| Country | Iraq |
| State or Province | Al Anbar Province |
| City | Fallujah |
| Date | 12/1/03 |
| Time | Approximately 8pm |
| Weather | Clear |
| Duration | Approximately 1 minute |
| Witnesses (Number) | 1 |
| Distance | ~1000′ |
| Solid Object | Yes |
| Size | A dinner plate at arm’s length |
| Shape | Triangular |
| Shape Details | See below for supplemental visuals. |
| Metallic/Shiny | No |
| Color | Black |
| Glow/Halo | No |
| Lights | Yes |
| How Many Lights | 3 |
| How Bright | Equivalent of a modern LED headlamp |
| Light Coloration | White |
| Sound | No |
| Motion/Speed | Possibly 100 knots (120mph) |
| Number of Objects | One |
| Coordination/Communication | – |
| Windows | No |
| Occupants | No |
| Description | In late 2003 (probably December), during a deployment to Iraq, I witnessed a black, equilateral triangle shaped object pass directly overhead near Fallujah, Iraq. I was at a Forward Operating base just to the east of Fallujah. At the time, the base was named St. Mere Eglise. At approximately 8pm local time, I stepped out of our building to walk to a row of porta-johns. It was already quite dark with clear skies. I looked up at the sky when I stepped out of the building as I normally do, but this time instead of seeing a beautiful field of stars I saw a completely black equilateral aircraft passing directly overhead from east to west. Each corner appeared to be sharply angular and not rounded. Also, each corner contained a small, white bright light that appeared very similar to a modern single bulb LED headlamp. At the time these LED type light had not been invented and weren’t available to the military. I could not see any other detail on the craft. It was completely black, but visible because it contrasted against the sky and blocked the stars. There was a loud generator running nearby, so I do not know if the craft generated any noise. After viewing the craft no more than 5 seconds the lights on the corners of the craft went out, but I could still see the craft clearly silhouetted against the sky. At the time, my impression was that the craft was roughly the size of a medium build aircraft like a C-130 and that it was at no more than 1000′ in altitude. It appeared to be slowly gliding and not moving fast enough to generate lift like a traditional aircraft. The speed was very similar to that of a large blimp (like the Goodyear) passing directly overhead at the same altitude which I have witnessed in the past. I watched the craft glide towards the city of Fallujah for maybe another 20 seconds before it disappeared into the darkness. My immediate reaction was to think to myself ‘Well, I guess they’re ours.’ |
| Nearby Landmarks | None |
| Latitude | 33.314861 |
| Longitude | 43.879469 |
| Altitude | ~1000′ |
| Propulsion | No |
| Advanced Capabilities | No |
| Visible Payload | No |
| Radar | – |
| Signatures | No |
| Awareness | No |
| Aggression | No |
| Health Effects | No |
| Physical/Environmental Effects | None |
| Animal Disturbance | None |
| Witness Feelings | Normal. No after effects |
| Witness Assessment | Believed to be a man-made object due to the lighting behavior and lack of visible propulsion. |
| Additional Info | Up to that point, I was familiar with every aircraft operating in the skies, but this was unlike anything I had ever seen. It flew directly over me and I looked directly at it for several seconds. I was definitely not misidentifying a known aircraft. There was no visible means of propulsion or any other identifiable features. The reason that I think that this aircraft was some type of unknown man-made object is because of the lights. Where we were located was the western edge of the occupied areas of the base. Past us there was a large, open field and then the perimeter wall maybe 500 yards away. The lights on the object were turned off at the exact moment it reached the edge of the occupied area. Lights on man-made aircraft are primarily a safety feature to improve the visibility of the aircraft. My hypothesis is that this object was required to have a minimum lighting standard over occupied areas like all other aircraft operating there. Once an aircraft is no longer over friendly airspace all lights are turned off to avoid enemy detection. That’s exactly what this object did. This has not been reported to any other organization. |
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