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Good evening and a happy New Year to all on Arena. This is a serious post and not as a result of enthusiastic over-indulgence last night! Just wondering if anyone else has seen unusual airborne activity over the festive period? For those not in the UK, we are in the grip of very cold weather presently and have been for a couple of weeks - with more forecast - but in many areas the wintry days are accompanied by spectacularly clear nights which are perfect for star-gazers. Earlier this evening, at 5.10pm whilst enjoying a New Year meal with some friends, we noticed a strange object flying across the sky in front of my dining window. What caught the attention was the underside - it had the appearance of an aircraft on fire. I live midway between Blackpool Airport and BAE Warton in Lancashire so we see quite a range of aircraft from cessna props, chartered mid-size jets such as 767s, typhoons, tornados and assorted helicopters. Naturally we opened the window to get a better look. The "aircraft" was travelling around the same speed as a helicopter - around 100 kts, at around 1,000 and 1,500' altitude and approx 1 mile from where we were. The sun had just set and the sky was clear and the visibility was excellent. Whatever it was it was something none of us had seen before - certainly not in these skies.
Underside had the appearance of hanging globules of fire atop a cylindrical object around 10-15 metres in length. It radiated a bright orange glow and was completely silent. I live opposite a beach and there was absoltely no traffic noise at the best of times. We hear aircraft from miles away. This was flying around a mile away and it was silent. It passed north to south for a couple of miles then simply disappeared. One of our party recalled seeing two similar objects on Christmas night around 7.15pm whilst driving, but discounted it at the time thinking it must have been a reflection or a firework, but thought it unusual in that it was travelling horizontally around the same height but in a south to north direction. When he stopped to look - it had vanished. Have been checking the news tonight but there has been no mention, but when I googled UK UFO sightings I came across this website which has multiple sightings all over the UK in recent days. Calling family in Scotland this evening to relate the tale and we are surprised to hear one family member in Fife had a similar experience shortly after 6.30pm this evening too - same characteristics. About 250 miles away.
Now thank you for your concerns and I am still relatively sane and I know what a Chinese lantern looks like, but if anyone else seen anything unusual in the last few days I would very much like to hear from them.
Similar sighting last night here is Sussex. Alss a very cold and clear night sky. I live near a small local airport and within 10 miles of Gatwick. Similarly used to seeing aircraft lights and hearing aircraft noises. We also get the Police helicopter hovering around at times with their spotlight blazing. What struck me about this sighting (I was driving at the tme) was that it seemed simply like a large orange glow (bit like you get fom a street lamp from a distance) but a couple of thousand feet up. It was relatively large for a sky light at night, imagane a whole underside of an aircraft in orange glow. Quite strange. Certainly not seen anything like it around here over the last 8 years.
Weird, huh? First thought was Chinese lanterns but the "flight path" was at the same altitude i.e. horizontal flight - and quite fast circa 100 kts. There was no wind last night - very calm and clear and it certainly looked to have its own propulsion. Haven't seen any lanterns that are 10-15m long anyway. If it's a hoax, then it's a good one!
I saw lights over Plymouth when I looked outside just after midnight on New Years Day. There seemed to be a wave of them- at least four I should think, proceeding slowly over the city in a more or less north to south direction. They were red, not especially bright, moving at the apparent speed of helicopters, however they did not resemble helicopters otherwise- no searchlights, and besides there were far too many, the cops never launch that many at once, and the Navy surely wouldn't hold an exercise at 00.00 hrs on New Years Eve. The lights remained at the same height throughout so they weren't fireworks.
My sister, whom I phoned to give New Year greetings, noticed the exact same phenomenon over Teignmouth, simultaneously.
In answer to the obvious question- I had consumed no more than 1.5 units that night!
I'm sending a few of my American friends over to investigate......
