Arapahoe Basin, Colorado

I saw this twice in about a week's time at Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. The first sighting was on about May 1, 2009, afternoon. I was on the Montezuma chair lift.

I saw this thing fly at the speed of an F14, made no noise at about 20,000 feet. I only got a glance at it.

If I had to describe it, it looked like a World W I fighter flying silently at jet fighter speed, two or three times as fast as a jet airliner. It flew fast, straight, and silently.

The second time I saw exactly the same craft on the same ski lift. May 6, 2009 at 3:16 PM. I was above 11,000 feet. I was about to take a picture of a passing airliner.

This thing flew underneath it going the opposite way, two or three times the speed of the jet. I just pointed the camera at a spot in the sky and got lucky with the shot.

I estimate altitude at 20,000 feet or very close to the same altitude as the first sighting.

I attached the original and some enhanced zooms. Nikon D200, 11 megapixels, shot in RAW format. f27, 1/500, ISO400, 15.07 MB, -2.0 exposure bias Lens Nikkor 70-300mm

I wish I had set the shutter speed to 8,000... the picture would be much clearer.

The strange part is that it looks nothing like a WWI fighter in the photo. It looks like three bright orbs flying in a triangle formation. To the naked eye, it looked like one craft.

Dave