I read through the list of recent UFO sightings, but found none reporting what I saw near Kansas City, Kansas.

I grew up in south central Kansas, where one of my favorite late afternoon activities was to watch the jets leave their contrails in the western sky in the early evenings. So I know what aircraft moving to the western horizon look like.

At approximately 3:45 p.m., Tuesday, April 7, 2009, I was returning home to Leavenworth, Kansas, from teaching in Overland Park, Kansas. As I headed west on I-70 on the western edge of Kansas City, Kansas, I noticed an extremely bright light in the sky directly in front of me about 40 degrees above the horizon.

At first, I assumed it was an aircraft banking to head into Kansas City International Airport, since we see a lot of air traffic on this side of Kansas City because of the proximity to the airport. The light was extremely bright, so I assumed it was an aluminum colored plane catching the sunlight.

It took me about three heartbeats to realize the object was not moving to the right or left, as it would naturally do if it was banking to align with the airport. At about the same time I realized the object was not moving, it did appear to rotate flat, so that the bright light disappeared, and I could see a dark oblong object, which I assumed was the fuselage of a plane.

By another two or three heartbeats, however, I realized that I should still be seeing lateral movement, if it was, indeed, an airplane.

Not only was there no north-south movement evident, but a split second after, I realized the object was still not moving it vanished.

An experienced plane watcher, I knew I should still be able to see an airplane moving through the sky, or at least see its contrail. I continued to scan the sky for signs of the object, but never saw it again.

There were absolutely no clouds in the sky. What seems just as eerie to me now was the fact that I saw absolutely no other air traffic on my 20 minute drive from that point into Leavenworth.

I have wondered if I saw a satellite, but can't explain why I would have seen the dark oblong shape once the satellite turned away from the sun. I also considered the object as a super nova, but couldn't, again, explain the dark oblong shape after the bright flash of light.

So my sighting remains unidentified.

Thank you,

Ruth J. Heflin, PhD