SIGHTING: MARIETTA, OH
Witness Testimony
" Defined Bright Glowing Red Orange Sphere or Fireball Seen Traveling (Or Landing?) ESE from Marietta, OHOn the night of Tuesday, Feb. 21st, 2017, about 10:45 P.M. Returning home from work, I saw a defined sphere/globe, bright glowing red orange ball appear apparently out of the cloud cover above (no stars were visible) and then traveling, almost downward, about as fast as a speedy jet liner disappearing over tree covered horizon toward east southeast as I was traveling down Acme Street in Marietta, Ohio.At first, I thought that it might simply be a reflection of a sodium street lamp on Acme Street appearing on my wind screen or one of the large area lights on one of several tall masts near the Interstate 77 interchange with Ohio SR 7/Pike St., only a hundred yards from the opening of Acme Street. (No way one of these disappeared below the horizon, since you drive under them going through the interchange.) However, continuing to observe the light as I traveled toward Pike Street the light continued in a fashion matching the speed of a fast jet plane, low, and eventually disappearing over the horizon. It did not seem to get much smaller than when I first saw it appear. This object did not appear like 'fire' nor did it have a tail of any sort. The object was close enough that my palm on an outstretched arm would have covered it up neatly. The light appeared as a well defined sphere or globe and never changed direction, indeed, almost as if it were coming down instead of going further. This sighting lasted less than two minutes.There is an airport due south of Marietta, OH, across the river in Wood County (Gill-Robb Wilson Air Field/Wood Cty. Airport), where a West Virginia ANG Unit operates. However, this light appeared to go past that direction, and did not appear to have any features matching a plane or helicopter. There were no flashing lights or landing gear lights.I am a casual observer of the sky and have a decent knowledge of what planes look like in the day and night. My son is an amateur astronomer and so some of that knowledge has come in handy knowing the difference of planets, stars, and other common aerial phenomena. This was nothing like I'd ever seen before, as it was cloudy and the ball of light was under the cloud ceiling (which in my sons opinion rules out Jupiter, for instance, which was shining in the east—or a comet or meteor) and to my knowledge, any air craft (or phenomena) I've ever laid eyes upon. "
