SIGHTING: WILLIAMS, CALIFORNIA (UNITED STATES)

Witness Testimony

"I was camping at 'cowboy camp' - blm primitive campground and woke at about 4:00 - 5:00 am. (not unusual for me.) it did not occur to me at the time to look at the clock for an accurate time. i was looking out my rv bedroom window in the direction of sw. clear sky, could see lots of stars - moon had already gone down - so it was nice and dark. i saw only a single flash like an old-style camera flash bulb that lit the atmosphere - and it seemed to originate behind my vantage point - in the nw direction. when i looked in that direction - i saw what looked like a small oval-shaped cloud that was a brilliant red-orange glowing and without distinct edges - but shaped like an oblong oval - proportional estimate was about 8 times the length of its depth. i could not discern distance. i got the sense that what i observed was an atmospheric disturbance at the particle level. there was never a sound. it dissipated in approximately 20 seconds by my best estimate. the glowing 'cloud' was the only thing in the sky. there were no other clouds at all. this was the only thing to observe in the night sky after the moon went down - other than stars. no air traffic that i observed. this blm primitive camping site is near the intersection of hwy 20 that goes from i-5 at williams in northern california. hwy 20 goes west to clear lake. - hwy 16 goes south from hwy 20 and the campground is approximately 1 mile south on hwy 16. there is a rural fire department building closer to the intersection. blm 'cowboy camp' can be found on the recreation.Gov camping reservation web site. i am a 63 year-old male."