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Unexplained Asteroid-Like Object Observed in 1975

-- | August 12, 2016

Question: In or around 1975 my brother and I witnessed something that has stayed with me my entire life. The image is just as vivid in my today as it was 40 years ago. We were alone at home in Virginia Beach VA one night when we heard a strange constant sound outside and dogs all over the neighborhood began howling. We both went outside and in the night sky coming from the north east as best I can figure was a Giant oblong crater scared rock rotating slowly and travelled directly over our heads. There was no smoke, fire or ice trail behind it. My brother recently confirmed the incident did happen and described it exactly as I remembered. I’ve recently tried reaching the object and the best conclusion I come to is it was a very large near earth asteroid just outside side our atmosphere. Do you know of any objects that fit that description and would have been visible to the naked eye on the East coast some time in the mid 1970s? I anxiously awaiting your response. Thank you. — James

Answer: The object you describe is difficult to associate with an astronomical object. In particular, in order to see surface detail on an object which is outside our atmosphere it would need to be very large (like the Moon). There has never been a recorded asteroid large enough and close enough to fit your description. The object you describe really sounds like it must have had its own propulsion or floatation system, which suggests some kind of aircraft or balloon. There are, in fact, scientific experiments that are balloon-borne which employ quite large balloons that can look like the object you describe.

Jeff Mangum

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