I witnessed something strange on Saturday, March 5 at between 14:15 and 14:30 hours in Trumbull County Ohio.

I was traveling east on route 422 in Niles Ohio and had just stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of 422 and route 46, across from the Eastwood Mall. There were several other cars between mine and the actual light, so my view of the sky ahead was basically unobstructed by either the mall or the wires from the signal light.

While I waited for the light to change from red to green, I noticed that there was what, at first glance, looked like an aeroplane at about 1 o'clock in the sky before me at around a 50 degree elevation. I realized right away, though, that there were no wings present, which is why I took a second look and continued watching.

The object was very bright silver and very metallic. It was thin, cigar shaped with rounded ends and there was a large spot of sun glare shining from the left (back end). With my arm completely extended, its length would have been about the width across of a quarter. It didn't seem to be traveling extraordinarily fast but covered nearly the distance from 1 o'clock to 2 o'clock in the short amount of time I witnessed it.

It was traveling north to south in a straight flight path and left no trail. I cannot say for sure if there was noise, my windows were closed because of the cold and the radio was on, not loud, but enough to obscure most distant outside noise.

About six to seven seconds after I first spotted it, it seemed to change shape somehow. The front (right) end moved slightly inward and the object took on more of a bent shape, like a boomerang with one shorter side. The glare from the sun that had been so bright at the left end moved in a quick flash and settled more in the center of the object and there seemed to be a darker spot right in the middle.

Then it rippled. The whole object seemed to get a little fuzzy at the edges. This is hard to explain, but if you've ever seen heat waves come off of a car hood in the summer, this is about the best equation I can think of. After the hazy ripple, it just disappeared.

At this intersection are a number of shorter buildings and some signs, but from my vantage point, none of these, nor the power/telephone lines or cables, was interfering with the view. The day was very clear and there were no clouds in that area whatsoever. I have no idea where it went, it certainly didn't ascend or descend rapidly enough to
instantly be gone from my line of sight.

I spoke with someone from The National UFO Reporting Center, because it was the first place someone mentioned to me, and I filed a report there already.
I've also called the Niles Police Department and the Air Base in
Vienna (which is several miles from where I witnessed the object) and at the suggestion of Mr. Davenport from the UFO Center, the local TV station, just to see if there were any other reports that day of any strange sightings. So far I've heard of nothing anywhere.

I would just like to know what I saw, no matter what it ends up being. I've never seen anything just disappear into thin air like that and to call me awestruck would be an understatement. I would also like to know that I am not alone in my sighting. How could three lanes of eastbound traffic, sitting still at a stoplight on a clear day miss something that was SO bright and vivid, right in front of them?  I would appreciate any information at all if you have any. Thank you so much for your time and for such a wonderful site.

S.P.