Siani
Despiser of religious nuts
I've just seen a strange, illuminated object in the sky. I live at the top of a hill overlooking the Bristol Channel, the location of numerous UFO sightings. My window faces south, looking out over the bay. The light was travelling from east to west, slower than a plane would, and I'd estimate it was about 1 - 1.5km away from me, although admittedly, it's hard to tell, as it's night-time. The object was a dark, orange-red colour, similar to the colour of hot coals, but with a slightly redder tinge. It appeared about the size of my thumbnail held at arm's length. I opened the window and heard no engine noise, which I would expect to, if a plane or helicopter was flying just off-shore. As to height, I don't think it was above 500 ft. I used a nearby building for comparison, which is 330 ft tall, and it didn't seem too much higher than the building. Not a very good estimate, I know - sorry.
My initial thought was that I was seeing one of those wretched Chinese lanterns, as the light seemed to expand and contract, as I would expect a flame to, but this effect was possibly due to it passing through wispy cloud lying below the main cloud cover. The object veered off its east-west trajectory, describing a 90° degree, and began to head north, towards my position. It then ascended, slowly, and in a very gentle zig-zag motion, disappearing into the main cloud ceiling. The sighting occurred tonight at 22.28, UK time. As I'm about to hit the 'submit' button, it's 22.53 here.
Anyone have any ideas what this could have been? Could a paper lantern or small balloon carry out such manouevres if it got caught in an air current?
UPDATE: After initially being told there was a lantern airborne at this time, it now seems the lantern was launched 2 miles west of this location and was flying north to south-east, whereas what I saw was going east to west.
My initial thought was that I was seeing one of those wretched Chinese lanterns, as the light seemed to expand and contract, as I would expect a flame to, but this effect was possibly due to it passing through wispy cloud lying below the main cloud cover. The object veered off its east-west trajectory, describing a 90° degree, and began to head north, towards my position. It then ascended, slowly, and in a very gentle zig-zag motion, disappearing into the main cloud ceiling. The sighting occurred tonight at 22.28, UK time. As I'm about to hit the 'submit' button, it's 22.53 here.
Anyone have any ideas what this could have been? Could a paper lantern or small balloon carry out such manouevres if it got caught in an air current?
UPDATE: After initially being told there was a lantern airborne at this time, it now seems the lantern was launched 2 miles west of this location and was flying north to south-east, whereas what I saw was going east to west.