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This section contains descriptions of unexplained facts provided by eyewitnesses or published in the media, as well as the results of their analysis by the group.

UFO. United States

ID #1622822260
Added Fri, 04/06/2021
Author July N.
Sources
Phenomena
Status
Research

Initial data

Initial information from sources or from an eyewitness
Incident date: 
25.11.2004 23:30
Location: 
Эскондидо, CA
United States

A small orange light flew low over Highway 78 and then south on I-15 (almost overhead), apparently no visible ships. I was on my way home from a Thanksgiving dinner at a friend's family home. This friend was driving the car, and I was sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window and just looking at the passing landscape while we talked. We were driving north on Interstate 15 around 11: 30. 

Shortly before we headed up the hill toward Escondido, California, I noticed an orange light in the sky above the mountains. This caught my attention because the night sky was cloudy, and the clouds were actually quite low. So, I knew that this light must be very close to the earth. I looked at the horizon and quickly tried to determine if what I saw was really on a mountain or on a hillside on the horizon. As cloudy as it was, the light pollution was bright enough to darken the horizon, and I could tell that this light was indeed in the sky. 

Then I tried to check if it was moving. At first I couldn't tell because it was so far away. It might have been stationary, but after a few moments I not only realized that it was moving, but I also realized that it was flying east. It turned out to be over State Highway 78. The light seemed to slow down and grow brighter. It seemed to be picking up speed, but I knew it might have been flying at the same speed, only it seemed faster now because it was actually coming towards us. 

So, in this report, I wouldn't say it changed the speed. I think it stayed pretty constant. As it approached, I looked out the passenger window, since it was now to the right of the highway we were driving on. I noticed something strange. The light did not fly west. I would expect this if it was a plane landing at a local airport. I live in this area and I know that there is a return flight to Palomar Airport. 

Planes sometimes circle the area to take off southwest toward the airport in Carlsbad, California. If the plane was approaching, the light would cut off to the left, and soon I would notice other lights. I should have seen a red or green light, maybe a flashing light. I didn't do it. All I saw was a single orange light. The light was now flying directly south on I-15, near the east side of the highway. 

I watched him first through the right side of the windshield, and then through the passenger window. It wasn't over the highway, but it was close enough to it that in a few moments it should be flying over us directly overhead. 

My next thought was that it must be a police helicopter. I'm used to seeing one red or blue light, but not one orange, so I tried to look at it as it passed overhead to see if I could make out the dark shadow of the ship's shape. As it approached, I could tell that it was flying very low and at a good speed. 

I compared it to traffic coming toward us in oncoming lanes, with all southbound traffic on I-15 on the other side of the central divide. The light seemed to move just as fast, if not a moment faster. So, I'd say somewhere between 60-90 mph. It passed right by us and almost directly over our heads. He drove down the highway a few blocks east of our position. 

With low clouds and enough light pollution from the city of Escondido to make the clouds almost glow, I could make out the indistinct shadow of a ship attached to that light. We were definitely close enough now. I can not. The light was not so bright, but even in its low light… that's all there was to it. It was just a single orange ball of light in the air. 

I glanced over my shoulder as we passed the local ice arena. I couldn't believe what I'd just seen. I should have seen the shape of something, but all I could see was a single orange light. I can't explain how I could say it was low, other than that. There's something about the way you look at an object in the sky, and if the background is moving fast, then you know it's close. If it moves just as slowly or seems to hang in the background, it could be that far away.

This light was moving past us, but the contrast between it and the low clouds above it was sufficient, and I could tell that it was quite low. I suppose… I would say it was only 3-4 times higher than the treetop level. I do not know where he was going, but at that moment we were coming out on 78th, and I could no longer see it behind us, as the landscape soon obscured my line of sight with light. I wonder how many other people could have seen it. I wonder if there was any sound. I was driving on the highway, so I can't find out. 

The trouble was, he didn't really stand out. The light wasn't very bright. It was as bright as you'd expect from a normal navigation light on an airplane. Probably the only reason I saw it was because I'm trying to pay more attention to these things now. I've seen UFOs several times before. 

It wasn't the most impressive, but the fact that it was just a single light with no visible ship was strange enough for me to post this here tonight.

