A large, diamond shaped object was spotted flying slow and low over the Connecticut River in Easthampton, Massachusetts, on the evening of January 3, 2019.

The reporting witness saw the strange object as she drove home from work at 5:20 pm on Route 5 near Island Road, and later described her encounter to the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC). 

The witness (name withheld by NUFORC) first noticed “three stationary bright white lights hovering over the Connecticut river between Mt. Tom and Skinner Mountain.” The lights were arrayed in a straight line with the two outside lights appearing to be larger. The center light was pulsing. 

The witness described the unusual color of the lights. “This was a pure, bright, white light, not a yellow light that incandescent bulbs emit.” The center light appeared as a "rainbow like light, similar to a moonstone.”

A series of possible explanations for what she was seeing raced through the witnesses’ mind. She parked her car on the side of the road for a closer look at what now appeared to be a stationary object. She thought it might have been an aircraft flying toward her on approach to nearby Northampton Airport. After watching the craft stay still for 30 seconds, she switched to the idea of a hovering, dual propeller helicopter. But a lack of standard aircraft lights and the sheer size of the object ruled out the idea of a helicopter or drone.

As she stared at it for about 30 seconds, the witness said the craft “began to tilt starboard” and head north, slowly passing parallel to her at about 30-40 miles per hour and just 500 feet above the nearby Connecticut River.

The craft was close enough for the witness to see that the lights were attached to a huge object. She saw the bottom of the craft as it tilted starboard. 

“There were 4 identical sized pure white bright lights emitting from the bottom of the craft in a square/diamond shape”, the witness reported. “In addition, there were 2 more of the smaller center-strobing lights beneath the craft, below where the center one was seen when I first saw the craft facing toward me.”

She turned down her radio and rolled down her car window to listen for engine sounds. The craft was silent to her ears as it flew less than half a mile from her car. 

She began to get spooked, sensing that the craft changed course after she had stopped her car to watch it. “I felt like I was looking at something I wasn't supposed to be looking at, as it only changed course after I had pulled off the road and started intently staring at it.”

Feeling “shocked” that no other cars on the road stopped to take a look, the fearful witness decided to drive home. The total sighting time was estimated to be 2 minutes. It was not her first UFO sighting, the witness reported, but was her closest encounter. She submitted an illustration of the UFO (see image).

Original witness report:

Driving home from work south on rt 5 near Island Rd. on Northampton/Easthampton line when I saw three stationary bright white lights hovering over the Connecticut river between Mt. Tom and Skinner Mt. The lights were in a straight row, with the 2 outer lights being slightly larger. Of the three lights, the center one was strobing slowly which I thought was odd since planes usually have the lights on their wings flashing. This was a pure, bright, white light, not a yellow light that incandescent bulbs emit. The center light was level with the other two and was pulsating separately. The center light emitted a more "rainbow" like light, similar to a moonstone, but was mostly white-passing. I thought it was a plane coming in for a landing since it seemed flat, at the Northampton airport nearby but there were not standard blue, green, or red flashing lights to indicate it was an aircraft. It also did not waver up or down, it remained stationary in the sky until I had been pulled over for about 30 seconds or so. I then thought it might be a dual propeller helicopter, but it was MUCH too large to be that. I thought that it was then possibly a drone, but it was much too large to be a drone. After I had pulled over to the side of the road to continue monitoring the craft, it began to tilt starboard upon its path heading north. It slowly crossed to my left, past the line where my car was pulled over which was when I was able to see the bottom of the craft as it was still in a tilt position hovering over the river. There were 4 identical sized pure white bright lights emitting from the bottom of the craft in a square/diamond shape. In addition, there were 2 more of the smaller center-strobing lights beneath the craft, below where the center one was seen when I first saw the craft facing toward me. I turned off my radio and lowered my window to hear if it was making any sound, but I didn't detect that it was. There were cars travelling both ways in the distance so it may have distorted my! hearing No sound like helicopter blades or a plane's engine even when it was parallel with my vehicle and less than 1/2 mile away from my car over the river. The craft slowly continued its course at about 30-40 MPH north/north east over the river (less than 500 ft above the water) before I pulled back into traffic and headed home. The sun had set by this time so I was not able to see much else of the craft in the darkness other than the positioning of the lights at both angles that I viewed the craft. I felt like I was looking at something I wasn't supposed to be looking at, as it only changed course after I had pulled off the road and started intently staring at it. I was shocked no one in front or behind me had pulled over to witness it with me. After about 1 minute of direct sight with the craft, it began travelling away from me, following the river north/northeast, I decided I wanted to head home as I was scared about the actuality of what I had just seen. 

It was not my first time seeing a UFO, but it was the first time I had seen one this close up.