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204880 sightings reported...
and growing

Rapid City, SD

Sighted on Sunday 28. July 2002
Reported on
Shape: Light | Duration: appr 5 min
Source:

A single point of light, similar to a satellite, was seen moving erratically across the night sky over the Black Hills of SD.I was enjoying a late evening soak in the hot tub on my deck outdoors with 4 friends. We recalled that it was getting close to time for the Perseids. We saw a few meteors, and continued to look for others. The observers were an adult couple, their teenaged daughter, and two adult females, ranging in age from 14 - 53. All adults are college educated, but not scientists. No alcohol or any other potentially conscious-altering substances had been consumed by any of us, the entire day. We pointed out to each other several moving points of light, at different times, that appeared to be satellites (we see quite a few of those out here). Then one of us spotted what he thought was another satellite. We all looked, and at first it appeared similar to the previous satellites we had seen, ie. a small point of light moving at a constant rate of speed, similar to that of a satellite. But then it began to move erratically instead of following a smooth, straight orb. It zigzaged and curved back on its path, and seemed to slow down and speed up, following the type of non-pattern you might walk if you were looking for something you had dropped in the grass, if you weren't sure where you had dropped it exactly. We discussed it, trying to think of anything that might produce such movement. After meandering about in this fashion for several minutes, the point of light just winked out. Not a gradual trailing off into the distance, but *poof* it was gone, completely. We all saw it... and none of us have never seen anything like it. I would guess the time to have been sometime between 9:45 - 10:15 pm, on July 28, 2002. I would estimate that the temperature was in the mid-to-upper 60s and it was a clear night, with little or no wind, at about 4,000' altitude, outside of Rapid City in a rural area near Spring Canyon, in the Black Hills.((NUFORC Note: The International Space Station passed over Rapid City, SD, on two occasions on July 28. Please see the entries at the URL shown below. http://www.heavens-above.com/passsummary.asp?lat=44.081&lng=-103.231&alt=993&loc=Rapid+City&TZ=MST&satid=25544&Date=37457.75&Mag=PD))

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Top 100 nearest sightings ordered by sighting date (100 miles radius):

