Red/Blue Flashing Lights Sighted East of Oak Harbor, WA (Jun 11, 2004)

Drawing Depicting Lights Sighted Near Oak Harbor, WA
(As Seen Through Binoculars)

Date: June 11, 2004
Time: 10:30 to 11:00 PM P.D.T.
Location: About 5 miles East of Oak Harbor, WA (Along Water)
Latitude: 48.286646 Degrees North
Longitude: 122.62394 Degrees West
Weather: Mostly Cloudy Skies (No precipitation)
Number of Witnesses: Two (Daughter and mother)

Description: A mother and her adult daughter were visiting at a location about 5 miles east of Oak Harbor, WA.  The house that they were visiting was located on a cliff and along the water.  (Oak Harbor is located on the North side of Whidbey Island which lies about 50 miles north-northwest of Seattle, WA.)  Whidbey Island Naval Air Station is located in the Oak Harbor area.  Therefore the sighting occurred on the northeast portion of Whidbey Island.  While outside the daughter noticed a light that appeared to be moving away from her location towards the north.  She said that the light was not a jet and was about 4 times larger than a jet.  (She was quite familiar with jets because of the close proximity to the naval air station.)  The light was about 1/4 the size of a full moon.  The daughter immediately called for her mother and she also grabbed a pair of binoculars.  Through binoculars the single lightbecame an array of blue and red flashing lights in an oval shape (see above drawing).  She detected no lateral movement, but a movement away from her position (to the north).  She could see the Northern Lights Casino and a local oil refinery in the background.  The lights slowly moved towards the north and disappeared low in the horizon.  No sound was heard during the sighting.

Investigative Notes:  I learned of this sighting through a friend who knows one of the witnesses (daughter).  I phoned the witness about a week after the sighting.  I interviewed the daughter first and then the mother.  Their stories were almost the same with a few minor variations.  The mother only saw the lights with the naked eye so she didn't see the vast array of lights that were visible through the binoculars.  The mother conjectured that the lights could have disappeared behind a cloud.  (This differs somewhat from the daughter's story in that she said that the lights just disappeared.)  The daughter also said that she did not believe in UFOS. 

Summary/Conclusion:  Their are several discrepancies with this sighting.  First neither witness is 100% sure of the date.  They know that it occurred on a Friday night and were reasonably certain that it occurred on June 11, 2004.  They both said that they could see stars and that the sky was clear.  This does not jive with weather observations from Whidbey Island Naval air station and other weather stations on the evening of June 11.  Skies were cloudy to mostly cloudy at all locations. I also was not able to determine what resulted in the witness noticing the lights.  (She was excited enough about the sighting to awaken her mother who was sleeping at the time.) 

Bottom Line: Indeterminate due to lack of information.  The witness testimony is inconsistent with other facts (e.g. weather data differs from what witnesses observed and the date is somewhat indeterminate).  Therefore no valid conclusion can be reached regarding this sighting unless more data and witnesses are available.