Strange object over Anchorage, AK

Note: The reason I did not immediately post this is I needed a few hours to collect my thoughts before posting. Since I just became a member of this site, I had to convince myself I was not having a hallucination brought on by reading these stories. Now that my thoughts are gathered, I realize what I saw is real and probably military. I have seen all the usual UFO stuff on TV but they do not mention what I am about to describe.

This sighting occurred shortly after 10 am AST (Alaska Standard Time) on Thursday, October 14, 2004. I was in Anchorage at my office in the Midtown area. I stepped outside to get a breath of fresh air and have a cigarette (Yes, I�m one of those evil cigarette smokers. This time of year, the skies in Anchorage are particularly spectacular. Layer after layer of different types of clouds and haze free skies and the snowcapped tops of the mountains veiled in heavy cloud cover.
My job is very stressful and I often spend 15 or 20 minutes just looking at the beautiful skies over Anchorage to relax. Where I was standing, behind me is the Elmendorf Air Force Base, to my left is Merrill Field the worlds largest and busiest small plane airport and to my right is the Ted Stevens International Airport (both passenger and cargo), a floatplane airport and the Kulis Air National Guard Base. There is also a large tract of military land to my left, near the mountains, that has a landing strip according to the maps. From what I have seen in the local paper, this land is also used for training exercises.
Due to the number of towns and villages in Alaska accessible only by plane, aircraft are a way of life here. In a 10 to 15 minute period, it is not unusual to see a dozen or so aircraft fly over town. In fact, a couple of months ago, a small plane landed on its back in a driveway not 100 feet from my desk! While standing having a cigarette and watching the clouds and relaxing I saw something I cannot explain. It was only visible as it came out of the clouds, above the mountaintops, while still in front of the fresh white snow. As it descended below the snow level, it became transparent somehow. Actually, I think it was transparent the entire time. I think what I was seeing was actually the highlights reflected due to how low the sun was and its proximity to the fresh white layer of snow and the sunlight reflected off the bottoms of the clouds. Either way, I got a good clear look at it for 20 to 30 seconds. It moved very slowly, nearly hovering. It remained level as it descended and was coming down over the military land near the mountains I mentioned earlier. I watched for about ten additional minutes to see if it emerged somewhere else in the sky but saw nothing. The description of the craft is as follows:
� Shaped like a pen and in similar proportions as to length vs. width.
� Rounded or blunt at both ends.
� Smooth glassy surface.
� 2.5 to 3 times the length of a large commercial aircraft but much narrower proportionally.
� It was not illuminated but very reflective
� No evidence of any wings, tail or anything else protruding from the object.
� Either transparent or adopted the color of the background.
I am positive about the length as I have watched hundreds, if not thousands, of large aircraft from the same distance. The distance was easy to judge as it was directly in front of a nearby mountain peak. In fact if it were not for the length I would not have noticed it.
Has anyone else seen one of these? Is anyone aware of anything military fitting this description?
Because I am in Anchorage and work long hours, I post at odd hours for people in other areas. To have an ongoing conversation on these boards is often difficult and spans days. I will be watching this thread but may not always answer right away. I will respond to any questions within a day or two, so please have patience.

Thanks in advance for any answers, comments or questions 


(Edit to remove caps from title)



[edit on 14-10-2004 by pantha]

This is a very interesting sighting, good description. Any chance you could have a camera ready if you see it again? Also, did it make any sound?

This reminds me of the infamous cigar shaped UFOs. Also my thought is if this craft was �somehow transparent� for a time it could have been proportionally different than what you saw because of its effect on the light. Cloaking technology, or a side effect from the propulsion system?

Nice sighting and explanation.

Cigar shaped ufo sprang to mind also, and Andromeda came to mind aswell.

This is another witness account

www.caus.org...

This is a good sighting with pictures

www.ufoevidence.org...

This is andromeda plan..



Andromeda plan.
The Andromeda was a craft with a diameter of 139m that was meant to transport troops, up to 5 saucers, and equipment. Could this plan have been used to create the cigar shaped ufos we see in the skies today?

Hope this helps a little.

YOu don't suppose it might have been a weather balloon do you?

Seth76,
Yes, I now have a camera and a long lens in my desk drawer. It was to far away to hear anything over the traffic noise.

Markjaxson,
The cigar shape fits, only much longer proportionally than the drawing. It occurred to me that I might also have been looking at just the edge. Thank you for the links.

Sensfan,
A weather ballon 3 times the length of a 747? No, I do not think so. At this point I�m open to any explanation though.

