SIGHTING: GILBERT, WV

Witness Testimony

"Sept. 19, 1982 at approximately 7:00pm EST Gilbert, WV 25621 (on Browning Fork Road near Katy Fork) Background information on the observer: I am a private airplane and helicopter pilot. I am a self-educated software engineer, and I now own a software development company based in Austin, Texas, developing high-speed machine vision systems for clients all over the U.S..Description: A formation of 3 lights, appearing in the sky above a ridgeline, with mechanical and precise motion.I was in my backyard after carrying several buckets of coal to the basement for our fireplace. I was looking westward along a mostly flat ridgeline approximately 7 miles away. From the north end of the ridgeline, noticeably well above the ridgeline itself (i.e. in the sky), a single light emerged, moving at a relatively slow speed. Once it had moved along for a few seconds, a 2nd light appeared in trail behind it, emerging from the same location the first one had.The lights continued to move southward, in lock-sync, above the ridge until approximately halfway across. At that point the lights stopped, in a very odd, mechanical fashion (i.e. there was no deceleration, just instantaneous cessation of movement) and immediately a 3rd light appeared from "behind" the southern-most light and stopped at a symmetrical point with the other 2, forming 3 lights in a straight line and spaced equidistant from each other.The lights sat there motionless for approximately 10 seconds. At that point, the new light continued southward, and the original 2 lights retraced their original path northward, and all disappeared behind neighboring hills. The motion again was completely mechanical; instant acceleration and completely synchronized.The lights themselves were single-point white lights, with no other observable characteristics.((personal data deleted))((NUFORC Note: We spoke with this witness via telephone, and he seemed quite sober-minded to us. That fact, combined with his technical background, suggests to us that he probably is an excellent witness. He provides a diagram, which shows the motion of the objects he witnesses. PD))"