Sightings:  Two different instances - One Thursday March 2, 2006 and the next day, Friday, March 3rd, 2006

Date and Time and Duration:  

Thursday, March 2nd about 6:10am until about 6:25am

Location: 

First seen 2 miles south of Rt. 316 on Cromley Road - Ashville, Ohio  and watched it traveling west and north over South Bloomfield

Weather Conditions: 

Fair, dark - visibility was clear (below cloud level) - I think it was overcast - can't remember for sure seeing stars but it was dark enough beyond the craft to make me think it was overcast.

Description of Sighting:

On March 2, 2006 as I began my trip to Columbus, Ohio from my house in the Walnut Heights subdivision, I turned off of Cornstalk Ave onto Cromley Road heading north to Rt. 316.  As I turned, I saw what appeared to be an airplane heading in a southerly direction and then turn to head west in my direction from the east.  I lost track of it and didn't think much of it until I reached South Bloomfield and saw it there moving slowly in a northerly direction just west of Interstate Route 23.  As I pulled into Speedway to get some gas, I saw it move slowly to the north of Speedway and then turn to the east and hover for a bit before going south again circling around Speedway. 

It was weird that it sort of moved sometimes very slowly like a helicopter (hovering at times) but sounded more like a quiet jet engine.  I saw it pretty low, I'm guessing as low as about seven hundred feet when it was on the north side of the Speedway gas station in South Bloomfield.  This was when I stopped and rolled down my window so I could see it better and it was then that I heard its sound.  I couldn't make out the shape of it being dark and the lights so bright, but it was so low that I could partially distinguish the structure of the bottom of the craft.  It appeared to be metallic but not shiney.  The bright blinking lights were so bright that they actually prevented me from seeing the physical shape of the craft. The red and white blinking lights first made me think it was a normal aircraft.  I thought the lights might be on the tips of a set of wings because when it was coming toward me they were spread out and not one in front of the other like a helicopter.

It then went west again and then north and I lost track of it.  It was close enough that I'm sure it wasn't a helicopter and I have no idea if there is an aircraft around here that moves in this manner or sounds like a jet as it hovers.   What is strange is that it moved too slow to be a regular airplane or jet that would normally be around here flying in this manner at this time of the morning.

The whole sighting lasted approximately fifteen minutes.

Someone told me that Harrier Jets would sometimes operate from Rickenbacher Air Force Base and I've yet to contact them to check on flights at that time and date.

Blackhawk helicopters also might operate from there and this needs to be checked as well.  I did not hear any sounds of helicopter blades that would normally be heard from 700 feet when it was hovering on the north side of Speedway.

On March 3rd, 2006 as I left the house around 6:18 (trying to get to where I first saw the object at the same time of the morning)  I intentionally looked for the lights and saw them as I was traveling north on Cromley Road to 316.  It was already  close to South Bloomfield heading west .  I increased speed to try to catch up but could not catch up to it safely.  As I was entering into South Bloomfield, it was already well north of my location and heading in a north-easterly direction.  It was too far away to get as good a view as the day before.