To all,
I am learning graphics arts and have some great software. This weekend, as I can find time, I will do a graphic of what I saw. With the software I have, I can come pretty close to photorealism. I have already downloaded the digital elevation map for the mountains so it will be as accurate as possible. I may also be able to come up with a close approximation of the length.
One of the things that stuck with me is the way it moved. Not at all like a conventional aircraft (or a balloon).


[edit on 15-10-2004 by Blaine91555]

I'm looking forward to what you can come up with with your software Blaine.

I'll stay tuned.

I ended up having to work most of the weekend. With Christmas coming, I need every penny I can get. I'll post the picture tonight or early tommorrow. Sorry for the delay

[edit on 20-10-2004 by Blaine91555]
This is pretty close to what I saw. It became visible as it came out of the clouds and remained visible until it dropped below the snow line. Then it blended in with the darker background. I would guess its length as 1.5 to 2 times the length of large passenger jets when they pass at about the same distance from me.

[edit on 20-10-2004 by Blaine91555]
I should have mentioned it remained level as it came down and followed the contour of the landscape. It did not reappear, so I believe it must have landed on some military land below where it first appeared.

[edit on 20-10-2004 by Blaine91555]

That pretty much fits the andromedia cigar shaped UFO i posted.

Dont forget the plan that i posted was from many many years ago so it could have easily been upgraded/changed etc.

If i saw what you have designed i would be kicking myself that i didnt get a picture of it, but i guess the chances of anyone carrying a camera on them when something like this happens is next to nothing.

Also what graphics program are you using?

Max 3D Studio,Lightwave,Maya, Cinema 4D?

I like the rendering so just wanted to know what you use?

Hi Markjaxson, autentic plan --- but how you find that ? And when ?

regards chapo

I think he may have seen a mirage between the ice/snow reflection. They are not uncommon.


Blaine91555,

Is that actually the view out of your window as you claim as rendered?

Since you now have a camera handy will you please post an image of this view from your office window.

Thanks.

I agree that the shape fits the cigar shaped drawing but I still wonder if I could have been seeing only the edge.
The image was rendered in Vue Pro. I could have done a lot better job with the texture, but photorealistic procedural textures require lots of time that I do not currently have. I also use Lightwave and Bryce5. Bryce still gives the best results regardless of its age and low price. The mountains are .dem files I downloaded from the USGS site. They are the exact mountains I was viewing but the .dem files were 1/24,000 and don't show much detail. Mainly I was trying to show what the object looked like. To get it to match my memory I had to give it about 20% opacity the color of the background. The refraction index is similar to that of a diamond, which literally brings the background to the front of the object.
I'll bring a digital camera with me tomorrow and try to get a shot. Although I'm not sure what that will accomplish? It may take a day or three. Its already Winter here and the mountaintops are rarely visible. We are completely socked in today. I was standing outside in front of my building when I viewed the object.
Optical illusions are quite common here due to all the ice crystals in the air but they do not move and I have never seen one that was not over the water. The illusions also never have a distinct shape or edge. This object was clearly defined. This thing followed the contours of the land and was headed for specific destination. It was just too long to be any type of plane I�ve ever seen. I watched a large cargo jet (747) pass by the same mountains yesterday and I would guess this object was half again as long.

evecasino,
The image is a representation of a close up look at the part of the mountains the object passed over (not the entire view). While standing in front of my office, in fact from nearly anywhere in Anchorage, these mountains are visible as Anchorage sits at their feet.


[edit on 21-10-2004 by Blaine91555]

Originally posted by Blaine91555
Its already Winter here and the mountaintops are rarely visible. We are completely socked in today..


[edit on 21-10-2004 by Blaine91555]

Socked in? You make it sound as if you guys are under 10 feet of snow.

www.anchoragecam.com...


Looks pretty good there to me today. And the only reason I asked you to take a picture was because you said you keep a camera in the draw now.

evecasino,

I was referring to yesterday. Socked in's a term I picked up while living in the Seattle, Washington area. It basically means a low visibility. The mountains were not visible most of yesterday. Today is a whole other story. Contrary to the weather dudes prediction of snow, its a beautiful sunny day. As promised I took a picture for you. I shot it from in front of my office this morning. It was shot with the digital equivalent of a 360mm lens. I decided against a wide angle shot as I really don't want any unwanted visitors dropping by.

As you can see, I got the vertical dimension of the elevation map wrong (I never claimed to be a cartographer). However, the model is the same mountain with less detail. The free .dem's USGS puts out are low quality. I was more concerned with getting the appearance of the object close to what I saw. I placed a model of the object in the photo to give an idea of its size. Of course its a "best guess". I also placed a 747 model above it for scale. Again, a "best guess" based on watching other planes fly by. (I ended a sentence with a preposition � so sue me)

If anyone has seen something like this, I would sure like to hear from you.