Departing Aurora, Oregon’s Aurora State Airport one cold December in 2024, Life Flight pilot Joe Buley guided his helicopter south through a soon darkening Willamette Valley.

Passing Salem, city lights faded behind Buley and his two medic crew members as the outline of Oregon’s coast range emerged ahead. At about 8:40 PM, the pilot observed a strange, reddish light in the distance, between Eugene and the coast. Within minutes, an ordinary medical transport flight transformed into one of the most discussed aviation mysteries in Oregon history.