Map Showing Approximate Sighting Location on US Airways Flight.

Date of Sighting: July 19, 2008
Time of Sighting: 5 AM EDT (3 AM MDT)
Date Sighting Reported: July 22, 2008
Duration of Sighting: About 15 Minutes
Location of Sighting: SW Colorado (1 Hour From Las Vegas on Flight to Columbus, OH)
Latitude: 37.86 Degrees North (Estimated)
Longitude: 106.49 Degrees West (Estimated)
Number of Witnesses: One
Weather: Witness Stated That Some Thin High Clouds Were Present

Description: I am writing to see if anyone else saw anything or to see if my description sounds like anything significant. My boyfriend and I were flying home on a US Airways flight on the early morning of July 19th. He was asleep and I had the window seat. We were on a flight from Las Vegas to Columbus, Ohio. It was 5 AM Ohio time and we were about a third of the way into our flight (about an hour outside of Las Vegas). The cloud coverage was thin and I had a clear view to the ground. I saw what looked like a high intensity beam of light following roads, weaving around, lighting up houses and parts of neighborhoods. At first I thought the moon was reflecting on a river or something, but the light would be almost directly under our wing and then it would be way behind the plane. In a moment, it would catch up with us again. It almost looked as if the ground was being painted with light. A bright spot would fade in and then back out. Sometimes a second spot of light would appear close to the first just as the first one was fading out. I watched the light follow us for about 15 minutes. The strangest thing was, even though there was no turbulence, within just a minute or two of my first noticing the light, the pilot turned on the fasten seatbelts sign and the stewardess came on asking everyone to fasten their belts. My boyfriend just said that there may have been a light on the plane. I can't figure out why the plane would be shining a light like this down, especially way behind us and then next to us. Also, this is the third flight I've been on at night and each time by the window. I have never seen anything like this.

Additional Information Supplied By Witness: We were on US Airways flight number 441. I was sitting in row 13, just ahead of the wing and in the window seat. Looking toward the nose of the plane, I was on the right hand side. This is also the side I saw the light on. It was 5 AM Ohio time, so I don't know what time that would have been where we were. We were about one third of the way into our trip. We landed in Columbus Ohio at 6:50 AM. I wish I knew better about where we were.

Comments: At the time when the sighting occurred (3 AM MDT) most of the passengers probably would have been sleeping so few (if any) may have seen the light. Perhaps there is a conventional explanation for the light, but the witness has provided information that suggests that the light was not a reflection of the moon and not from the aircraft.