After learning from the Raleigh Fire Department that the flares I saw on the night of September 28th didn’t belong to them, I thought I’d reach out to the Raleigh-Wake 911 center to see if any calls had come in about the flares.
I got a response today from deputy director Walt Fuller who checked the records for downtown calls and turned up nothing:
I went back and looked into CAD and I saw several calls in the downtown area but they mostly security checks, traffic stops and other normal incidents. I saw no calls of the nature you mentioned.
Now I’m thinking the only other official avenue I can pursue to find out more about this incident is the FAA. Unfortunately, due to the federal government shutdown I’m sure the FAA won’t be fulfilling any information requests any time soon. Thus, I’ve reached a temporary dead-end.
As I filled my information request, it occurred to me that this was the kind of incident that the human mind quickly weighs to determine whether or not it is going to acknowledge what it saw. It’s sort of like a “that doesn’t appear plausible so I’m just going to pretend it didn’t happen” reaction.
I recall the same mysterious amnesia taking hold of fellow airport passengers when a drunk woman in front of me passed out on the terminal floor several years ago. People just kept doing what they were doing as if stuck in some sort of trance. I was the first one to actually run to her and help her. I’d love to learn more about this quirk in psychology someday.