FT262

The mystery “well-lit object” seen close to the Moon on 20 January 1980 [FT31:33, 257:80] recalled something I witnessed on the night of 17–18 July 2003. Sometime between midnight and 2am, I observed an orange orb that appeared to be close to the Moon. I determined this by the fact that the edge nearest the Moon was illum­inated by moonlight, which would have been impossible if the object had been closer or more distant in the same line of sight. Over a few minutes, it orbited from the north polar area along the right side (from my perspective) to the equatorial area. I was distracted for a few moments and when I came back the object had gone. I checked the news and Internet the next day, expecting the object to have been seen by sky watchers and astro­nomers, but found nothing.

Another curious aerial observ­ation occurred in the autumn on 1985 while I was stationed at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. In full daylight, my entire platoon witnessed an aerial light phenomenon that I can’t explain. I don’t recall what drew our attention, but we all looked up to see what can best be described as something looking like liquid light. It was as if we were under a sheet of glass as a liquid was poured on it. What we saw was like a puddle expanding in every direction, unevenly, as liquid does.

Has anyone else witnessed phen­omena similar to either of these? Can anyone offer an explanation?

Richard S Corn
Calhoun, Georgia

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