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
**************************************************
Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
There were loads let off from the hills around Folkestone (I think the Nepalese community use them) and they travel quite fast across the sky even when the wind speed at ground level is very low once up a few hundred feet it can be much faster. Also the darkness skews perspective in relation height, size and relative land speed. A couple crashed into trees nearby the house which is on an opposite hill, but before they crashed they appeared to be miles away, large and travelling really fast but as they approached the trees, which changed the perspective, they were travelling much slower than previously appeared and of course were only a few feet tall.
Happy New Year
Dave
__________________
Descartes seems to consider here that beliefs formed by pure reasoning are less doubtful than those formed through perception.
Think Mulder and Scully would be having a fabulous time with all these sightings. Plenty more across the country....
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Location of Sighting: Warwick
Date of Sighting: December 31st 2009
Time: 10.00pm
Witness Name: Marc
Witness Statement: I was on a night out with friends drinking in the Zetland Arms pub in Warwick. A friend and I had gone outside the front of the pub for a cigarette when I spotted an orange light travelling from behind St Mary’s church towards us, over head then over the pub. There were fireworks going off at the time but in a completely different location and as usual they were being shot up into the air and after burning would slowly fall.
This orange light was in no way a firework, neither was it Chinese Lantern. I estimated it was about 20ft in diameter, travelling at a height of around 800ft and at a controlled, consistant speed of approximately 150mph. This suggested it had a purpose or was being controlled. A Chinese Lantern would never be travelling at that speed and at such a consistant rate and in a perfectly straight line unless it was being carried by winds travelling at that speed. Even then it wouldn’t be moving in a straight line but would appear to be blowing around in the wind. It wasn’t windy at all on New Year’s Eve.
I saw a another one of these strange lights acting in exacty the same manner, this second one came from the same area (from behind the church) but travelled in a slightly different direction.
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Location of Sighting: Kent
Date of Sighting: 02/01/2010
Time: 10:15
Witness Name: Michaela
Witness Statement: My father was sat at the dining table watching the television while my mother and I were watching tv in the lounge. My father then shot up out his seat calling us to the kitchen, stating that there was a huge light…going to the kitchen straight away we saw a huge Amber light flying SW to NE. My father being interesting in weather accurately stated that the wind tonight is a NW direction so any lantern/ balloon would be going the other way. This light was bright and steady and did not change from it’s path with no flashing lights like an aeroplane. It made absolutely no noise and was traveling at some speed much faster than an air craft! Looking at other posts it looks as if we are all discribing a simular object….I am baffled as to what it may be?
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Location of Sighting: Spean Bridge “NEAR” Fort William
Date of Sighting: 26/12/09
Time: 22.30
Witness Name: Sandy Gibson
Witness Statement: Whent to commando monument to walk the dog. saw bright light looking NE going E TO W.The light stopped dead and sat not moving for about 15mins. then a bigger light came from the east and joined the first light. no noise. After a few mins both lights moved at good speed to the E and stopped again when a new light same as before joined the first two and made a small triangle. then all three moved E again slow untill out of sight. l am ex Army and that was like nothing i had ever seen before. not air rescue helicopter or aircraft. The Army are trainning up hear just now and i know it not them. you could hear a pin-drop it was like all the normal noise just stopped. spooky
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Location of Sighting: Watcombe, Torquay
Date of Sighting: 25/12/09
Time: 9.20 pm & 9.40pm
Witness Name: Alan Austin
Witness Statement: At 9.20 pm Xmas day my neighbour and I were in my back garden facing north. We saw a bright orange light travel from west to east at height between 1000 feet and 1500 feet at approximately 100mph making no sound whatsoever. It was in view for about 30 seconds when it veered slightly to the left and out of sight. 15 minutes later together with the wife three of us saw two similar lights together a little further away for 10 seconds before disappearing in the same direction. There was 40% cloud cover in the west and clear in the east, no wind at all. I am the secretary of our local model aircraft club and very used to seeing and evaluating aircraft and their associated attitudes in the sky. This was no aircraft and no chinese lantern.