Location Sighted on Shape Duration
Location Sighted on Shape Duration
Spearfish, sd 2020-08-07 Unknown 3 minutes
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2020-06-04 Circle 05:00:00
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2019-12-19 Circle 00:10:00
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Newell, South Dakota (United States) 2019-04-23 Bullet, Missile 00:04:10
Custer, South Dakota (United States) 2018-09-04 Saturn-like 02:00:00
Custer, South Dakota (United States) 2018-09-04 Saturn-like 02:00:00
Custer, South Dakota (United States) 2018-07-08 Other
Belle Fourche, South Dakota (United States) 2018-04-30 Other 00:11:00
Newell, South Dakota (United States) 2017-12-13 Circle 00:10:00
Newell, South Dakota (United States) 2017-08-23 Saturn-like 00:06:09
Vale, South Dakota (United States) 2017-06-08 Unknown 00:15:00
Hot Springs, SD 2016-12-10 Circle 8 minutes
Spearfish, SD 2016-11-26 Disk 30 minutes
Sundance, Wyoming (United States) 2016-11-23 Sphere
Sturgis, South Dakota (United States) 2016-11-20 Star-like 01:00:00
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2016-06-16 Fireball Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2016-06-16 Sphere 5 minutes
Box Elder, SD 2016-06-16 Oval 2 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2016-05-23 Circle 5 seconds
Newcastle, Wyoming (United States) 2016-05-19 Circle
Spearfish, South Dakota (United States) 2016-04-12 Chevron Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2016-02-16 Unknown >1 hour
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2016-01-08 Blimp 01:10:30
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2015-12-12 Circle Undisclosed
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2015-12-08 Star-like Undisclosed
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (United States) 2015-10-13 Circle Undisclosed
Deadwood, South Dakota (United States) 2015-06-21 Star-like 00:05:00
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2015-03-29 Boomerang 00:05:00
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota (United States) 2015-03-16 cigar shaped just about two minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-12-17 Unknown 1 hour
Rapid City, SD 2014-09-02 Formation 20 seconds
Spearfish, SD 2014-09-02 Fireball 1-2 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-09-02 Formation 20 seconds
Spearfish, SD 2014-09-02 Fireball 1-2 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-08-16 Light 10 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-08-16 Light 10 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-06-29 Light 15 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2014-06-29 Light 15 minutes
Hill City, South Dakota (United States) 2014-06-20 Sphere Undisclosed
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2014-06-05 Oval 00:00:03
Box Elder, SD 2014-06-05 Light 30 seconds
Rapid City, SD 2014-06-05 Sphere 1 hour 11minutes
Box Elder, SD 2014-06-05 Light 30 seconds
Rapid City, SD 2014-06-05 Sphere 1 hour 11minutes
Spearfish, South Dakota (United States) 2014-04-20 N, A 00:20:00
Rapid City, SD 2013-12-24 Cylinder 40 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2013-11-02 Other 30+ minutes
Blackhawk, South Dakota (United States) 2013-10-22 Boomerang, Chevron, Sphere, Triangle Undisclosed
Spearfish, South Dakota (United States) 2013-10-01 Sphere 00:30:24
Rapid City, SD 2013-09-21 Unknown 30-40 minutes
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2013-07-17 Star-like Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2013-07-17 Light 20 seconds
Summerset, SD 2013-07-04 Light 15 seconds
Black Hawk, SD 2013-07-03 Circle few seconds
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2013-01-29 Other Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2012-12-22 Unknown 3 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2012-12-15 Other 5 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2012-06-09 Changing 2 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2012-04-22 Other 6 OR 7 SECONDS
Rapid City, SD 2012-02-13 Triangle 1 minute
Lead, South Dakota (United States) 2012-02-09 Circle, Oval, Sphere Undisclosed
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2011-12-29 Fireball Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2011-10-26 Triangle 5seconds
Lead, South Dakota (United States) 2011-09-28 Flash, Unknown Undisclosed
Rapid City, SD 2011-08-13 Other 15 seconds
Custer, SD 2011-07-22 Circle 5 Minutes
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2010-07-30 Other Undisclosed
Custer, South Dakota (United States) 2010-07-30 Star-like, Other 00:02:00
Custer, South Dakota (United States) 2010-07-23 Star-like, Unknown 00:05:00
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2010-05-26 Other 00:00:00
Rapid City, SD 2009-08-22 Light 5 mins
Keystone, SD 2009-07-22 Circle 45 sec
Rapid City, SD 2009-05-25 Triangle 30 seconds
Rapid City, SD 2009-05-18 Triangle 4-5 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2009-05-17 Unknown 5 seconds
Rapid City, SD 2009-03-19 Light 20 seconds
Hot Springs, South Dakota (United States) 2009-02-05 Square, Rectagular 11:30:00
Rapid City, SD 2008-10-14 Cigar ongoing
Black Hills, SD 2008-07-15 Unknown approx. 15 min
Rapid City, SD 2007-10-04 Cigar 15 seconds
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2007-08-15 Other Undisclosed
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2007-03-07 Circle, Sphere, Triangle, Other Undisclosed
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2007-01-04 Cylinder 00:02:00
Rapid City, SD 2006-10-30 Triangle 10 seconds
Spearfish, SD 2006-10-29 Chevron 4 - 5 seconds
Deadwood, SD 2006-05-22 Disk instantaneous
Rapid City, South Dakota (United States) 2005-08-20 Sphere Undisclosed
Sturgis, SD 2005-08-10 Flash 3 minutes
Rapid City, SD 2005-04-20 Triangle 1-2 min
Rapid City, SD 2005-02-25 Light 3.0 seconds
Rapid City/ Box Elder, SD 2004-11-15 Triangle 10 Min
Lead, SD 2004-09-12 Flash 30 minutes
Sturgis, SD 2004-06-10 Unknown 15 seconds
Rapid City, SD 2004-03-15 Triangle 8min
Spearfish Canyon, SD 2004-02-24 Circle 15 SECONDS
Summerset, South Dakota (United States) 2003-09-30 Triangle Undisclosed
Rockerville, SD 2003-08-18 Triangle 5 min.
Hot Springs, SD 2003-04-25 Light 30 Min
Spearfish, SD 2002-09-06 Cigar 1-2 minutes