Description

On the wave of new information, reading this subreddit, I decided to share my observation from fifteen years ago. All that is described below is the translation of the document that I prepared just after the observation, so the descriptions presented in it were written "fresh" and are not my present, inaccurate memories.

Observation information

Date and time: Friday, July 28, 2006. 22:30 Central European Summer Time (CEST) and 22:45 (CEST).

Observers: four men.

Observation site: approximately 50 km west of Kraków. The observers were between two apartment buildings (about 25 meters apart), exactly half their length.

Weather: During the observation the cloudiness was negligible or zero, not disturbing the observation in any way. Vertical atmosphere transparency good, visible outlines of the milky way. Windless weather. There was no precipitation, the temperature was around 20-25°C.

General course of events

For several dozen minutes, together with my friends, I have been observing the sky in the district where we live. At 22:30 I noticed a large, triangular object above the building. The flight took about 3 seconds, the object flew across the sky between two buildings, from north to south, so we quickly lost sight of it. After observing the first object, we decided to continue observing the sky with the hope of another flyby. At 22:45, exactly a quarter after the first observation, "the same" object appeared from nowhere on the eastern part of the sky from the side of Kraków. After a while, however, it turned out that this object differed from the first. Two separate red lights were clearly visible on the south side of the object. For a moment it seemed to us that we saw two objects flying in a formation, very close to each other, with great precision. To our surprise, two separate lights moved from the southern part of the object to its center, taking a central position on the object. It was moving along the buildings, from east to west, at high speed. The observation lasted about 6 seconds.

The position of the observers (black dot) in relation to the buildings, and the objects' flight path. (https://preview.redd.it/7fxu79uo5l291.png?width=166&format=png&auto=w…)

Object description

The triangular object was all black with three red, non-flashing lights, one at each of the vertices. During the second flyby, two additional lights appeared on the southern side, they were very close to each other and after about 2 seconds they were already in the center of the object. It made no noise, it flashed completely silently across the sky. The flyby did not cause any air vibrations felt by the observers and did not seem to leave any kind of condensation trail behind. We were definitely dealing with one object during our first contact. The space between the lights had to be filled because it covered the stars above the object. During the second flyby, the situation was more complicated, because in addition to the object as in the previous observation, there were two additional lights on its southern side. Taking into account the fact that these lights moved to the center of the object and have remained so, we assume that we were also dealing with one object. During the flight, there were no sounds and again we did not observe any condensation trail. The object, like the first one, did not cause any air movements that would be felt by the observers.

I estimate the brightness of the lights to be around magnitude 0, however, this is a very non-objective assessment, given the observer's focus on other more important details and the color of the lights, which disturbed it compared to the stars. What is certain, however, is that the mag value was fluctuating around 0 and the lights were fainter than the brightness of the ISS.

The object was definitely clearly visible in the night sky. Its characteristic triangular shape, conspicuous red lights, size and covering the stars made it easy to spot.

Object movement and location

The object gave the impression of flying at very low altitude. Its size was clearly noticeable, and it definitely surpassed even the lowest flying passenger planes. The angular size of the object was approximately 3°. This proves that the object must have moved low above the city. During the first observation, the angular height at which it was located was about 60° at the beginning and the end of the flight. During the second observation, the object appeared in the eastern part of the sky at an angular height of about 45°, then passed over the zenith and literally disappeared in the cloudless sky above the western sky.

Approximate routes of flight of objects on the sky map. Arrangement towards E, due to the viewers' direction of view. (https://preview.redd.it/hukly5xr5l291.png?width=355&format=png&auto=w…)

During the first flight, the object was moving from north to south in a strange (slightly wobbly) way (I don't know if the whole object moved in this way or if only the lights made this impression), it flew across the sky across the buildings, so we quickly lost sight of it. The observation lasted about 3 seconds. The object flew from the constellation Cepheus to the constellation Cygnus. Most likely it was moving in a horizontal plane. It did not change its flight path, which was rectilinear. The object was moving steadily (without changing speed), with an angular speed of approximately 5°/sec.

