Here on this insignificant spinning ball we call Earth, human beings exist almost completely unaware of the mysteries secluded and locked away in the near infinite galaxies beyond our atmosphere.
But every once in a while, someone looks up to the heavens and makes a discovery.
While traveling north on Roosevelt Avenue near Notre Dame High School, Burlington resident Keith Jacobs glanced to the sky at exactly 6:07 a.m. Monday and spotted a UFO, he said.
Jacobs was on his way to Perkins Restaurant for a morning coffee when, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a brilliant blue light southeast of his location.
As the light came nearer, Jacobs said he saw an oval-shaped craft about 50 feet long and 40 feet wide, with a blue light on the bottom cruising about 400 to 500 feet above the ground.
It had no identifying marks, no wings, no propellers and no means of propulsion such as rockets or jets.
"I would say it was some sort of antigravity device," Jacobs said. "About four seconds was all I got a glimpse of it, and it shot off fast."
The craft sped across the sky in a northwest direction, descended slightly revealing a black or dark gray checkered top, then curved west and shot off in the direction of the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, Jacobs said.
Jacobs, a candidate for city council, does not believe publicly discussing his close encounter will hurt his chances at winning the November election.
Jacobs has served on various city committees and unsuccessfully lobbied last month to be appointed to the council following the resignation of Mayor Mike Edwards.
"The citizens of this nation should realize that (UFOs) do exist. I think it is a good thing to report them," Jacobs said. "I don't know if our government would be interested in following up on anything like this or not. But I should think they would be somewhat concerned."
IAAP spokesperson Bob Haines said, to his knowledge, the plant has not conducted any experiments with flying crafts, has not performed any tests that would resulted in an object lifting farther than six feet off the ground, and has not received any reports of mysterious flying crafts or blue lights in the sky.
Others, though, have noticed blue lights in the sky above the IAAP.
Tina Cable said both she and her neighbor saw a bright blue light hovering in the sky above the munitions plant last month.
"It was a real bright blue light," Cable said "It almost looked like a star, but brighter than even the North Star."
Cable's not entirely sure what it was she saw, but thinks it may have been a planet. However, she said the light looked "weird."
"I'm not one to cross the line," and say it was a UFO, Cable said. "I'm not a fruit-loop."
Jacobs said he understands many fellow residents might roll their eyes upon hearing his story, but he is only being honest.
"I realize I'm probably in for some ridicule, but I saw what I saw, and I'm not backing down. I think we need more people to come forward about these things," Jacobs said.
This is Jacob's third UFO siting.
In 1996 he saw a man on a hovercraft while trimming his lawn. Jacobs said both he and his then 26-year-old son witnessed the floating man enter a cylinder shaped UFO through a hatch in the front of the ship.
In the 1970s, he had his first UFO sighting while camping in Geode State Park.
"There are just thousands of other galaxies out there, it's just endless. There is a possibility that there are planets where creatures could survive and develop themselves much as we have, or maybe more advanced than we are. I think we should be alert to this sort of thing," Jacobs said.
No other reports of UFO activity were made on Monday with the Burlington Police department, according to Police Lt. Steve Bell or with Des Moines County Emergency Management, according to Coordinator Gina Hardin.
Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Manager Sharon Leeper said she has seen no aircraft matching the description at the airport.
Tom Philips, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Quad Cities, said he could think of no weather-related issues that could have caused the phenomenon and the craft does not fit the description of a weather balloon. Weather balloons are usually 6 feet in diameter and are an off-white color, he said.
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