Chinese lanterns do no fly at 100mph horizontally in calm wind conditions.
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Location of Sighting: Kings Tamerton Plymouth
Date of Sighting: 19/12/2009
Time: 12:05 a.m.
Witness Name: Dave Brown
Witness Statement: I spotted a fairly fast moving orange/yellow small ball of light travelling from west to east at 5min past midnight on 19th Dec 2009. It was totally silent and moving too fast to be a chinese latern and too slow and low to be a meteor. It appeared to be below the clouds. It was not the ISS which passed over Plymouth at about 5a.m. and 6a.m. that morning
dan howley
December 20th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
I saw the same light on the 19th december at about 2030. The bright orange light moved towards me in Ivybridge from the Plymouth direction. I lost sight of it as it moved above the clouds then reappeared. When i saw it again it had lost its colour and appeared to be light grey in colour with no lights. I would describe the shape as circular with a convex base. I would love to find other people that saw this as i cant even begin to imagine what it might have been.
Rob
December 20th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I saw the same earlier this evening, 20th December, at 18hrs in Plymouth. I was stood outside the Chinese restaurant in barn Barton with my daughter and people were looking into the sky.
I looked up to see what i thought was perhaps debris from an aircraft on fire falling to the ground. It was very high up well below cloud level but brightly lit covered in fire. As we stood and watched it, it actually wasn’t heading down but across the sky and it gradually faded as it went towards to city centre direction.
I must admit i have never before seen anything strange like this before, and it certainly wasn’t a firework or the like.
neil
December 26th, 2009 at 7:47 am
I live in Torquay and i saw a bright orange ball of light with what appeared to be flames and sparks trailing behind it a couple of weeks ago i was completely baffled by it (9.30pm). Then i saw another one in Bodmin on christmas eve (7.30pm) and three more last night (xmas day 9.30pm) They are most definately U.F.O.s just like all the other sightings!. Chinese lanterns my a*** why havent they been mentioned in the media???
IAN
December 27th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
With regard to Dan and Robs sightings.Sounds like the same thing I saw in Exeter on the 25th Dec about 1am. Orange/red colour travelling from west to east, too fast and large for a satellite or flare, too slow for a meteorite. It lasted about 5 seconds varying in brightness as it travelled above and through the clouds and then I lost it behind a big cloud. I got no ideas yet what it could be?
Harry Cockerham
December 27th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
On Sunday 20th December in mid-evening (I didn’t immediately note the time, but probably around 7-8 pm)an object flew high, fast and silently high above our house in Sunninghill, Ascot, Berkshire, in a north-north-east direction across the dark night sky. It’s the first UFO I’ve seen and was of startling clarity. It was extremely bright, yellow and orange. Imagine a conventional parachute-shape flying on its side, open round canopy first, trailing an orange ball or large blob where the parachutist would be. The canopy shape was bright yellow, and the trailing ball was vivid orange in colour. The triangular area attaching this canopy-shape to the orange blob was also of a shimmering yellow, but paler and semi-diaphanous. The object flew totally silently. I watched its passage across the sky until it went out of sight over the skyline in a matter of perhaps 10-15 seconds. It seemed to be about the size of an aircraft flying high but not too high to be quite easy to describe — but it was definitely no aircraft. I wondered later if it might be a comet, or some sort of space debris burning up on re-entry, but if so, it’s surprising that there have been no other reports of it in this area that I’ve seen, since the location is a mere 10 or 15 miles from Heathrow, and the object was flying straight across flight paths. All I can add is that I’m 72, a rational, highly educated, retired professional man, not at all given to delusions (quite the reverse), I’ve never seen anything like it, and the memory will remain with me.
