SIGHTING: FREDERICK, MARYLAND (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"Sitting in my apartment i just happened to look outside to enjoy the day when i noticed a dark, round, object flying overhead. at first it looked like a child's party balloon - the aluminum foil type - since it seemed to be reflecting the sun's light. it was that bright reflection that caught my eye. it would be dark, then a few seconds later it would be bright as a reflection. i was about to pay it no mind, when i noticed that the reflection was a rhythmic flashing. every few seconds, this object flashed a very bright light. that made me very curious, i have seen many aircraft in my time, though i don't profess to be an expert, and i had not seen an aircraft with such a bright strobe light. it was traveling a decent speed, no faster than a standard aircraft or helicopter (and indeed it could very well have been one), but again i have never seen such bright flashes of light on an aircraft, especially in the daytime. the object did not reflect the sun, the only light was from the flashing lights. it was flying normal and level until it was almost out of sight - but then it changed direction (more eastwardly or perhaps northeasterly) and quickly climbed in altitude. all the while to object flashed very brightly (which seemed odd to me since a change in direction can sometimes block a right or way light, or strobe or navigation light on an aircraft). this object had a uniformly bright flashing light. it continued to climb to what i can only imagine was a very high altitude (perhaps between 10,000 to 15,000 feet, maybe higher - it seemed to be on the level of the commercial airliners that flew through the area after the object vanished.) but i couldn't tell just how high since i really had no way of knowing how large the object was. the object hovered stationary in the high altitude position for several minutes, flashing brightly every few seconds. it was certainly above the high cloud cover as it was becoming obscured at moments, but i could still make out the bright flashing. and then, as the clouds passed, the flashing stopped and the object seemed to be gone. minutes later, commercial aircraft were flying northeast to southwest in that same patch of sky. they were clearly creating contrails and were also not reflecting any sunlight. it could very well have been a helicopter or military aircraft, but it struck me as odd enough to warrant creating a report. the sky was clear, with light high clouds, and sunny!"