View of the object against the stars during the first flyby (https://preview.redd.it/0cz824zu5l291.png?width=181&format=png&auto=w…)

During the second flight, the object was moving from the east over Kraków, to the west towards the Upper Silesian agglomeration, it flew along the buildings, therefore the observation was longer and lasted approx. 6 seconds. Again, it was moving in a strange (slightly wobbly) way. The object appeared in the sky around the constellations of Pegasus and Andromeda, after passing through the zenith, it disappeared over the western sky near the constellations of the Aviary, Serpent and Northern Crown. Most likely it was moving in a horizontal plane. It did not change its flight path, which was rectilinear. The object was moving steadily, with an angular velocity comparable to that of the first observation.

View of the object against the stars during the second flyby in the first phase of the flight (before the light passes under the object). (https://preview.redd.it/b33tu4ew5l291.png?width=181&format=png&auto=w…)

View of the object against the stars during the second flyby in the second phase of the flight (after the lights take the central position under the object). (https://preview.redd.it/qd2jo66x5l291.png?width=181&format=png&auto=w…)

Ruled out explanations

The object was definitely not a satellite, a weather balloon, a space station, a meteor, a comet, an asteroid, a helicopter, or any known plane, because its characteristics do not fit into any of the categories listed.

Objects with similar parameters are the NOSS satellites. Satellites of the maritime surveillance system, of the American NRO (National Reconnaissance Office), which in several cases fly in threes. They appear in the sky as yellow lights arranged in a triangular pattern. The speed at which they move is in no way different from normal objects of this type. The distance between the individual satellites is 50 kilometers (about 1° in the sky), and their target orbit is approximately 1120 kilometers above the Earth. From this it follows that the only thing they have to do with the object that I observed was a flight in a triangular pattern. However, the remaining factors differ significantly from the observations.

On that day, at the time of observations, according to NORAD data, there were no passages by satellites above magnitude 3. The ISS (International Space Station) flight also took place at a different time.

On July 28, 2006, no significant atmospheric phenomena were recorded in the city or in its immediate vicinity, which could potentially cause the appearance of the observed object, or the object itself.

Hang gliders and paragliders. This option definitely does not match the observed object, especially due to the flight characteristics not achievable for hang gliders and paragliders. Besides, I have never seen hang gliders over my city, however, many paragliders often appear in the sky during the summer. Nevertheless, thanks to this I know the behavior of the paraglider well and its characteristics, which do not match my observation (especially the sound). Besides, paragliders as well as the aforementioned modellers fly during the day.

Small models of flying vehicles (airplane, helicopter, airship, etc.) and drones. Based on the information on the appearance and behavior of the object, it can be concluded that none of the above vehicles, with the relatively high maneuverability of the first two and the possibility of similar shapes, corresponds to all the features of the described object. Despite the aforementioned maneuverability and shape, the eliminating factors here are sound and lighting. The models are noisy and do not have any lights as they are used mostly during the day. On the other hand, the factor eliminating the airship, as a potential explanation, is the flight characteristics of the object, unattainable for the airship, and the oval shape. Additionally, local model airfields are used only during the day, and models never fly over the city, especially at the observation site. As for drones, those in 2006 were not available for sale and use in Poland. In any case, their characteristics do not correspond to that of the observed object.

Items related to various types of mass events (balloons, fireworks, etc.). On the day of observation, there was no significant event that could have anything to do with the observed object. All the big events taking place in the city have completely different dates. It can therefore be concluded that the witnesses did not observe any gadget related to mass events. After all, it would be difficult to compare the observed object with any such gadget, due to the appearance and the way it moves, as well as other characteristics.

Suborbital reconnaissance planes. Although the aircrafts of this type may have similar shapes, they are eliminated by their dimensions, which are up to a dozen or so meters, which at a 3° angular size gives a flight altitude below 500 meters, which is definitely impossible.

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, Northrop B-2 Spirit, Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk aircraft. They do not fit as an explanation, the first one due to the very loud sounds it makes, and the other two due to their size, respectively 21 and 19.5 meters. The dimensions would give a very low flight altitude of the object (about 400 meters) and apart from that they also make quite loud sounds, which at such a height would certainly be audible.

Other planes. The longest plane in the world is the Antonov An-225, 84 meters long. With the aforementioned object size, this would give a flight altitude of just over 1500 meters, which is absolutely impossible with the mentioned speed, visible triangular shape and without any sound or typical plane lights (observing the low flights of airplanes over my city, I am able to see even the headlights/landing lights of the plane).

Hypothesis

I have no idea!