Exploring a Possible Explanation for an Unusual Sighting in Northern Illinois

[Mallignamius]

I'd really like at the least a possible and rational explanation for what we (my parents and I) saw.

This was about a decade ago, in northern Illinois. About 4:30 AM early January as I was getting ready for work, I saw way off in the distance a light in a trailer park. It changed colors, so I thought it was an ambulance or police car. I'm guessing that the trailer park was about a mile away. The street light at night is pretty much all you can see of it otherwise.

I was concerned because I knew some of the people there, one in particular I commuted to work with each day.

But the light lifted off the ground, and so I thought it was a helicopter. But it then moved erratically, and I mean something crazy. I've seen helicopters lift off several times, but this was wild. And the range of colors wasn't typical from what I've seen.

It moved slowly, eventually coming our way, passing close to our house. That's when we got a good look at it. It was no helicopter. It was a triangle shape, with three lights on the underside, one near each angle. No sound, and it was moving really slow. I've seen helicopters move faster. If it was as high as the regular planes in the sky I would see (about those speeds), then it had to be pretty big. I later saw a news report of people describing the same kind of craft, and the pictures they showed were exactly like what we saw.

About seven months later, one of the women from the park had a spontaneous abortion. And she was seven months into her pregnancy. I'd bet that some people who like the human-alien hybrid theory would eat this right up, but I'll stick to coincidence.

Anyway, does this craft sound even remotely like any plane you can think of? What was up with the movement?

 

[russ_watters]

Could you actually see the triangle shape or just the lights in a traingle pattern?

 

[neutrino]

Something like this?
http://dbarkertv.com/default2.htm

 

[berkeman]

Something like this?
http://dbarkertv.com/default2.htm

Wow, great find, neutrino! That would be the triangle the OP is asking about.

http://dbarkertv.com/UPDATE.htm

 

[Ivan Seeking]

The Illinois sightings are famous in the UFO world as at least one was chased by several police officers.

From the last page of UFO Napster, here is a video about the event.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6483818398061077731&q=UFO

There are many who believe that the military has a stealth blimp and that this is what people are seeing. Similar sightings were made in Belgium inn 1990, and 1991, and on one occasion the craft was chased by military aircrafts. Of course, I don't know how a blimp is supposed to outrun F14s.

What I don't understand is why the military would fly a classified aircraft well within the public's view over major highways and populated areas.

The first sightings of these types of crafts go back to at least the early seventies.

 

[Mallignamius]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_triangle_(UFO)

It's a lot more like this. I should also add that just before it got to our house, it's lights changed to a constant white. No blinking or any other colors. I could see the outline exactly. It didn't look at all like a stealth bomber. It was a perfect triangle.

 

[Mallignamius]

Wow. There it is.

The database-driven study of the Flying Triangle shows the following patterns:

-- Sightings take place near cities and on Interstate highways
-- They are seen at low altitude in plain sight of eyewitnesses
-- They fly at extremely low speed or hover in plain sight of eyewitnesses
-- The vehicles sometime fly with easily noticeable bright lights -- either blinding white lights, or have "bright disco lights" that usually flash combinations of red, green or blue.

http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/flying_triangle_040902.html

It didn't look at all like what is shown at http://www.nidsci.org/articles/8_25trireport.php

Sorry I missed that here. I did go through the posts, but I goofed. I'll blame it on my new glasses.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_triangle_(UFO)

It's a lot more like this. I should also add that just before it got to our house, it's lights changed to a constant white. No blinking or any other colors. I could see the outline exactly. It didn't look at all like a stealth bomber. It was a perfect triangle.

That is a classic rendition of the Belgium sightings.
http://www.cohenufo.org/Belgium/unslvdmyst.html

 

[Mallignamius]

YouTube's http://youtube.com/watch?v=qpGc8w5Wu0Y"
Belgium has it, then.

But there wasn't any light in the center, though that's a bit insignificant. Glad to know I'm not alone.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Here is a video report on the Belgium sightings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsQ6W9eduV8&mode=related&search=

Mallignamius, you might want to consider filing a report with the National UFO Reporting center. The Illinois event is one of the more notable in recent history, and there are a number of groups who would love to get any additional information that you provide - where, when, what, etc.
http://www.ufocenter.com/

If you do file a report, try to provide as many details as possible. You might even get statements from your parents and include those with yours.

 

[Mallignamius]

Okay, will do. Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Btw, I have family in Highland. They didn't see it, but they knew someone who did... or, I think it was the mother of one of the cops involved. Anyway, I had a little fun with this and was teasing them a bit as they are not the UFO types, and they don't know about my UFO hobby, but they immediately got defensive as they believed their friend.

 

[jreelawg]

Can you provide a better description of how the lights appeared throughout the sighting? For example, did they change with movement.

The lights I saw match your description, except, they suddenly appeared right above me and then took off, leading me to think that the lights are an artifact of the propulsion system. and that perhaps this craft had an ability to hover or move silently or very quietly without lights.

My sighting matches so many others, but seams different in that most sightings report very large triangles, while what I saw, I am convinced was much smaller. My first sighting, the lights were brighter, a whiteish blue, and the three lights shot off in a linear direction looking like three shots from a laser weapon from the video game star fox. My second sighting the lights also suddenly appeared in my sight from out of nowhere, but this time not as bright, and it made a drastically sharp turn in which it seamed to bank around a tree and head for the ground.

My guess was that the intensity of the lights could be related to how much they hit the gas so to speak. The first sighting, the lights shot out into space, the second time they headed towards the ground through trees. While the intensity of the light was less for the second sighting, the color of the light and configuration and basic estimated size the same.

The lights you saw, what colors did they change too/from? When you saw it move faster did the intensity of the light change? When it was hovering, what color were the lights?

I'm thinking perhaps what I saw is a newer version of what others I have read saw, and they have figured a way to be black while moving slow.

 

[dlgoff]

Can you provide a better description of how the lights appeared throughout the sighting? For example, did they change with movement.

Looks like Mallignamius last posted Dec 6 '07.

 

[berkeman]

Looks like Mallignamius last posted Dec 6 '07.

Do you think maybe he was abducted?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Do you think maybe he was abducted?

Yep, I've seen it many times: One call to the UFO reporting center, and the next thing you know, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith are knocking at the door. I forgot to mention that part. Whoops!

Yes, that was a joke.

 

[BigFairy]

Ha, well thank you for sharing...