It was after a line of really bad thunderstorms had passed, and the weather report said another front was on its way. (Mid-Michigan, typical summer weather.)
I went outside to scan the sky for tornados (having seen one heading my way in similar weather, which fortunately broke up before getting too close).
While scanning the sky (clear blue sky, with a few "after the storm" type clouds) I saw a black dot on the western horizon, perhaps a quarter or half mile to the north. My first thought was "bird" -- but, it didn't seem to be moving. My second thought was "idiot with kite, sheesh!"
After a few minutes, though, I noticed that it was slowly moving closer to me. Back to "bird?" -- or, "kite, with broken string?"
As it was moving toward the east, it was also moving slightly to the south, and, losing altitude (when first spotted, it was, rough guess, two or three thousand feet up).
By the time it was nearly at my east/west position, it had gotten far enough to the south that it was nearly overhead -- and, only a few hundred feet in altitude.
It was obvious by then that it was neither a kite nor a bird. It was roughly the size of a fighter jet -- black -- silent -- NO engine ports, intakes, propellers, or vertical stabilizers.
It was nearly round -- a rounded triangle shape, with a sharp notch in the rear. It had a small cabin on top.
It was meandering around the sky, it reminded me of a fish slowly swimming -- nose was always pointed in the direction it was moving, but it was moving VERY slow -- not more than perhaps 5MPH or thereabouts. Just wandering around aimlessly -- and, drifting to the east.
It was also rocking from side to side, like a rowboat. (That was why I was able to notice that there was a cabin on top.)
I ran inside, got a spotting scope but, it was so humid outside that the lens immediately fogged up with a thick heavy coat (house had AC running). Wiped it off and it instantly re-coated. Ran back in, got a monocular (half a binocular, that had been converted into a monocular) -- same deal. So, I just kept eyeballing it.
Shortly after it passed my east/west position, the easterly drift picked up speed, and within about thirty seconds it was gone over the eastern horizon.
Fast-forward a few years...
I am in a social setting, having casual conversation with some folks, one of which is a fairly high-ranking officer (I won't mention the branch of military, other than "USA"). I thought, hmm, I wonder if he'd know what it was?
So, I decided to ask. I described what I saw, and asked if he knew what it was.
Now is where it gets interesting. This guy was a bit of an extrovert -- a "life of the party" type guy. Well, he instantly froze in his tracks -- got this really worried look on his face -- and blurted out something like, "I don't know what it is. It's not one of ours. That's all I can tell you." and then silence. Dead silence. Everyone just sat there freaked out, because his reaction was so weird -- so completely out of character for him. It took a while before anyone said anything, and eventually things got back to normal.
Fast forward a day. I am talking with the woman who was his dinner date (she, a licensed psychologist, employed by the government). She tells me that it freaked her out too -- so, after they were alone, she asked him what it was. She thought that without all those other people there, he'd be more open.
She said he went right back into that same routine, clammed up, and refused to discuss it.
So, you tell me.
I don't talk about this too much. I don't like getting ridiculed. But, I know what I saw. Or, rather, I know that I saw "something". It was NOT "a light in the sky" or "the planet Venus" or "a stealth fighter" (one suggestion that someone once offered up as an explanation). Stealth fighters have engines -- and, they need to move to stay airborne!
If you check my posting history, you'll see that I've been here for quite a few years, and that I am not a bullshitter. I'm not making this up. I did see what I described, but I have no idea what it was.
I don’t doubt a word of your reporting.
I think the guy was likely right about perhaps that particular craft not being ours. But we have our own fleets of such craft . . .
Relative said we were taught how to build them by ET’s.
whatever “ET’s” are.
Thanks for the report. I think you once told us that a UFO came and visited you in your garden. Trust you have recovered from the cardiac episode. Around 40 years ago I saw an F-104 (probably) chasing something that made a 90 degree no-radius turn in the sky, clearly visible to me. The intercepter and intercepted were too far away to definitely identify the jet, but a Starfighter would have been the overwhelming choice for that time, place, and mission.
He said he was sitting on his back deck one summer afternoon in Sterling Heights when he spotted a silver thing hovering way up in the sky. He said he must have been watching it for about an hour and he said he experienced a feeling of total calm and relaxation with no other thoughts in his head.
Now here is the kicker, he had no recollection of this occuring until about 3 weeks after the incident when the memory of that event suddenly came back to him..........He said it was as if he were in a hypnotic trance for that hour or so.