SIGHTING: LINCOLN, NEBRASKA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"First, i have never reported a ufo sighting before, nor have i ever seen what i believed to be a ufo. i am 65 years old and am a retired agricultural scientist. i am not an avid star-gazer but i do enjoy watching the night sky on clear nights. i can identify at least 3 constellations--the big dipper, the small dipper (hard to see anymore), and orion's belt. i took my dog for a potty break out onto our south lawn at 6:05 pm on dec. 28, 2016. i live in a residential neighborhood in which the houses are fairly widely separated. street lights are minimal and there is essentially no vehicle traffic on the street next to my house. stars in the sky were clearly visible. the city lights dim the brightness of the stars mainly looking north from my house but the south sky is quite dark. during the time i viewed the object, the moon was not visible. the sky was mostly clear (many visible stars) with perhaps a few high clouds. there was no wind. i saw the object almost immediately. it was in the southwest sky, probably 25-35 degrees from vertical, and i am guesstimating that it was 1000-2000 feet in elevation. it appeared to be about the size of mid-sized airplane (10-20 passengers). what caught my attention was the motion of the object. i watched it for about 30 seconds and it made no directional movement. it appeared to be mostly hovering, but it frequently made small almost random movements (almost what you would see an airborne gnat do). also, it made no noise. i could not definitely discern the outline of a solid object but i sensed the object was solid and my best guess is that it was oval in shape. the most prominent feature was 2 distinct white lights. i believe there were 2 smaller red lights to the outside of each white light, but they were less distinct. the white lights for the most part were constant in brightness and not noticeably flickering or pulsating. the lights appeared to give off a halo effect and also seemed to produce a slight beam (like headlights). i watched this object for about 10 minutes initially. at one point the lights nearly disappeared. this occurred over a 5-10 second period. it was not a gradual dimming. instead, it looked like a candle that is about to go out because it is running out of fuel (oxygen). but then the lights, when about totally out suddenly came back on. i watched this object for approximately 10 minutes. no one else was outside with me to verify what i saw. i then went inside for 10-15 minutes. when i went back outside the object was still there, except that it appeared 2-3 times farther away, slightly closer to the horizon but in the same direction. the only visible light was what appeared to be a single white light. it was still 3-4 times brighter than any star and also at least 2-4x larger. it was randomly changing in intensity--would almost disappear then appear very bright again. the motion was the same as before. this time i watched the object for another 5 minutes (approx. 6:30 to 6:35) and then went back inside. i went back outside at 7:15 and the object was still where it was at 6:30 and its lights and motion were as before. i went back inside to make this report while the details of what i saw were still fresh in my mind. i am not suggesting this was some type of alien craft. it was not the moon, nor a star, nor a planet. it was not a normal plane or helicopter. i am not sure what it was. i would like to know."