I saw something odd last night and I'm hoping someone here can help figure out what it was. It was a high-flying aircraft with a solid and very bright yellow-orange light. I first noticed the light as it was coming toward me and I assumed it was a set of landing lights. But as it passed overhead I could see a pair of contrails, so it was too high to be on an approach. Furthermore, I could see the single, bright light even after it passed overhead. Landing lights point forward and generally can't be seen after the aircraft passes by.Isn't it weird for an aircraft to have a light like that instead of a strobe? Is it possible that the crew just forgot to turn on the strobe or that the strobe malfunctioned?BTW, in reference to the subject of this post, I really couldn't think of what else to call it. I can't identify the airplane so in the strictest sense this is a UFO.

Depending on where you live, it could have been a missle test... so what you were seeing was may have been a missle- those are very often confused for UFO's. :) (Especially at night)Jason :-wave

Hi. I don't think this was a missile. It definitely was not on a ballistic trajectory. It might have been a cruise missile but I distinctly saw two contrails. There might actually have been four engines - often it's impossible to tell the difference between 2 engines and 4. At any rate, I'm not aware of any cruise missile with multiple engines. And the question still remains, why did it have a steady light? That's what really got my attention.Someone else has suggested to me that it could have been a military flight of some kind. Do KC-135's have lights like that to make it easier for their customers to find them? Do AWACs aircraft have steady lights to warn other aircraft to stay clear?

There are quite a few aircraft that have retractable landing and/or taxi lights. The C-141, C-130, and C-117 all have landing lights that suck up into the bottom of the wing near the fuselage. (Not too near)In some cases tower controllers will ask a plane to turn on his landing lights so he can differentiate him from another plane nearby and on a similar course. On a C-141 the light comes on automatically when extended and shuts off when retracted to keep the 1.5 million candle power bulb from over heating. The limit switches do go bad and either won't turn the light on, or won't turn it off.Just one possible explanation from a former USAF aircraft electrician.Glenn

Another possible explanation is Mr.Jack Daniels. He is known to cause people to see odd things now and then.

Where do you live?I live near Camp David, and when Bush is there I occasionally see and aircraft at night flying overhead with one bright light that stays on. It will all the sudden go out and I can't find it again.I assume it was either an f-18/16 or maybe a tanker giving the f's a light so they can see it?

Back in de fifties and sixties of the past century it was quite normal that aircraft had a so called "belly light" installed under the fuselage. It was orange-coloured and always lighted at night as part of the navlights (red and green at the wingtips and a white hecklight).Paddy.

holy cow. should i wait a year before I reply to this? lol!seriously though. Thanks for the response. Maybe it was some kind of vintage jet. Ever since that night a year ago, I've had a pair of binoculars in my truck. I've seen a lot of neat aircraft, including one that would have been a UFO if I hadn't had those binoculars. It turned out to be an orange EasyJet 737. It was at cruise altitude late in the evening and the color made it glow in a way that, if I hadn't had those binos, I never would have believed was an aircraft.

Keep the binoculars handy, who know what you'll see in the night sky...[theme song from the twilight zone].