MUFON 52867

bright star-like object zooming from north across the western sky just below Taurus It was Christmas Eve 1971. I was an airman first class assigned to the 1881st Communications Squadron at the huge U.S. Air Force base at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. It was about 11:30 p.m., I was walking west on the lane that would take me to the base chapel for midnight mass. The sky was crystal clear. Cam Ranh Bay was only a couple of degrees of latitude north of the equator. For a kid who grew up in upstate New York, it was bit discomforting, because we were too far south to see common constellations like Ursa Major, aka the Big Dipper, in the northern sky. As I looked into the western sky, I could see the constellation Perseus and, above that, Taurus. High in the sky above them was the constellation Orion, with its left shoulder star of Betelgeuse bright as ever. Suddenly I saw a bright star-like object zooming from the north across the western sky just below Taurus. My first impression: 1Oh, it1s a meteor or perhaps just some fighter jet.1 Then the object just STOPPED. It hovered there below Taurus for perhaps a minute or two. Then it seemed to dance or dart around before it dashed off toward the south at tremendous speed until it just 1winked out.1 I was 19 years old; I didn1t know what to think. About all I could say was, 1Wow!1 During midnight mass, I was not with the program at all; I was replaying what I saw over and over again in my head. Fearing my Air Force peers would think I was intoxicated or worse, NUTS, I kept the sighting to myself for many years until I shared it about 15 years ago to a couple of Native American folks I used to know. Now, I1ve shared with you a deeply personal sighting as a holiday gift.