PENDLETON, Ore. (AP) — Many Pendleton residents are questioning what it was they saw last week in the skies over the town.
Residents spotted a small white object Wednesday floating above the south area of Pendleton for the better part of an hour, the East Oregonian reported.
Some thought the object was a kite or plastic shopping bag.
Construction worker Virgil Bates Jr. used his smartphone to zoom in and take photos and video of the object.
"Check it out," he recalled saying. "It's not moving. It's staying in one spot."
Bates said the object did not behave the way a bag would in the wind. He said it was large enough to view from miles away and the underside was in shadow.
Pendleton's Eastern Oregon Regional Airport is home to the Pendleton UAS Range. Darryl Abling, the ranger manager, reported Project Vahana tested one of its craft at 8:30 a.m. for a five-minute hover about 25 feet (8 meters) off the taxiway. Otherwise, he said, nothing else flew on the range.
The situation grew stranger when a second similar object came into view and drifted down beside the first, Bates said. Then one object zipped off in a straight line over McKay Creek drainage east of Pendleton.
"It just kept going until we couldn't see it anymore," he said, and the other object seemed to disappear.
The objects remain a mystery.
