In 2004, my friends and I were hanging out in my bedroom watching a TV show with the lights off. I was sitting on the end of my bed near my window, which had its shades pulled down. I noticed a weird light catch my eye coming through the shades from above, which was weird since my room was on the second story of a house. I opened the shades and we saw a black triangle-shaped UFO with three glowing red lights slowly spinning counter clockwise and gliding soundlessly through the air about 100 yards away from us. Within just a few seconds, it stopped and made a hard right turn and disappeared. We were all completely dumbstruck. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever experienced. Every few years I text the friends I was with that night to confirm that I’m not crazy lol.

Ah, retroactive federation makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much for your detailed response, it’s a great ELI5!