Hello everyone,
Let me preface this by saying I am a skeptic, a lurker, and aviation is not my specialty. I believe there is something larger than what is led on to believe, but the majority of sightings are most likely not UAPs (perhaps even this one, and that is okay). This topic has fascinated me due to my own curiosity. However, ever since I saw the classic metallic orb the size of at least a few SUVs fly over my head in a crowded residential area close enough to see it was definitely not a balloon (and to see the satellite pictures of it flying over a military base a week later) around year ago or so, it became no longer a matter of speculation–this was reality. Whether it is alien technology, other beings, or government black projects, I don’t have the answer. This is why I consider this to primarily be an “object”.
Anyway, I will attempt not to dox myself too much. This was around 12:41 today, 11 March 2024, when I noticed out of my window in a conference room with my colleagues: an object that was completely stationary in the far away skyline. Aerial objects I typically pay no attention to because of Lambert International Airport’s frequent arrivals and departures, but this one caught my curiosity because not a lot of objects stay in the sky this long. A plane moving in the same direction I was looking?
I then noticed this object plummet in altitude (I cannot judge exactly how high it was in the atmosphere) within a fraction of a second behind a building, and within that same second ascend immediately to the same altitude it was originally stationary. I then realized this object was clearly something untypical and took out my phone to take pictures and to zoom in as best I can.
As I set my phone (Google Pixel 6 Pro, 20x zoom at f/3.5, 1/204, 19mm, ISO42; I understand AI tries to fill in gaps, making stars look spiky and strange and far away objects look less detailed) to max zoom, my heart sank. This object had a singular orb(?) which was orbiting around it in a tight, quick, and erratic revolution. From the eye both objects looked to be spherical, dark, and reflective. Here is the Imgur album of the photos I took in sequential order (first image I took at 12:42): https://imgur.com/a/VOxaf45
I quickly took as many pictures as I could of this object before fumbling with my phone to record. Horribly unfortunate was the fact that the zoom only goes to 7x. My camerawork is atrocious, but I tried to keep it steady as best I could within my social circumstances trying to keep my job. I had to remove the audio because of confidential discussion. Parts where I kept the phone looking at a brick wall were removed. This object was witnessed by two other people in the same room, but unfortunately ceased the drastically violent movement earlier exhibited. Here is the compiled footage I took before the object drops behind the building in the background: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/m8hxqi75g6yna4bwdmhsr/UAP_COMP_TRIM.mp4?rlkey=5en79yn6jqw5sx69wn7jdjswn&dl=0
I do not have the capability to stabilize the footage, but feel free to examine it further. Halfway through the video I focus on a helicopter to consider if this object could be a helicopter. I then thought the object to be a kite, but realized that this object flew, at some points, higher than the helicopter and exhibited (unfortunately not within the video) extreme movement. A drone could move in that fashion, but with the distance this object had to have been massive.
I then began my curious analysis. I located the buildings the object appeared to be hovering around here: https://imgur.com/a/8Yk94Fh highlighted in the top left corner about 38°38’49″N 90°16’29″W.
The object, from where I saw it, was a distance of at least 3.52 km: https://imgur.com/a/e0YwD8N
I sincerely though this to be some strange, rich part of St. Louis event with a kite (ignoring spike upwards and downwards and the rotating orb I saw in the 20x lens) so I found a street view looking at the building in question from Forest Park: https://imgur.com/a/mfwLJU9
I then realized the kite would have to cross at least 350 m to hover over and past the building and somehow be reeled straight downwards and upwards within residential buildings. Someone would have to control an absolutely gigantic kite within this residential area, wavering and completely and perfectly halting over the building around this location: https://imgur.com/a/HjG9IcI
I don’t know much about kites, but this seems unlikely to me. I am happy to be proven wrong, though. A drone? Perhaps, but I do not know of a large enough drone to exhibit that erratic movement and the question of the revolving orb is still unanswered. I tried looking at local news later in the afternoon without luck. I tried searching the Snapchat story heat map to see any kites around that area, but with no luck. Could it still be a kite or a drone? Of course.
Anyone else in the STL area see something like this today at around 12:45? I do not want to make any judgement or consider this to be proof in any way. I am asking for opinions on what this could have been from those who know more than I do. Again, I am happy to be proven wrong and/or learn something new. What do you all think? Thank you all for the effort you put in this community daily.
submitted by /u/ReRuby
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