I walked outside to my back patio about 9:15 PM on 12/31/13 (New Year???s Eve) and looked up at the sky. I immediately spotted a single light-orange orb in the southwest part of the sky moving northeast at a moderate rate of speed. It didn???t appear to be at a high altitude ??? maybe a couple of hundred feet above the ground (although I???m certainly not the best judge of distances). If I were to have held up my thumb, it would have been just a bit smaller than the size of my thumbnail. It passed to the west of me and I followed its path as it headed northeast until it disappeared. It was extremely bright. I saw no blinking lights around it, as you see on planes. It had no form, like a plane, simply a brilliant ball of light. And, what struck me as the strangest thing of all, was that it was completely silent. My husband and I spend many nights outside on the patio star-gazing. Since we are very close to the flight path of Louisville International Airport, Bowman Field, and a TV station that has a helicopter landing pad, my husband and I are very familiar with all types of aircraft at all levels of altitude. Even though we live relatively close to the city and the light pollution can sometimes be a problem, we can also spot satellites as they pass overhead. Despite our familiarity with the aircraft/spacecraft that fly over our home (we???ve lived here for 8 years), I couldn???t identify this as anything I???d ever seen in the past. I remember asking myself, ???What IS that???? When it had disappeared (after being visible to me for about 45 seconds), I walked back inside and mentioned to my husband that I???d just seen something that I???d never seen before in my life. I wondered silently to myself if I???d seen a UFO. A few days later, while checking the Internet, I found reports of people in California on New Year???s Eve spotting light orange orbs of light that were completely silent. I was stunned. I believe I saw exactly the same thing in Louisville, KY. (END)
