StageofHistory
Paranormal Novice
Hi Paracast forums,
I wanted to post a message about an experience I had about 18 months ago, to hear your thoughts as my own research on the subject hasn’t satisfied me.
During a walk in the summertime, at around midnight, I witnessed a series of ten orange lights traveling north/northeast above the horizon, in groups of two or three. My first reaction was that they were chinese lanterns, which are commonly launched off the ‘South Downs’ in West Sussex (south of England, UK), although these would be to the north of where I was, and the lights were rising from the east. I didn’t note the wind direction at the time, but they were moving across what would be the prevailing wind.
I could not see the launch location, as it was some distance away behind a tree line, maybe eight-to-ten miles away, minimum. They moved slowly, rising as they went, and I watched them for about seven or eight minutes, at which point they would fade out of sight one-at-a-time in roughly the same position and attitude.
At the beginning of the observation I was unimpressed, convinced that were simply lanterns. However, as well as viewing them in visible light, I also used a Gen 1 Yukon 6x monocular, and I swopped between the two methods numerous times. The scope has always performed well both before and since the sighting.
What I still can not explain is that although they were visible with the naked eye, under night-vision they were invisible! I’m can confirm that the equipment was working, and I know I was pointing the scope in the right place, as I used the distant tree line as a reference.
So, I ask you ‘under what circumstances can a visible light source not be seen using an image intensifier or IR?’ as this goes against my understanding of how the technology works. I still believe that what I saw were lanterns like those I see nearly every week, but I’m baffled by this particular experience, and have not been able to recreate it (watching other lanterns, and launching my own!).
Any ideas or thoughts to clear this up in mind would be appreciated, including any limitations of the tech or similar experiences. Maybe they weren’t just chinese lanterns?
Thanks for you help, and love the forums. SoH.
I wanted to post a message about an experience I had about 18 months ago, to hear your thoughts as my own research on the subject hasn’t satisfied me.
During a walk in the summertime, at around midnight, I witnessed a series of ten orange lights traveling north/northeast above the horizon, in groups of two or three. My first reaction was that they were chinese lanterns, which are commonly launched off the ‘South Downs’ in West Sussex (south of England, UK), although these would be to the north of where I was, and the lights were rising from the east. I didn’t note the wind direction at the time, but they were moving across what would be the prevailing wind.
I could not see the launch location, as it was some distance away behind a tree line, maybe eight-to-ten miles away, minimum. They moved slowly, rising as they went, and I watched them for about seven or eight minutes, at which point they would fade out of sight one-at-a-time in roughly the same position and attitude.
At the beginning of the observation I was unimpressed, convinced that were simply lanterns. However, as well as viewing them in visible light, I also used a Gen 1 Yukon 6x monocular, and I swopped between the two methods numerous times. The scope has always performed well both before and since the sighting.
What I still can not explain is that although they were visible with the naked eye, under night-vision they were invisible! I’m can confirm that the equipment was working, and I know I was pointing the scope in the right place, as I used the distant tree line as a reference.
So, I ask you ‘under what circumstances can a visible light source not be seen using an image intensifier or IR?’ as this goes against my understanding of how the technology works. I still believe that what I saw were lanterns like those I see nearly every week, but I’m baffled by this particular experience, and have not been able to recreate it (watching other lanterns, and launching my own!).
Any ideas or thoughts to clear this up in mind would be appreciated, including any limitations of the tech or similar experiences. Maybe they weren’t just chinese lanterns?
Thanks for you help, and love the forums. SoH.
