Three South Dakota witnesses recall a November 22, 2003, incident near Rattlesnake Butte south of the Grand River where a circular or star-shaped object lit up the sky and then shot off out of the atmosphere, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database.

"It did not have any characteristics of a Helicopter or Harrier jump jet as it seem the whole aircraft lit up," the reporting witness stated. "It lit up very quickly and sat there for a couple of minutes and then took off upward and away from our position at a speed not known to any aircraft that I know of. It went into space, out of our atmosphere, in a matter of milliseconds."

The following is the unedited and as yet uninvestigated report filed with MUFON. Please keep in mind that most UFO reports can be explained as something natural or manmade. If South Dakota MUFON State Director Lorna Hunter investigates and reports back on this case, I will release an update.

South Dakota, November 22, 2003 - Appeared in front of us out of nowhere, lit up bright and streaked into space at a upward-outward motion. MUFON Case # 23097.

There was three of us. We were out in the early morning sitting at a spot just south of the Grand River, still dark with no cloud cover, getting ready for the sun to come up so we can start hunting for deer.

We were facing north towards Rattle Snake Butte from a low point along the Grand river basin. We were chatting for a bit, all three of us were looking at the butte while drinking coffee. NO air traffic in the air as we could see the stars in the night brightly.

All of a sudden something, we didn't see while we were sitting there, hovering over the buttes lit up very brightly illuminating the the whole area around the butte. I couldn't tell a distinct shape of the object, only that it was circular and star-shaped as if the object was a light bulb itself.

It did not have any characteristics of a Helicopter or Harrier jump jet as it seemed the whole aircraft lit up. It lit up very quickly and sat there for a couple of minutes and then took off upward and away from our position at a speed not known to any aircraft that I know of. It went into space, out of our atmosphere, in a matter of milliseconds.

It left a streak behind it as it went up into the sky and was gone as fast as we had seen it! The streak gave us an idea on which way it took off and was close to a 100-110 degree rise from our position. There was no noise from the object as it took off. We were about 1-2 miles away from the butte. Any know aircraft made by humans would be loud and have a sound of air moving through the jet engine.

This had no sound at all!

There were three of us. Myself, a 25 yr old BIA/Government employee, a older gentleman, a 47 yr old ex-Army helicopter pilot and his son a 13 year old middle school student. We were in awe for about ten minutes before we realized what we saw! We gathered our thoughts and tried to think of what the hell that was! Our consensus was that we thought it was a UFO and left it at that. We sat there waiting as the sun came up, waiting for something else to appear. Nothing else appeared and we went about our business and did what we came there for.