What did I see?

Location: Northwest Ohio

Sam woke up around 5:30 this morning. After I got him up, I went outside to let the dog out before I fed him breakfast. It was still dark, and I happened to look up at the sky after I put him in his pen. I saw a bright white light moving west-to-east. The light was much brighter than any beacon light on an airplane or helicopter. This was really bright, as bright Venus or the Northern Star in the night sky if not brighter.

I thought it may be a low-flying aircraft and that was why the light was so bright, but the air was silent, and after observing for a few more seconds I realized this object was very high up; 30,000 feet or more. There was no sound emitted from it that I could hear, and it was traveling very high in the sky. With the light as large as it was, and being so high up, this object had to be pretty large.

It was also traveling very fast; much faster than a commercial jet travels when observed flying at cruising altitude, and military fighter jets don't have lights as bright or as large as this object was. I am estimating it was going faster than Mach 1. My attention never wavered from how bright the light was. I was trying to see if it had any shape to it, and there was none that I could tell.

This object did not look like a meteor or satellite. There was no trail behind it, and though it moved fast, it was not moving fast enough to be considered a meteor entering the atmosphere. It was not the International Space Station (ISS); according to www.heavens-above.com the ISS was situated directly over New Zealand this morning. It was not the NASA Orbiter, as there is no shuttle currently in orbit, and the next launch is not scheduled until October 8, 2008.

I can't explain this object. I am not labeling it as anything in particular. I believe it could have been an alien spacecraft or a secret military craft.