Description

Time: 10/19/25 8:01pm
Location: St. Louis, MO USA
Video (https://youtube.com/shorts/C9m7bSNi6DY?si=e501ljwTXXuZBAhl)

Posting here because comments in r/whatisthisbird said "not a bird, try r/whatisthisthing" and r/whatisthisthing removed my post because it "appears this post belongs in r/whatisthisbird".

I saw this object moving southeast while walking this past Sunday. I was not looking up, and even with bright, eye level foreground lights, it drew my attention right away. I immediately opened my camera and was lucky to record a few seconds before it went behind the house.

On first glance I saw a white/gray triangular shape. After a couple seconds my eyes resolved the curved, tapered wings, then it was gone.

My initial thoughts were: drone, glider, B2. Then I considered that I must've seen an owl - a very big owl - reflecting the city lights. I'm in a fairly dense urban area but there's a large park nearby; I hear owls every year. But if this was a bird flying at normal heights, I estimated its wingspan had to be like ~6ft+ to appear that size. I estimated it was a few degrees wide.

The illumination is the strangest thing of all though. Could a bird's wings reflect so much light? Seems unlikely, but possible. I've never seen anything like it, and no one I've asked knows. What is this thing?