Transparent triangle with bright light follwed by shaft of light to the sky.We were on holiday in the Algarve, Portugal. It was just after 11pm on 2nd June 2004. My wife, me and our three children were walking around the garden at the rented villa when my son and I spotted a very large transparent triangle in the sky. We believe it came from the north and was heading north-west. It appeared to travel in a straight line for 2-3mins with changes in speed. It was totally silent. The triangle was travelling on it's side with the main point facing 9 O'clock. Within the main point was a piercing white circular light. When the triangle faded out of sight to the west, we were drawn to the north again where we saw a huge white shaft of light on the horizon which started from the ground and reached as high as you could see. A friend in Southampton, England confirmed the same sighting by mobile two days later. The locals and radio were talking about the sighting for the next few days. The date and time are accurate. The strange thing is that we saw a fighter jet earlier that afternoon on the same flight path. At all times the skies were crystal clear.