Almost thought I saw one

Let me set the scene for you.

I was at the day job today, waiting for someone to unlock the door to the School District building.  It was going on 4pm on a pleasantly warm day here in the Chicago area.  Then again, after you've seen 100+ heat indexes, 87 doesn't feel too bad.  The sky was crystal blue without a cloud to be found.  Winds ranged from supple to firm out of the east.  

Whenever a plane crosses over in our congested airspace, I can't help but at least glance at it.  Comes from a lifelong interest in aviation.  So I glanced at one while I stood there.  Only it didn't move.  It just hovered at an angle overhead towards the northeast.  It was orb-like near as I could tell and colored a silver metallic.  The bright sun was beaming off of this thing like you would not believe and it just kept sitting there in the sky, unmoving and not making a sound.

So here's what I was thinking at the time: 1) If this is a real UFO, this could be the greatest day of my life.  2) If this is a real UFO, who the hell would believe me because of the things I write about?  I decided to sort it all out later and to just keep watching the thing.

The object seemed to suddenly shrink in size and its bright reflection was gone.  It was difficult to make out in the sky, but I managed to follow it as it made a lazy drift towards the south.  Then it grew to its original size once more and with it came the brilliant sheen.  This cycle repeated itself at irregular intervals as the object continued to make a slow, seemingly aimless path in the sky.  Were they trying to communicate with me?  To impart mantic messages?  Was I about to get butt-tubed?  As the wind ran across the hairs of my arms and the object shrank once more, it suddenly came to me...

This was a Mylar balloon.  Albeit it was a larger than average one, it was just a helium-filled balloon.  This explained the shape, the aimless trajectory, and the shrinking and the shining.  Each time the wind caught the balloon, it would twist the shiny side either towards or away from my POV, either catching or dodging the sunlight.  Aside from being thoroughly dejected, I learned something.

Often times, investigators point out that many if not most UFO witnesses are not the three tooth rednecks that you see in The Weekly World News.  They are pilots, military officers, policemen, and the like.  I consider myself to have about average intelligence, maybe a bit more...and I was nearly fooled today by something in the sky.  Perfectly smart people can make mistakes in observation or can see things that are deceptive in nature.  I hold a Masters degree and for a minute there, I was willing to call that Mylar balloon a recon craft from Zeta Reticuli.  Under the right conditions, the human eye can be tricked into almost anything.  Smart's got nothing to do with it.

Can I be 100% positive it was a balloon?  Of course not.  But I'm willing to bet in the high 90s.  So I guess I'll just "keep watching the skies."

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