After finishing dinner at the PF Changs restaurant (at 4440 The 25th Way NE, Albuquerque, NM) on Sunday, 10/27/13, my friend and I headed to the parking lot when my friend noticed a very bright light hovering in the sky over the general area above the roof of a hotel (I think a Drury Inn?) in the same parking lot. We stood for about a minute or two debating what we were looking at, since when focusing on two points on the hotels roof the light wasnt moving. So we decided to get in the car and decided to head SW in the direction of the light outside the city limits where the light pollution was less. It was odd because it was hazy/some cloud cover in the night sky and the stars werent many, and the ones that were visible in this parking lot werent that bright. So this light dominated the sky even in a well-lit parking lot and was rather big and round in appearance. We noted the time on the car clock as 7:58 p.m. (MT) when we got into the car.
We headed up Paseo Del Norte (road) heading West in my friends car. As my friend was driving we noticed planes flying in the sky and they were distinctly smaller, had the typical red and blue blinking lights, and less bright than this light which appeared stationary and unwavering in the night sky.
So, as my friend drove her car, I kept my eye on the light so as not to lose its orientation in the sky. The planes appeared to fly under or around the bright light, but it was the planes in the foreground and background that made it clear this wasnt an airplane. And as the planes moved, this light did not.
We stopped at a sharp curve in this road which is the perimeter to a local airfield (Double Eagle?). There are no streetlights at this point and this area is considered "behind the volcanoes" which, I guess, means something to you if youre from this area. (Its a dark area from which to view the Albuquerque "valley" and see the entire city from a terrific perspective.)
The photos I took are not really very good. These were taken with a Panasonic Lumix F 2.8 25-600 mm camera, which I had on me in a backpack for my visit with my friend and her family, as well as to capture our day outings in and around the Albuquerque area. The photos simply show a bright light. Its odd because there was no moon visible in the sky tonight and this object, to the naked eye changed colors to include flashes of bluish-green, red orange and yellow before descending below an apparent cloud cover, as the light lit up a layer of low clouds making the light a muted, warm orange, and making it apparent that this light was descending behind/below the cloud cover. Finally, even the warm bright light wasnt visible as even a muted light in the sky and we drove to my friends home in the Albuquerque area.
We thought maybe a weather balloon? Do they emit bright lights that appear constant? Did anyone else see this tonight? - MUFON.
Credit: lights-in-sky.blogspot.com
