What Happened
At 6:50 a.m. on September 29, 2012, a resident of a single-story home in Lively, Virginia, reported an unforgettable sighting from his west-facing window. Looking outside, he saw an object about 150 feet away, hanging in the middle of a tall neighbor’s tree, which stood 15 to 20 meters high.
The object appeared to be made of smooth, dark blue-gray metal. Four steady lights—red, green, blue, and white—were arranged asymmetrically on a surface resembling a “bulkhead.” At first, the witness recalled it as having the shape of a military helicopter. Within seconds, however, its shape seemed to change: the body became a tube resembling an oil can, with two rounded ends. A groove at the front concealed the lights.
The object moved a few dozen meters away, passed over the witness’s window, and made no sound. During the two-second encounter, he felt that his privacy had been “violated,” as though he were being watched. Afterward, he tried to estimate the distance and the height of the tree and object, but couldn’t do so accurately.
Additional Context
The following morning, September 30, a military helicopter was seen flying over the same house. The witness managed to take two pictures of the black helicopter. The two events—the sighting of the strange cylinder and the helicopter’s appearance—raised questions about possible military activity in the area, although the area is not known for having a significant military base.
Why It’s Interesting
The report gives a detailed account of an unidentified object with complex optical features—steady lights in different colors—and a rapid change in shape, seen at a relatively close distance of 150 feet and for a brief period of two seconds. The possible connection to a military helicopter sighting also raises the possibility of military testing or surveillance activity.
Summary
This is an unverified eyewitness account and should be treated with caution. Still, it adds another data point to NUFORC’s sighting database and invites further investigation into possible military activity in the area.
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TL;DR: A man in Lively, Virginia, saw a cylindrical object with four steady lights pass over his home for one second. A military helicopter was spotted in the same place the next day.
