Woman Sees Descending Light Immediately Before Sunrise
- Seattle, Washington -
 October 14, 2004 

Sketch of Light Drawn by Witness

Date: October 14, 2004
Date Reported: October 15, 2004
Time: 7:00 to 7:20 AM P.D.T.
Location: Seattle, Washington (On I-5 Near SR 520 Tunnel)
Number of Witnesses: One
Weather: Clear With Areas of Ground Fog

Description: A woman was riding a bus to work and noticed a very bright light in the shape of a "teardrop."  The light was moving southward and was visible to the east.  At the time the bus was traveling southbound on I-5.  The witness said that the light was not a reflection because it would disappear behind tall objects such as trees and lamp posts.  (The light was quite low on the horizon.)  The woman was not able to get the attention of other bus riders while she observed the object.  She had the object in sight for entire portion of her ride southbound on I-5.  She lost sight of the light when the bus turned eastward into the SR 520 tunnel. Her observation was that the light was moving very slowly.  The witness said that the light had the width of a full moon and was about "1/4 full moon" in length.  She compared the shape of the light to a comet (pointed tail).  The light was bright white and was not strobing or blinking.

Investigator Notes: My initial impression was that this light could be a meteor, but it seemed to be moving too slow to be a meteor.  Another possibility would be that the light could be space junk, but again this explanation is weak because of the slow movement of the light.  Repeated attempts to contact North American Defense Command (NORAD) regarding records of space junk have failed. (Apparently NORAD is preoccupied in executing exercises.)

Further investigation has revealed that the light could be the planet Venus.  Venus was very bright (magnitude -4.1) and was visible low on horizon to the ENE at the time that the witness saw the light.  Sunrise on this date was at 7:27 am P.D.T. which means that Venus would have been visible.  These facts coupled with the fact that some ground fog was present and a steep temperature inversion existed could cause the planet to become distorted and larger (especially when the planet is low on the horizon).  (Weather records were obtained from archives maintained by the University of Washington and University of Wyoming.) Also the fact that the witness saw the light moving southward with the bus would suggest that she was viewing a stationary object. A check of major astronomical websites has not revealed any meteors at the time of the sighting.  

Bottom Line: I believe that the witness saw the planet Venus which was distorted by ground fog and a temperature inversion.