M. Lucas
December 28th, 2009 at 1:35 am
We saw a bright orange ball move over Paignton, this evening, moving east to west silently over our heads and out to sea. It was an incredibly bright orange, almost like a flare. It didn’t strike me as a conventional aircraft because I’ve never seen single landing lights this colour or intensity. Spookily enough, it appeared during a power cut which lasted from 6.50pm until 7.45 approx. ( I know, it sounds like a cheesy close encounters storyline but fact). I managed to scrabble for our digital cam and took a couple of images. Unfortunately by the time I got outside again, it was only a pinprick of light. Hopeless images but for what its worth: http://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k2...G_6878-ufo.jpg
David & Jackie
December 28th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Whilst sitting at home at about 9:10 pm I looked out of the window which looks over Millbrook towards Plymouth to see a large orange light floating upwards. At frist I thought “chinese lantern”, but it was to big for that and on looking closer there was a smaller light behind it giving the impression that it was attached. Two of us watched it raise upwards and towards where we were. Then it turned on its axis and its climbed quicken and moved away from us up in to the clouds. As it was moving away from us we could see two lines of lights either side of the central orange light. These lines were at an angle of 25′ with the tips lower then where they were attached to the central light.
Always lights at night. Never F*****g great objects in daytime. Why is that?
I see two possibilities. One is that they are only there at night, the other that they are there in daytime too at which time they are IFOs (identified flying objects).
And honestly, if little green men have crossed the vast gulf of interstellar space and are cruising around at low altitude at night (to avoid detection) in vessels which cannot be picked up on commercial radar for every military base, air traffic control tower and hobbiest, they would have developed ships which don't light up like... well like chinese lanterns, in the dark.
Unidentified, yes. But lets be clear, its lights in the sky which are not identified by the people seeing them. Odd, certainly. But to me only in the same way as people getting better with acupuncture or watching the x factor. I can't explain those things either but just because I can't does'nt mean there is no pragmatic explanation.
But then again I believe a guy who'd been dead 3 days got better, so who am I to throw stones?
Yep, I would go along with that. Never saw any green men either. It might be they were some sort of drone or model aircraft. Could've been some low flying geese that feated on some discarded vindaloo. Whatever they were, there's sure to be a rational explanation - not for a minute suggesting they were supernatural. But a weird phenomenon, especially with multiple sightings and yes I agree that many of these would be chinese lanterns, but I would be really surprised if our sighting turned out to be that. But hey, who knows? Not the local cops - who said they had literally hundreds of calls Friday night but could offer no explanation - as yet. I've a hunch that Rothbart's behind it....
May the force be with you....
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Location of Sighting: Wallsend, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear
Date of Sighting: 31/12/2009`
Time: 22.35
Witness Name: P.T
Witness Statement: At 22.35 hrs on new Years eve I was emptying the boot of my car after returning from a trip. I glanced up and noticed that there was a full moon. The sky was clear apart from some scattered snow cloud moving in from the north east. I decided to view the moon using the binoculars that I keep in the car boot.
As I was removing the binoculars from their cubby hole, I looked up at the Moon once again and noticed an unusually bright light approaching from the north east at an altitude I would estimate to be 8 -10,000 feet. I thought this an unusual approach for Newcastle Airport, and then realised that this was the only aircraft movement that I had heard/seen all day and that it had been a very quiet day air traffic wise!
I tracked the object with the naked eye until it was level with me. As it passed I noticed that the light was infact incandescent orange in colour, similar to a jet engine with the afterburner lit. I then viewed the object with the binoculars. On closer inspection I noticed that the light appeared round/oval in shape ( similar to a lit street lamp from 500 ft or so) and was a solid colour. There were no flashing lights, no pulses or oscillations.It ( the Vehicle)? was travelling slower than a light aircraft, with no visible method of propulsion and in complete silence. It was a somewhat eerie moment! I followed the object as it proceeded south west and eventually out of sight. It seemed to navigate a deliberate course. Given the speed of travel it appeared almost as if it were on a reconnaissance mission. At no time did it stop or deviate from it’s course.
