“The UFO phenomenon being reported is something real and not visionary or fictitious” —General Nathan Twining Chairman, Joint chiefs of staff, 1955-1958
When I was 11 or so the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite to go into orbit around 
Earth. Even as a kid, I remember, it was a shock that a) it had been done at all and b) that it wasn’t the US that had done it. For months afterwards I would lay in the cool grass of the lot next to our house, back from the sparse streetlights, and watch the sky at night.
One evening well after sunset I watched the darkening sky. I read Project Blue Book publications and was fascinated with UFO’s, but I was looking to see Sputnik. Then I saw it, a small bead of light far overhead, far higher than any airplane of the time could fly. I thought, “That’s Sputnik!” I lay back and watched as it passed from north to south.
After just a few seconds, however, the light turned right at full speed at almost 45° and formed what looked like a “J”, turning back on itself slightly before it vanished. I went in and excitedly told dad that I’d just seen a UFO. No one was nearly as excited as me. I was disappointed that my find had not sparked everyone’s excitement!
This past week, I met with some guys after work. One of them, Mike, is a great storyteller and spontaneous limerick poet. For some reason, I looked at him and asked, “Have you ever seen a UFO?” His face changed, the smile dropped away and a brief serious look crossed in its place. Then he was back, smiling, but when he told this story, he was very serious.
He told of a time when he was a kid at a church camp with his family. One evening he 
stood at the edge of the camp with his mother and cousin when suddenly, between gaps in the treeline they saw a glowing sphere about 4-6 feet wide hovering. Quietly it crossed the opening into a copse of trees where, according to Mike, it was as if it were trying to hide.
As that orb floated in the trees, unsuccessfully hidden because it was glowing, another and then another moved to join it. They watched for 20 or 30 minutes, he guessed, until they all moved away rapidly from them and were gone in an instant.
Have you had an encounter with a UFO? Share it here. My experience is that many people have, but rarely talk about it unless prompted. Here’s a great article I found that talks about that reaction: http://www.ufodigest.com/news/1108/something-is-wrong.html
MentorBoom 
When I was a child, my cousins from Oklahoma City were visiting. We were all at the Gastonia city park. My Uncle John and Aunt Rose had joined my family and Uncle Jimmy’s family from Oklahoma. Tennis was the activity, if my memory serves me. We children saw something that was very unusual. It scared and excited me. I ran as fast as I could to tell my parents and be in the safety of their company. At the time, I believed it to be a UFO. The adults were not excited nor believing. Over the years, I have wondered if it might have been a well lighted helicopter. Who knows? I watched lots of “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits.”
I watched those too, and, as much as I tried, I couldn’t have those weird experiences. It’s probably a very good thing that I didn’t, would have scared me to death. Remember the little train at Lineberger Park?
Do remember the train very well. I loved that train.
I was too big for it by the time I found it, although I think I did ride it once or twice. After all, I am mucho older than you!
While I was in college in Michigan, leaving work around dusk, I noticed something above the trees across the parking lot. Cigar shaped, odd. My roommate and I drove across town, back to the college where we found lots of people gathered in the street looking up at something in the sky. It was the same object we saw on the other side of town. Closer, easier to see and witnessed by at least 100 people or more.
It was as if it were observing us as we were observing it. Then it just blip! It moved away from us so fast, if you blinked, you missed the departure.
We never did see or hear anything about it on the news or anywhere yet we SAW it. It was there.
It was not a weather balloon either.
Gen. Twining was the top military guy in the US during the height of the UFO speculation. He probably knew what he was talking about or he wouldn’t have risked his reputation. Thanks for sharing your experience!