I was walking the dogs late Friday evening.  This is a small residential area on the shore of Swan Pond and, though we were walking after dark, it was well lit.  The walk goes around a short loop, with the total walk being a little less than a half of a mile, maybe closer to a third.

At one point on the walk, the street we were walking on dead ends at a T-intersection.  There is a totally empty lot (no house) on the corner and it is wooded behind the houses across the street from the “vertical” of the “T”, along the “straight”.

Idiana was sniffing around some bushes on the open lot, when Firyeo suddenly pulled like he wanted to chase something.  He stopped and watched, knowing he couldn’t catch whatever it was.  I looked up as soon as I felt the pull.  I saw something white at the edge of the road across from us, but it was moving very rapidly.  It disappeared behind the houses into the woods in less than a second.  Far less than a second – it was like a flash.  I did not hear or see it cross the road, but from Fiyero’s reaction and the position I first saw it, it had to have crossed the road.

What was it?

My first impulse was that it was a white plastic bag blowing in the wind.  A few problems, though.  yes, it was windy, very windy, but I could feel very little where we were.  Also, the roofs were not being ripped off of the houses.  If a bag was traveling that fast, I would expect there to be some wind damage.

It was too fast and too high up to be a rabbit.  Also, rabbits usually run in short spurts and then hide, not for long distances.

My next thought was a deer.  That is a strong possibility, but I can’t understand how it would have crossed the road without me hearing it.  Also, I have seen deer sprint away from me, and they do not move this fast.  I guess it is possible.  A white tail deer can reach a maximum of 30 mph.  That is still pretty darned fast, but this was far, far faster than a car on that road.  I also didn’t see a body, just the white, which, if a deer, would be the tail and hind quarters.  Odd.

In the summer there are falcons in the area, which are the fastest animals on Earth.  But at night?  In the winter?  And I heard no flapping.  The speed, though, made me think in this direction.  If it traveled 50 feet in a quarter of a second, that would put it at over 120 mph.  Falcon speed.  But being a falcon is very improbable.

My next thought was an owl.  There are several owls in the area.  I have heard them and seen some.  Several different species.  Owls can fly very silent and very fast.  A great horned owl, which can be found around here, can travel at over 40 mph/65 kph.    If it was an owl, it must have already had some momentum when it passed us.  Even 40 seems slow.  There have been a few times that I spooked an owl and watched it fly off.  This was much, much faster.  Still, in my opinion this is the most likely “suspect”.

But what if it were not a natural being?  Or at least not an Earthly being?  Perhaps it was a space alien.  How about a spirit?  Some supernatural being?  It could have been a magical creature.  As I said, the 40 mph of an owl seems slow.

What do you think I saw?

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The photo at the top is Swan Pond earlier in the winter when it was frozen over.  It was not frozen this weekend.  In fact, I went kayaking on Saturday…