light orange, similar to an incandescent light bulb), no other lights (other aircraft i've seen have always had red and green lights), no sound during the encounter (at the altitude i assumed it was at i would have heard an airplane or helicopter engine, even with the factory noise), and i did not see a conventional 'aircraft' shape at any point (even at night when a helicopter or airplane flies overhead you can see the shape of it). i felt the light was moving too slow to be a meteor or other such phenomenon. the light moved in too deliberate and direct a path to be a balloon, bird, or firework. i've worked at night at this location for many years and have never seen anything like this before. i live in the area and am out frequently at night--i'm fairly familiar with the appearance of aircraft at night time coming in to the airport, though i am not an expert by any means. i assume this has a normal explanation but what i saw felt strange enough to me that i felt i should write down the details so i could transcribe it as accurately as i could immediately after the event. "