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This was a next to nothing observation on my part as compared to most of the observations I've read about here and other places.
I was behind my workshop around 1:00 AM, having the last cigarette of the day (wife won't let me smoke in the house), when I noticed an unusually bright star twinkling in the south, southeast.
The first odd thing that attracted my attention was its' brightness (about three times as bright as Venus, maybe a little more).
The sky was crystal clear and there is not very much light pollution (I live in the sticks, thank goodness).
This thing was going from white, to blue-white, to super bright blue-white (brighter than a welding arc up close), to nearly fading out and then repeating (this is how I remember the colors [ sure of colors and sequence]).
It was about 30 to 40 degrees off the southern horizon and not moving. I was so entertained by the thing, I fired up another cigarette and debated on opening up my workshop and getting the small telescope (el cheapo I won at a company party, 60 power normal/120 with barlow lens).
I use it for long-range target practice, saves a lot of walking to and from target. Thought it could be the landing lights of a plane coming in my direction or a chopper with search lights on. The thing just hung there with no apparent movement.
I finally decided to get off my butt and get the telescope, as I stood up this thing shot to the west as fast as a hauling meteor.
I mean from south, southeast to western horizon in a second to maybe a second and a half at most.
If it was a craft, some body's got the inertia and/or mass thing figured out pretty damn good.
No Idea of its' distance or size, just guessing I would say at least 5 to 6 miles away (that's just a wild ass guess), viewing duration 2 cigarettes (5 to 9 minutes ???).
This happened in Sept. 2002, so it took me 55 years to finally see something UFO like.
My biggest regret is not going get the scope from the start or going get my wife to come out and have a look. It sure would be nice to have someone who would say "Yep, I saw it to".
A lot of people here say "why didn't the witness do this or do that". I can tell them it is very, very easy to be a goof and do nothing constructive as to identifying the object. It just took me too long to finally realize that it probably wasn't a plane or chopper before it flashed to the western horizon.
Read the New Orleans paper and the local paper for a week or so to see if any other person saw it, looks like I was the only "nut" out looking at the sky that night, LOL. But really thinking about it, I didn't report it, why would anybody else report it and take the risk of being called a nut.
Over the years have played and replayed this in my mind a bunch, still have no good explanation of what the heck it was.
Anyway that's the "Old" Cajun's account of a light in the sky doing something I think was weird and not easily explainable ;^)

Thanks.

Added to my file.

Personally, I no longer get that excited about lights in the sky—regardless of how dramatic.

The more dramatic stuff is happening with increasing frequency.

Here’s an ATS thread on some interesting statistics and sightings maps over the last 60 years or so—from another great site:

http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread817962/pg1#pid13653878