Phenomainon
PCF-110345 · case file

Cecil, Pennsylvania, USA

1993 May 4 · Cecil, Pennsylvania, USA · 1 sources

The record

Witness was driving home from Senior Prom at night with his date and a sleeping friend in the back seat. On Riessing Road near State Route 50, after crossing a one-lane bridge with trees on either side, the witness noticed something anomalous in the sky. A very large rectangular object approximately the size of a football field was gliding slowly just above the treetops at 25-50 ft altitude, moving northeast at 30-50 mph. The object was semi-transparent — the witness could see stars through it, but the effect was like looking through old wavy glass. The object made no sound. After the witness stopped the car for a better look, the object stopped moving entirely. The witness then fled the scene, driving home in approximately 4 minutes (a trip that normally takes 10-15 minutes). Years later, the witness and his date independently recalled and confirmed the same sighting.

Characteristics
Shape
Rectangular
Nature
Unknown aerial object, possibly structured craft
Sound
None
Weather
Clear
Site
Rural road flanked by trees, near one-lane bridge, Cecil PA
Size
Very large — approximately the size of a football field (~91 meters)
Duration
4 min
Time of day
Night
Local time
0200-0300 hrs
Theme
other_unclassified
Source records · 1

The unmodified record(s) the master event was assembled from.

NIDS-DOCNIDS-DOC:b101de61:128 fields
city
Cecil
date
1993-05-04
site
Rural road flanked by trees, near one-lane bridge, Cecil PA
shape
Rectangular
sound
None
state
Pennsylvania
country
USA
weather
Clear
date_raw
1993 May 4
incident
Witness was driving home from Senior Prom at night with his date and a sleeping friend in the back seat. On Riessing Road near State Route 50, after crossing a one-lane bridge with trees on either side, the witness noticed something anomalous in the sky. A very large rectangular object approximately the size of a football field was gliding slowly just above the treetops at 25-50 ft altitude, moving northeast at 30-50 mph. The object was semi-transparent — the witness could see stars through it, but the effect was like looking through old wavy glass. The object made no sound. After the witness stopped the car for a better look, the object stopped moving entirely. The witness then fled the scene, driving home in approximately 4 minutes (a trip that normally takes 10-15 minutes). Years later, the witness and his date independently recalled and confirmed the same sighting.
svp_code
CEI
time_local
0200-0300 hrs
trajectory
Moving northeast, then stopped completely
case_source
NIDS
size_meters
Very large — approximately the size of a football field (~91 meters)
time_of_day
Night
source_quote
There was this thing the size of a football field just over the trees and it was gliding really slow... I could see the stars through it but it was like looking through an old wavy piece of glass.
catalog_entry
NIDS-DOC:b101de61:1
location_text
Cecil, Riessing Rd about 1 mile from State Rte 50, PA
witness_count
2
source_doc_sha
b101de61746378f8424f51ac9388ba1fdf90e50fee6b4bae3b8ae67f2efd578f
light_emissions
Stars visible through object as if semi-transparent; no other lights noted
witness_sex_age
Patrick Gastgeb (male, high school senior at time of sighting); Carrie Velmire (female, his prom date); third person asleep in back seat
duration_minutes
4
witness_reactions
Witness stopped car to observe; experienced fight-or-flight response; fled the scene at high speed; date exclaimed 'Oh my God!'
witness_occupation
High school student (at time of sighting)
nature_of_phenomenon
Unknown aerial object, possibly structured craft
vallee_classification
CE-I
Geography
Satellite basemap of the case location
Cecil, Pennsylvania, USA
Sources
  • NIDS-DOC
    NIDS-DOC
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