A couple of minutes later it appeared once again from the north east on exactly the same track. I was somewhat amazed, as it must have moved at incredible speed in order to complete a circuit that quick. I viewed it again with the binoculars, its path exactly as before, only this time once nearly out of sight the orange light was extinguished as it passed through the rapidly amassing snow cloud and out over newcastle City Centre. At once I turned to my left in order to look back in the direction of the north east, only to see it again. It was obvious now that there were a number of objects, each one the same and all following the exact same course, at the exact same speed & altitude.Once again I tracked the third object with binoculars. I watched this one navigate around the clouds and as it did so, it began to accelerate and then the orange light once again went out. As it flew on I saw a large dark body (vehicle)? which appeared to be similar in shape to a rugby ball. It then accelerated out of sight at breath taking speed!!…………
I used Steiner professional 7×50 binoculars to view these objects.
Ok, I know my aircraft, and this certainly aint one! Too slow, no sound and at the end of their display, definately way too fast!!
Also not a Chinese Lantern,unless they can be piloted to fly in formation at prescribed altitude and distance or remotely controlled to fly in the same manner!
Location of Sighting: DALRY TO ARDROSSAN BACK ROAD AYRSHIRE
Date of Sighting: 5TH JANUARY 2010
Time: 19:10 PM
Witness Name: PAUL KEAN
Witness Statement: Leaving Dalry..at around 19:00 hrs heading to Ardrossan I had noticed a bright pulsating light in the distance..towards the Ardrossan end..but hanging completely stationary..Not unusual I thought given the location of Prestwick & Glasgow Airport.
At this point I was the only car on the road..not surprising I guess given the road conditions..
Upon reaching the road to Ardrossan from Dalry (at the West Kibride intersection cut off) I got to the top of the hill and drove round the blind bend.
At the left of my vehicle at what appeared to be about appx 100 feet in the air was a very bright stationary light.
I stopped my car and put my Hazard warning lights on (as the area was extremely icy and light snow had again started to fall)..Upon doing this the object moved towards me and hung almost directly ove r the passenger side of my car..At this point I was stunned to say the least and could clearly see that it was Triangular in shape…Completely solid..with a Large pulsating red light at the tip (but at the base of the object..not at it’s side….and a pulsating green light at its bottom base part.
Size wise I would guess about half the size of a football pitch.
At this point…stupidly..instead of using my mobile phone to take a photograph I called my wifes number which I had on speed dial..As soon as I did this the object moved even lower towards the car and I lost all signals on my phone…..It hovered for a couple of minutes then slowly tipped down..At this point I could see the top of the object and it appeared completely flat..and Metallic black..but no eveidence of any cockpits as may be visible on a plane..It then tipped again and moved silently away at a speed of appx 10 miles per hr (estimate).
This object appeared completely unrecognisable to me in terms of any technology I have seen before..If it is man made it has been well hidden.
I then drove home as another car had just came over the hill….Whether the driver of this vehicle saw anything I have no idea.
What this was I have no idea..BUT I can confirm it was NOT a plane, helicopter, Chinese Lanterns, or anything else known to me..and it was right on top of my car so I had a CLEAR view for nearly 5 minutes.
Would appreciate any comments or if anyone else saw such an object on that night?
....and for an international flavour....
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Location of Sighting: zip code, 92530, California, USA
Date of Sighting: Jan 2010
Time: 9.00pm to 2.3oam
Witness Name: A. L. Sundberg & Family
Witness Statement: Hello,
I wanted to get away from the U.S. sight’s, I did however contact one a few days ago but have not heard back.
