On Saturday, August 2, 2003, I received an e-mail from a southern Illinois resident (who currently wishes to remain anonymous) who reported that he had witnessed an unidentified flying object during the month of February or March of the year 2000. The witness's home is situated between Waterloo and Millstadt, Illinois, in a rural setting. At the time of the sighting, his home was one of the only homes in the area, surrounded by open fields and patches of forest.
Reference Illustrations
The UFO approaches from the south of witness over trees. Object is positioned directly over treeline about to move over open lot. (reconstruction)
At approximately 8:30pm to 9:00pm, the witness observed what initially appeared to be three bright, white lights in a row, in the sky over a nearby wooded area to the south of his home. As the object moved toward the witness, it became clear that the aircraft displayed one light at the apparent nose of the craft and one light each on what appeared to be wingtips, the three lights forming a triangle pattern.
Witness's stick model showing light configuration.
The size of the aircraft was described by the witness to be larger than a 747 and possibly as large as a C5 Galaxy (222.8 feet wingspan). The witness observed the aircraft's altitude to be just over the treetops, which would estimate the UFO at an altitude of less than 200 feet.
The UFO moved northward at an approximated 30mph and passed directly over the witness and his home. As the aircraft approached, no sound could be heard. As it passed directly overhead, only a slight hissing or low rumbling sound, likened to that of a gas grill in operation, could be heard by the witness. Also, as the craft moved past, a series of vertical lights could be seen on what the witness described as possibly a vertical stabilizer at what could have been the rear of the object.
Witness points to 7 or 8 smaller lights on vertical at rear.
The witness defined a remarkable moment of the observation when the craft moved away from him and over an adjacent field only a few hundred feet to the north. The craft suddenly revealed a diamond-shaped path of light which connected the "nose" light, the "wingtip" lights and what appeared to be a fourth point of mass, which could have implied that the true shape of the craft was a diamond or that the end of a fuselage provided the fourth point. The light 'beams" were likened to a bluish-white neon tube, which connected the dots. The diamond-shaped light source was illuminated only for the time that a firefly lights it's tail and it did not illuminate again before it disappeared over the trees to the north toward Millstadt.
As the UFO departs, a diamond-shaped light configuration is displayed. (Reconstruction)
The witness remarked that the sound heard from the craft was not consistent with its size. The witness felt that the object was not a lighter-than-air vehicle and commented that if the object had dropped to the ground, it would have crushed him and his entire house. He felt that the object possessed considerable mass and was able to observe what appeared to be a rectangular shape on the undersurface, likened to a bombay. Scott Air Force Base is approximately 20+ miles from the witness's home, to the northeast. The witness stated that the object was so low that he could have hit it with a marble from a slingshot.
An interview clip is available in Windows Media here: Waterloo Area UFO Audio Clip
