Location of Sighting: Lakewood, Washington
Date of Sighting: October 14, 2020
Time of Sighting: 8:30 to 8:40 PM PDT
Description: A man went outside to get some air and noticed a Cessna 310 aircraft flying south across American Lake in Lakewood, WA. He was familiar with the sound ot the aircraft. He then noticed some red and white lights over the treeline to the south. Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM) military base is located in the area that he was looking. He said that the lights looked like floating flares. The witness didn’t have a camera with him and didn’t go fetch his camera. The lights started disappearing behind branches. He then walked south to the end of his deck and suddenly the lights appeared very close to him. He thought that they could be around 50 feet away. He then saw that the lights were mounted on a rectangular craft. The craft had 3 white lights stacked on each corner (like a traffic light). Red lights were on the edges and flashed in sequence from front to back. The craft was 6 or 7 feet wide and about 12 feet long. The craft then began moving and was shining lights into the trees. The craft was totally silent. The craft moved like a Star Wars craft. It moved up the hill and out of view to the north. The object was visible for about 5 minutes. The witness called the public affairs officer at JBLM base. They said that they had nothing in the air. The witness also has requested security tape footage from one of his neighbors.
Note: This is really an unusual case and radar data has been requested from the FAA to see if anything unusual was detected. Possible video or photos will be included if the witness is able to obtain it from his neighbor.
Update – October 21, 2020: Witness stated that he has had a headache since his sighting. He feels like his “hair is standing on edge.” He did hear from the neighbor who had the security footage and nothing was detected. However, the security cameras were pointed downward and didn’t catch the sky.
Update – Feb 4, 2021 – Radar Analysis: Data from two radar sites in the Seattle area were looked at. Neither radar tracked the object. However, the small aircraft described by the witness did show up on radar. The aircraft was flying slowly to the southwest at 1,500 feet between 75 and 90 MPH (ground speed).
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