The Sighting
On July 20, 2005, at 3:15 p.m., Tony Woody, a retired U.S. Navy officer with more than 20 years of service and over 10,000 flight hours, was in his yard in Exeter, New Hampshire, when he suddenly noticed a massive cigar-shaped object hovering above the horizon at an angle of 40 to 45 degrees.
The sky was blue and nearly cloudless, with excellent visibility. Woody said the object had a shiny metallic surface and was silver at first. It was so large that, in his estimation, comparing a Cessna to a Boeing 747 would be like comparing a 747 to the object. In other words, the object was about twice the size of a U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier.
For the roughly 10 minutes it remained in view, the object made no sound and appeared to be flying at an altitude of 2,500 to 3,500 feet, below a cloud layer at about 5,000 feet. Large, evenly spaced windows ran along its side, but Woody saw no movement or figures inside them.
The object moved slowly from west to east. Woody estimated its speed at less than 100 knots. He did not see anyone else outside at the time.
Later, the object changed from shiny silver to red-orange, and an orange cloud of fire began rising beneath it, resembling napalm flames, with no visible smoke. Woody felt both fear and excitement but kept watching until the object disappeared.
Why It’s Interesting
The report comes from someone with a professional aviation background: a pilot with more than seventy thousand kilometers of flight experience, which lends his account a degree of precision and an ability to estimate size, altitude, and speed. The unusual cigar shape and dramatic color change, along with the effect of a “cloud of fire” beneath the object, are also rare features in reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP).
Summary
The account highlights the challenges of assessing unverified sightings. Even when a witness has professional experience, there is no independent evidence, such as photographs or other eyewitness accounts, to corroborate the incident. Still, Woody offers a detailed description of an experience that left him feeling both fear and wonder, inviting further investigation and discussion among researchers of aerial anomalies.
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This is an unverified eyewitness report. We have no video, photographs, or other accounts beyond the witness’s description.
