Description of the Incident
On May 8, 2011, at about 10:30 p.m., two campers staying at Pine Creek campground near Bayfield, Colorado, reported seeing an unidentified object appear between two mountain peaks. At first, they saw a bright white point of light, much brighter than any plane or star in the sky.
As the object approached, the white light resolved into three lines of white lights, with a single red light hovering above them, like the craft’s “head.” The object crossed the sky just 500 feet away, passing very close to the witnesses. It flew overhead, tilted slightly, and continued south toward Vallecito Reservoir.
The object’s shape was clear: a diamond. Small white lights ran along all four sides, and four or five red lights were visible underneath, one at each corner and one in the middle. Three or four round white lights were at the front, and four elongated openings were at the rear. After about 30 seconds, the object disappeared.
A low rustling sound accompanied the sighting, but it did not resemble the noise of a conventional airplane. The object’s size could not be determined, but it was estimated to be as large as a fighter jet or larger.
An hour and a half after the first sighting, another object appeared in the same area and followed the same route. It repeated the same pattern of a strong white light, three white lights, and a red line, but this time the lights at the corners were green instead of red. It, too, flew at low altitude, with the same pattern of white lights along the line and elongated openings at the rear.
Context and Significance
The report comes from a mountainous region with several small airports, but the witnesses say the object did not follow the flight path of a conventional aircraft. Its exceptionally bright lights, very low altitude, and distinctive shape—a diamond with a red or green line—raise questions about possible technology or an unfamiliar natural phenomenon.
Why Is This Interesting?
The diamond shape is rare in databases of unidentified-phenomena sightings.
The change in color at the corners, from red to green, during the same incident suggests a change in the lighting system or the object’s configuration.
* Two separate appearances in the same area suggest sustained rather than random activity.
Although the report has not been verified, it adds another entry to the map of unexplained sightings in the western United States.
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