The warm night of August 8, 1999, found a group gathered around a bonfire on Makena Beach in Maui, celebrating shared birthdays under the annual Perseid meteor shower. None of the fifteen people present could have predicted their celebration would be interrupted by one of Hawaii’s most compelling UFO encounters.

The first sign came when lights appeared, moving toward Maui from Oahu’s direction. The group initially assumed they were watching typical air traffic heading for the local airport. But this assumption shattered when the lights suddenly changed course, moving to track slowly along Kihei Beach.

From the witness report filed years later: “We were sitting on the beach with a fire, for mine and a pals shared birthdays, when I saw these lights headed towards Maui from the direction of Oahu. I thought they were headed towards the airport here on Maui, but these bright lights turned and headed along the Kihei beach, slowly.”

What materialized in the night sky defied conventional explanation. The primary witness described an enormous, eight-sided tube-like craft displaying remarkable transparency. Stars remained visible through its structure even as lights traced its geometric form. Most strikingly, around two-thirds along its length, the tube-shaped craft featured a clear break, followed by a second similar section maintaining close formation behind it.

As stated in the official report: “It was shaped like an eight-sided object – but long tube-like. About 2/3rds along the length… there was a break in the object, and then there was a second (same 8-sided shape tube) closely behind it. It seemed to be translucent… meaning we could see through it, but it had lights all along the six-sided shape… outlined like. But I thought I could see stars through the long shape… It was like it was outlined in bright neon light, but you could see through it.”

The presence of smaller, active lights around the craft added another layer of strangeness to the encounter. The witness noted: “As it passed I saw many darting lights flying around the end of the object.” These lights exhibited intelligent movement patterns unlike any known aircraft or natural phenomenon.

The craft’s massive scale and proximity left a lasting impression on those present. “It was huge, and we all got really alert, and I was scared. I don’t scare easily,” the witness reported. The object maintained a consistently low altitude throughout the sighting, flying noticeably lower than typical aircraft patterns.