SIGHTING: THORNTON, CO

Witness Testimony

"Stationary brilliant light that suddenly rotated and rose rapidly and vanishedI had stepped outside to walk the dog and looked up. Nearly directly overhead was a brilliant light about as bright as an aircraft landing light but with a bluish cast to it similar to the newer driving lights on autos. It was obvious the light was not a stellar object because of the size and color. The size was larger than Venus at its brightest but no more than 1/8th inch in diameter at arms length. The light remained absolutely stationary for about 25 seconds. There was no sound or other identifying marker lights or markings discernable. Suddenly the object rotated in a circular path and appeared to rise rapidly. The circular path would have been approximately the size of a dime at arm's length. The path was only 180 degrees in rotation. At about the 180 degree point of rotation the craft had already vanished down to a pin point and vanished. The rotation maneuver lasted only about 1 to 1.5 seconds. During this maneuver the portion of the light that was originally facing downward was angled as if the craft were banking while rotating and it became apparent that a light shaft was being emitted from that portion of the craft now assumed to be the bottom. The light shaft was approximately 1/4 inch in length at arm's length.The instant the light vanished I grabbed a pair of 7x50 binoculars that were 10 feet away and looked at the area where the light last appeared. Nothing was observed in the area where it was last seen.The sighting took place at approximately 10:30 PM mountain time. The sky at that time was clear with numerous stars visible. No cloud cover was present and visibility could be classesd as unlimited. The only obstruction to view was the ambiant light of the neighborhood (street llights and entry lights on homes). Commercial aircraft were in the air with the closest craft at least 10 miles away. There was no interaction between the aircraft and this object.The observer is a college graduate, former law enforcement officer of 18 years and a licensed general aviation pilot familiar with aircraft and their appearance. An animation of the event has been submitted with this report."