SIGHTING: PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"In my front yard checking my security camera. we have the palm springs mountain directly across from our home and often look up at it when the moon is out because of the glow from the moon on the snow i enjoy. what i saw first was a helicopter flying around the top of the mountain by the arial tramway.(we have request reports of missing hikers on the mountain)and when i saw the helicopter shining a spot light on the mountain,i though they were looking for someone,and went inside and got my wife to outside and take a look. i was in the marine corp with a helo squardren as a medic and got to see quite a few different styles of helicopter so i knew what i was looking at, especially after i heard the rotors of the helicopter and the search light. i then went inside and got my field telescope to see what was going on. the helicopter seem very focused on the one particular area but did fly around to different spots. the area they focused on when i zoomed in on the area i saw a large red sphere that remained on. the helicopter never shined the light directly on the object but behind and to the right side of it. i assumed it was a team of people maybe rescue crews looking for others? i made a comment to my wife about how skilled this pilot must have been,i had an outstanding view of the helicopter even at 7 pm in the evening and because it really isn't that far from our home.The pilot remained absolutely still in midair over the object for very long periods of time without moving at all,completely stationary.And that was on the side of the mountain about 10,100 feet up, 400 feet from the very top of the mountain by the tram itself. my wife had a few looks of it too and we still were wondering what on earth was going on up there. i made a few comments as time was going by like how very strange this all was,was this a downed plane? i brought the tripod and telescope closer to end of the property in my front yard to get even closer look and to my absolute astonishment as i was looking at the helicopter shining the spotlight again,this sphere changed different colors first white then light blue then red again and paused changing colors. with my wife right beside me and as i was looking through the scope the red sphere changed shape, flattened like a pancake and from the exact spot it was on flew straight to the right due north with the helicopter observing it,it traveled about a quarter of a mile then stopped changed direction and traveled due south and disappeared out of view. it wasn't flying fast at all more like a controlled glide.It observed flat from the side but as i was able to keep it in view with the telescope i could clearly see 3 lights, 2 brilliant red (like rubies) the front and rear and a smaller white on the side, the object appeared see through and triangular in shape and when observing it,it had a dreamlike quality to it, it was exceptionally beautiful to look at and it never made a sound.As i'm writing this seeing how it happened less than 2 hours ago i'm absolutely amazed at what i saw,my wife got to view this object and the helicopter also but didn't see the object change color or shape as i witnessed. i have mixed feeling,shock comes to mind,i never thought in a million years that the red object that we were observing would actually take flight and fly away. we lost sight of it as it went behind the lower edge of the mountain going south with the helicopter still flying around the top of the mountain by the tram. i wonder now, we're they looking for occupants on the side of the mountain? i will submitted a drawing if asked. an added noted note: palm springs tramway is a very popular attraction during the winter months here. when we were observing the helicopter flying around and then seeing the red sphere the tramway that runs every fifteen minutes with a trolling going up and coming down the mountain,not one cable car came up or down the mountain,chances are for the length of time we were looking we would have seen one of the cable cars or both. also during the entire event through the telescope we saw different (teams?) of people with high powered flashlights trying to get over to where the helicopter was shining the spot light by this object but with the recent snow fall from storms weren't having much luck,or so it seemed. thank you"