SIGHTING: WINNIPEG, MANITOBA (CANADA)

Witness Testimony

"I believe that this is the same object witnessed in casefile# 85573 from steinbach, mb. that occurred later in the same evening. hazy oval shape with slight light diffusing from centre. consistent speed/heading. slower than a satellite and faster than a cloud. so,this occurred at approximately 10:25 pm last night (august 1, 2017), from within the city of winnipeg, manitoba. let me first say that i am not one who is inclined to speculate upon these types of things commonly. i am a scientist of sorts within a discipline that is strongly geography based and thus i am used to making similar contextual observations within the natural world. the neighbourhood that i live in is constructed in a proper grid pattern whereby the streets and back lanes run n/s and obviously, the intersecting streets run perpendicular along the e/w axis (this helped me have a good understanding of the objects' course and heading). last night had a very clear sky, no clouds, the stars and planets could be seen with clarity (even within the city and its light pollution), and the moon was very bright as well. of course there was the odd plane in the air (landing or taking off from winnipeg intl airport), as well as the city police singular, low flying helicopter). the odd satellite could be seen as well ( i use the satellite tracking app - so i am always looking at the sky). anyways, a friend and i were in the back lane behind my garage chatting when i noticed what i thought was an odd looking cloud within my peripheral vision. i was facing south and listening to my friends story when i noticed that this hazy, oval-shaped "cloud" thing was moving across the sky to the east (from what i could assume was a west to east heading as i didn't start to notice it until it was almost directly in my line of sight [again, i was facing south]). there were no other clouds in the sky at the time and it was moving at a rate of speed that would be faster than that of a low cloud but slower than that of a satellite; besides which, the altitude, bearing and azimuth of the object meant that it could not be a satellite as it wouldn't have entered into the portion of the sky that produces satellite glint from my point of observation. i figured that whatever it was, it had to be at least several dozen kilometers away to the south of the city, and that therefore the object (or at least its aura/halo?) was quite large. as my friend was speaking and looking at me, he eventually noticed that i kept glancing past him at the sky behind him, (and likely annoyed that i wasn't paying attention to his story) and enquired as to what i was noticing. so i pointed it out to him and we both watched it for several minutes. by this time it was somewhat east of where i first noticed its south position in the sky (away from the bright moon) and its shape and dimensions were beginning to get harder to discern. but he could see it; and we both recognized that there was a very faint and diffused light or glow about it with a slightly brighter center point. as we both work in the same field, we agreed that it was not likely a cloud, nor could it be a plane or a satellite as we are both highly observant of such things and their produced effects upon the sky. it moved, as i stated above, from west to east at a consistent rate of speed on a course with no observable deviation. its visibility however did change. it was much more pronounced when it was within the portion of the horizon closer to the bright moon and as it moved eastward grew more faint. pretty much like you would expect from a cloud. but again, i really do not believe that it was a cloud (nor did my friend) based on its context, observable traits and behaviours. the shape was definitely oval, (and i know that the object seen in casefile#: 85573 - which i believe to be the same event/phenomenon - was thought to have a round shape)or perhaps double convex lenticular. i wondered if it could have been like a spotlight or something similar, but then dismissed the idea as its range of illumination would override that of even a very powerful spotlight. a few years ago i observed and recorded a unique weather/atmospheric phenomenon known as light "pillaring" and was therefore wondering if it could be something similar, but then realized that light pillaring is an optical effect produced by surface lights reflecting upon suspended ice crystals in the low atmosphere. as it is super hot summer here right now (with humidex ratings of 39 degrees celsius) and that there is likely no ice crystals in the air right now. as we watched it kind of fade out, my friend and i concluded our conversation, and he got into his car and drove home while i stayed in my back lane for awhile scanning the se sky and horizon for any further signs of this thing. alas, i did not see it again. again, i am not one for particular flights of fancy. i rely upon my senses and the principles of science to provide me with the empirical data i use to interpret the world around me (this can also be said of my friend). what we observed was unique enough to not only catch and hold our attention, but also warrant our thorough critical assessment. it could possibly be something fairly common to someone like a meteorologist or other type of environmental scientist, but it is something that i noted and believed should be recorded. later on last night, i was google searching if anyone else had noticed something in the sky in manitoba around that time of the night and lo and behold, came across the reported steinbach event (casefile#: 85573). i thought that i should also report on what i saw; if not for scientific reasons, then at least that person would know that somebody else saw something that couldn't be immediately explained. to be straight about it, i am not saying that i thought i saw a spacecraft or some such, just that i observed phenomenon that was unfamiliar to me. thanks for regarding my report. cheers, "