on february 24, 2016, i was driving to work and took 169N. at approximately a 1/4 mile south of 394 at 5:55 am, a flicker to my left caught my eye and i looked up and saw a red glowing orb the color of a stoplight and it was blinking at a steady rate. i'm not absolutely positive, but i think it had an unlighted narrow, black band around its equator region. it was still dark outside and i'm not good at judging distances but it seemed like it was a few yards above the tree tops. i watched it travel on a straight path as it crossed the highway heading east and i watched it fly in an arc then descend as if it was going to land and that's when i lost sight of it. again, i'm not good at judging distances, but i think it was less than a mile east of 169N when it descended. when it was over the highway, it was about the size of a dime held at arms length; if it was bigger it wasn't by much. i remember saying to myself it was small.
i wondered when i first saw it if it was a plane, helicopter or drone. i was very calm and not very excited about seeing it, thinking a person had to be involved with this. later i thought it was no way a plane or helicopter because it was too low, at least for a plane. and even though it was still dark out, there was enough ambient light i think i would have been able to discern the body of a plane or helicopter at that height. i couldn't hear anything accept the road noise from my car.
i am acquainted with the minnesota mufon state director and contacted him to discuss what i saw. after he heard my account, he said it was a typical sighting. i got more thrilled about the object after that.
