A Virginia man reported watching four bright lights in the sky with several secondary lights circling around them at 3:30 a.m. on July 18, 2010, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database.

"The lights did not follow the background stars (i.e. rotation of the earth throughout the sighting)," the witness stated. "The lights moved in opposing directions and seemed to emit a bright searchlight-like beam from time to time."

No town name was provided in the public portion of the MUFON report, and no images or video were submitted.

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 Virginia MUFON State Director Susan Swiatek investigates and reports back on this case, I will release an update.

Virginia, July 18, 2010 - Series of four primary lights, equidistant from each other, moving through sky as a unit with 2-4 secondary lights circling around the primary lights. Spotlight-like projections also present. MUFON Case # 24728.

Reported to me by my cousin:

Location: Viewing location was on Rt. 11 approximately near I-81, exit 213 just south of Greenville, VA. Approximate coordinate location of his point of view: 37?58' N 79?10' W

Object: At approximately 3:30 AM on July 18, 2010 my cousin reported viewing ,northwest of the above location, a set of four lights, brighter than stars and moving in an isolated area of the sky approximately 10? off the horizon.

Surrounding the four primary lights were 2-4 secondary lights which appeared to circle around the primary lights (think electrons around an atom's nucleus). The lights did not follow the background stars (i.e. rotation of the earth throughout the sighting). The lights moved in opposing directions and seemed to emit a bright searchlight-like beam from time to time.

The only city in the direction of where the lights were seen is Waynesboro, VA which is approximately fifteen miles away. No major airports or low-level air traffic normal. A few small airports are in the vicinity however the object(s) did not act anything like either fixed-wing or rotor wing aircraft of any known type.

Personal Observation: My cousin had just got home from work at the time of the sighting and was not intoxicated, nor was he tired (the reason he was outside was because he couldn't get to sleep). He is not the type of person to overreact or dramatize situations of any type. He called me because he knew that I would take him seriously. He also reported the object to his girlfriend who was sleeping at the time. Upon doing so, she told him that she was aware of the object, and had seen it before.

My cousin also reported feeling a very odd empty feeling at not being able to logically categorize what he was seeing. Since others are aware of this object I surmise that I should have a good chance of viewing it this weekend.