From the witness:
Our first inclination of what we observed was that it was a model of some
type, and it could still be. But as heavily wooded as it is in this area, I think
launch and recovery would have been almost impossible for a model. We
heard it first, observed crossing over the lake and disappear over the tree line.
No sound of a launch or a termination of flight. There were only a handful of
people around the lake and we did not inquire of them if they had witnessed
what we did. Probably should have. And there were no children in the area.
I suppose it could have been a drone of some type as Luke AFB is about 150
miles to the SW of the lake. But we did not observe, or hear, any jet aircraft
in the area.
The object was delta winged shaped and did have an exhaust port
(approximate 6" in diameter) to the rear. Since we only saw the left to left rear
side of it, we could not tell if there was an intake. However, something was
obviously propelling it over the tree line. We were there for several more
hours and did NOT notice any unusual activity around the area.
I never noticed anything as unusual as this during my 20+ years in the USAF and 20+ years with a Sheriff's Office. So who knows? I'll be heading back up there again this spring for some excellent trout fishing and whatever else comes along. The lake sits approximately 1 mile N of AZ 260 (which runs E/W between Payson and ShowLow, AZ). There are a few Forest Service roads in the area.