Location of Sighting: Elk, California
Date of Sighting: December 30, 2021
Time of Sighting: 4:53 PM PST
Description: When the sunsets are nice up here, I take pictures. Typically I take lots of pictures. I was going over the shots this evening and noticed something odd when I scanned over them. A blue object pops up, looks like it had 3, then 5 lights, then disappears. It does movements no plane could do. I will post online.
Additional Information Provided by Witness: The pictures were all were shot within 2 minutes of 4:52-53 PM. I did not see the anomaly when I was taking the photos (typically when I feel it is a nice shot I will take a few, so there was varied time in between shots, we get great sunsets over the Pacific so when they set up nice in the evening, I am out). Just as I was flipping through pictures on the tablet, 2 days later, the movement jumped out. With the backlight from the sunset, any rocket contrails would have stood out. If it was a 2 stage rocket and the cigar in #4 was the first stage, you would have seen the 2nd stage lit in the same frame, but there is none for 2 pictures. And from what I have seen of Vandenburg, with the 2nd stage ignitions, this was nothing like it. If you have an email I can send you files that are not as compressed as the text compression.
Note: The photos have been requested, but we have had no response. If photos are received, the photos will be posted.
Update Jan 3, 2022: Several photos have been received from the witness. Only one of the photos is displayed in this report. One of the optical enlargements prepared by the witness is shown. Originally I thought that the anomaly was a lens flare, but the enlargement suggests that it could possibly be a real object. I can’t rule out a lens flare, but will classify the sighting as unidentified. I don’t see the blue color described by the witness in any of the photos.
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