bright spherical object above Snake RiverMy friend and I were on a fishing trip on the Snake River from the Oregon side. We boated upriver about 10 miles till it grew dark and we found a spot to build a fire and sleep in our sleeping bags. We made a nice fire, ate a little, and sat back to relax. We were situated in a canyon about 100 feet deep, but I could see miles upriver. It was a moonless night with many stars. I noticed a movement and looked there to see a spherical object which was incredibly bright, yet cast no light (which bothered me constantly even years later) that was slowly rising vertically over the edge of the canyon maybe 1/2 mile away. Once above the canyon edge, I saw that it was bright white, round with rows of lights that rotated around it that were white also.I said to my buddy, hey do you see that and he looked and saw it too. Just then it started coming what we both thought as straight at us real fast. Even now my hair stands up. I said I'm grabbing the machete and he said I got the rifle. We were both scared and went into survival mode. Right as I said Im gonna take them out with me. It stopped. Stood still. It reversed the course and floated below the hill just where it rose up. We then heard what we thought were dozens of coyotes howling very close by. We were nervous and went out with torches to gather wood for almost an hour. We made the HUGEST bonfire you could imagine and talked like nuts about how scared we were. My next memory was waking up completely zipped up in the sleeping bag and covered with about 8 to 12 inches of ash. Neither my friend or I remember laying down or even wanting to as were so scared. We left right away that morning. By the way, I'm a decorated 2 tour Vietnam Army Ranger. Didn't think I could get scared again.((NUFORC Note: Witness indicates that the date of the incident is approximate. PD))