Man Spots "V" Shaped Object While Satellite Gazing Through Binoculars

Map of Sighting Location
(Red Star is Witness Location)

Listen to Audio Recording of Witness Report (MP3 - 1.4 MB)

Date of Sighting: October 21, 2005
Time of Sighting: 7:15 PM PDT
Duration of Sighting: 5 Seconds
Date Reported: October 24, 2005
Location of Sighting: Tacoma, Washington 
Latitude:  47.25 Degrees North
Longitude:  122.45 Degrees West
Number of Witnesses: One
Weather: Clear

Description: The witness originally made report via voice-mail recording. I subsequently had a long interview with him later the same day. The witness is a WWII veteran and taught classes in aircraft identification while in the service.  His son is a pilot for a major airline.  Therefore I consider the witness to be a good observer and quite credible.  The witness was outdoors in the early evening looking through his binoculars for satellites.  (He also is a regular viewer of meteors.)  He noticed a "V" shaped object with dim, square, "fuzzy" lights flying silently towards the southwest. The object was only visible for about 5 seconds.  The witness estimated that each "arm" of the "V" contained 6 to 7 lights.  When the object approached the horizon a few lights appeared to move "slightly out of formation."  The witness viewed the object through prismatic Optima Hurricane binoculars (7 X 50). He thought that the object would have been too dim to see with the naked eye, but that the size was about 8 inches from tip to tip (apparent size at arm's length).

Investigator's Notes:  The witness made a very good report and included all relevant details.  He thought that perhaps the "V" could have been geese, but ruled that out because he has sighted flocks of geese and geese move much slower that this object moved.  He lives only about 1.5 miles from McChord Air Force Base (to the southwest ) and around 16 miles to the southwest of Seattle-Tacoma Airport. (See map above.) He said that the object was flying the exact opposite direction as aircraft normally would when approaching Seattle-Tacoma Airport. This is an interesting case and a slight possibility exists that it could be birds, but it has some similarities to thermal images (infrared) taken by another person in the Seattle, Washington area.  Perhaps these objects are only faintly visible at times (through binoculars) and more visible through infrared cameras?  You can see some of the thermal images taken by clicking here.