I'm an insomniac, & went outside onto my back deck to star gaze. There was a large, bright light over the mountains to the east of my home. I thought it was a wildfire (I had reported one in August in that area), until I realized it was a large bright white light over the mountain rather than on it.
I then studied the light with my naked eye to rule out usual objects that I see in the night sky on a regular basis. I knew it to be none of the usual things, like: air planes, stars, meteor showers, ball lightning, etc.
It hovered over the same location above a low mountain approx. 13 miles from my home (very near the location of the wildfires.) It appeared to have seven long spikes around the perimeter of the object. And the whole of the object was lit in a brilliant white light that pulsated, but not blinked.
I decided to get my game binoculars and my cell phone to study it further and take a photo (unfortunately my cell phone camera takes a poor picture.) Using the binoculars I found that the object was stationary (and remained so for at least 45 minutes), but for one of the spikes that changed position to point down to the mountain/forest below. I also noted that the coloration of the object which I had thought to be white was lit on the right edge in a red/orange, and on the left edge in a blue/white. The whole of the object appeared prismatic not unlike a crystal.
It stayed in that position for approximately 10 minutes after which the spikes shifted position to the left of the object in a ray-like fashion. It then departed eastward in a straight path until I could no longer see it. The departure happened in a matter of seconds.
