On the evening of February 15th, 2002, at exactly 7:36 pm, I experienced a striking celestial event while gazing northwards from North Vancouver, BC. There, hovering serenely between the Big and Little Dipper constellations, was a luminous white light, astonishingly bright—far surpassing even Venus at its fullest glow. This unblinking point-source radiance held perfectly still against the starry backdrop, enduring for some 20 seconds before gradually dimming into the darkness.
What made this spectacle all the more perplexing was its location outside the familiar ecliptic plane, casting immediate doubt upon conventional explanations. A flare from the nearby mountain range was a distant consideration, yet its elevation and steadiness ruled that out. Nor did it fit the profile of a glowing balloon or a meteor rushing through the atmosphere; there was no sense of movement or a fleeting arc that meteors characteristically trace. The thought of a rare nova flickered briefly but lacked any corroborating signs.
Could it have been a mysterious military craft, silently observing from above? Or perhaps an unclassified aerial phenomenon defying earthly explanations altogether? What remains indisputable is that this brilliant light held its position without a single drift against the cosmic tapestry for a full twenty seconds—an eerie, hypnotic spectacle that defies easy understanding.
Such encounters remind us that some corners of the night sky guard secrets not easily unveiled, thrilling those of us who dare to watch and wonder under the vast, enigmatic canopy.