Original news

Date: November 25 2004
Location: Escondido, California
Time: 23:30
Summary: SMALL ORANGE LIGHT – flew low over Hwy 78 and then South along I-15 (nearly overhead) with seemingly no visible craft attacted to it. I was returning home from a Thanksgiving dinner at a friend’s family house. That friend was driving while I rode in the passenger seat, looking out the window and just checking out the passing landscape while we talked. We were northbound on Interstate 15 at about 11:30pm. Just before we headed up the hill towards the city of Escondido, California, I spotted an orange light in the sky above the mountains. The reason it caught my eye is because the night sky was cloudy and the clouds were actually fairly low. So, I knew this light had to be very close to the ground. I looked at the horizon and quickly tried to determine whether or not what I was seeing was actually on a mountain or hillside on the horizon. As cloudy as it was, the light pollution was bright enough to darken the horizon and I could tell that this light was indeed in the sky. Next, I tried to see if it was moving. At first, I couldn’t tell because it was so far away. It could have been stationary, but after a few moments, not only could I tell that it was moving, I could tell that it was flying to the East. It appeared to be over State Highway 78. The light seemed to slow and get brighter. It seemed to pick up speed, but I knew it may have been flying at the same speed, just now it seemed faster because it was actually coming our way. So, for this report, I wouldn’t say it changed speed. I think it stayed pretty constant. As it got closer, I peered out the passenger window, as it was now off to the right side of the highway we were on. I noted something strange. The light wasn’t flying back West. I would have expected that if it were a plane coming in to land at a local airport. I live in this area and I know that there’s a flight path leading back towards Palomar Airport. Planes sometimes circle over this area a take a Southwest bound approach towards the airport in Carlsbad, California. If a plane was making it’s approach, the light should have cut back to the left and soon I should have spotted other lights. I should have seen a red or a green light, maybe a flashing light. I didn’t. All I saw was a single orange light. The light flew directly South along the I-15 now, just off to the Eastern side of the highway. I watched it first out the right side of the windshield, and then out the passenger window. It wasn’t over the highway, but close enough to it that it was about to pass us directly overhead in a few moments. My next thought was that this must be a police helicopter. I’m used to seeing a single red or a blue light, but not just a single orange one, so I tried to peer up at it as it passed overhead to see if I could make out a dark shadow of the craft’s shape. It was also as it approached that I was able to tell that it was flying really low and at a good rate of speed. I compared it to the traffic coming at us in the opposing lanes, all the traffic traveling southbound along the I-15 on the other side of the center divide. The light seemed to be moving just as fast, if not just a tick faster. So, I’d say somewhere between 60-90 mph. It passed right by us and almost directly overhead. It passed a few blocks East of our position on the highway. With the low clouds and enough light pollution from the city of Escondido to make the clouds almost glow, I should have been able to make out a vague shadow of a craft attached to that light. We were definitely close enough now. I could not. The light wasn’t that bright, but even as low as the light was… that’s all that appeared to be there. It was just a single orange ball of light up in the air. I looked back over my shoulder as we passed the local ice arena. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. I should have been able to see the shape of something, but all that I could see was a single orange light. I can’t explain how I was able to tell that it was low, other than this. There’s just something about the way you look at an object in the sky and if the background behind moves fast, then you know it’s close. If it moves as slow or seems to hang with the background, it might be that far away. This light was moving by us, but there was enough of a contrast between it and the low clouds above it that I could tell it was fairly low. My guess… I would say this was just 3 to 4 times above tree top level. I don’t know where it was going, but we were getting onto the 78 at this point and I no longer saw it behind us as the landscape soon obscured my line of sight with the light. I wonder how many other people may have seen it. I wonder if it had sound. I was traveling in a vehicle on the highway, so I have no way of knowing. The trouble is it really didn’t stand out too much. The light wasn’t very bright. It was about as bright as you’d expect for a normal navigation light on a plane. Probably the only reason I saw it was because I try to be more observant of these things now. I’ve already had a couple of UFO sightings before. This wasn’t the most spectacular, but the fact that this was just a single light, with no apparent craft attached to it, was strange enough for me to post this here tonight.
Source: Davenport, Peter

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