I don’t know what it was that I photographed, but it was strange & unfamiliar to both my 15 year old son & myself. I am positive it wasn’t a star, pretty sure it wasn’t a planet (we saw three similar lights located roughly south/east, south & south/west, visible from 9:00pm to last view @!2:30am, always situated in the same position), my wife says they are satellites, but I don’t believe satellites are outfitted with a lighting system. Briefly, what my son & I saw, clearly, was a barbell shaped light with a distinctive reddish/orange light on one side a short dull white line then a brighter white light on the other side of the “barbell”. There were three distinctive & exactly similar lights in the position’s I described earlier. These lights would slowly & sporadically strobe including a blue light occasionally blinking in different position’s. They also seemed to abruptly dart a short distance then back again to their original position, the boy & I always noticed @ the same time if looking @ the same position. The strangest objects are the smaller bright red objects (view pic’s magnified to 350-800%) always in the same positions below the “barbells” usually two of them but a lot of times only one.
I am sending 4 pictures all shot with my $100 Nikon camera maxed out on the zoom. Locate my zip code, 92530, California, USA, & you can then roughly position the photos on a map. I believe the ones attached are all of the “south” facing light, I did shoot some of the south/east light, but none of the south/west one. The photo’s I took were on a couple of different nights over a week’s period. Has anyone else reported? Lastly, there are several ijets flying around this area, I can’t believe none of them saw these lights, that’s why I am questioning myself as to what it is I think I saw. The lights were definitely there, I have photo’s, but are they manmade, a common celestial activity, or something else. Interesting none the less.
[Location of Sighting: Lochgelly, Fife, Scotland
Date of Sighting: 30 January 2010
Time: 10 .50pm
Witness Name: Tam and Brenda Westwater
Witness Statement: I had just got back fae the pub with the missus and was taking the dug oot fir a walk doon the field at the back of the house when all of a sudden the dug went beserk and nearly pulled me over. I looked up tae see a bight light travelling at some speed heading doon towards kirkcaldy. Nae sound except fir a whooshing noise. Ah thocht ah wis seeing things at first but the dug was gaun spare and then the next minute anither UFO came richt ower the top of us and stopped about a hundred feet away. The dug stairted tae whimper and lay doon and nevir evir does that. Hes a 12 stane rottweiller and a braw gaurd dug and ah hive never seen him daen that afore. The UFO was still fir about 1 minite – a brite light but a big black shapeite ahind it – then it whooshed away tae a rondyvoo with the ither one near kirkcaldy. Ah hiv no slept all nite and neether has the dug, just whimpering and lieing oan the the flair. WE ARE NOT ALONE and ah hiv nae idea what these things were but they ARE NOT OFF THIS WORLD. Something needs tae be done.
Ian Jeffries
February 1st, 2010 at 9:06 am
Hi Tam
Seen the same thing too, but down the road from you in Cardenden. It was our dog that alerted us as well – I think have the dogs in Cardenden seen the lights judging by the level of barking that was going on!! Very strange – and I’ve been on the wagon since the New Year!
Ian Jeffries
February 1st, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Just found this on the web. Seems like Lochgelly is fast becoming the centre of paranormal activity. Aliens doon the Avenue!!
John
February 1st, 2010 at 9:42 pm
This whole area has been a UFO mecca for years, it’s just down the road from the infamous Bonnybridge. Seems to be hotting up again for some reason.
Tam Westwater
February 2nd, 2010 at 12:45 am
I dinnae ken whats gaun on. Thanks fir the replies but ah hivnae a clue what tae dae next. Ah’ve hid the pure mince taken ootae me the day, flyin sausers, aliens, ET, nessie an aw that, but ak ken what ah saw. A hiv read reports oan here and it seems tae me that we’re gettin invaded and its been happening for a long time. Maybe no living here like but who wid want tae live in Lochgelly onyway, jist visiting an observing. Kirkcaldy, bonnybridge, edinburgh ayr, thier evirywhere. I Came back the nicht an the dug wis jist siting stairing out the windae and hisnae evin gone outside tae the lavy the day. THIS CANNAE GO OAN. Ah hiv no slept since Friday nicht.
Strange sightings in the evening sky
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