SIGHTING: CARRICKMACROSS, COUNTY MONAGHAN (IRELAND)

Witness Testimony

"I live in the north east of ireland. in october 1996 walking home at 1am i noticed what looked like a very bright star in the distance and to the east, it was so bright i began to think it might be a search light on a helicopter although it didn't appear to emit a beam, after a few moments i was unsure but felt it might be two seperate lights and decided it must be a helicopter in the distance and continued home. at 1.30am i went outside to put rubbish in a bin and saw an object almost directly overhead. i couldn't make out a shape to the object but there were four rectangular white lights in the shape of a diamond and a green light in the centre. i am guessing it was at an altitude of 1000 to 1500 feet and if so then it was probably bigger in length and width than a jumbo jet and the lights were each as big as a bus. it was silent and moving north west at about 5mph. i watched it travel about 300 metres and it appeared to stop, it didn't turn but started to move back toward me and retraced its path. i observed it for 30 minutes as it slowly moved back to the original position i had first observed it at 1am, this is how i determined it was the same object i had originally seen. my estimate of it's altitude is based in part on the fact i had to move more than once to keep it in sight because the terrain and buildings meant i couldn't keep it in view from one spot. i was now observing exactly what i had been observing at 1am and at this moment a young woman who lives nearby came along and i pointed it out to her, she told me that she and some friends had observed the same thing a week earlier doing exactly the same thing."