8 orange lights in the sky or more ???

[Dazraz]

Hi its 12.20 am 13th septhember and me and my family have just been stargazing and have seen a very weird thing. All of a sudden about 8 orange balls rose in to the night sky some of them getting feint and some glowing very bright orange then my son picked it up on the 8" Dob and said he could see a rock shaped object when i looked through my 12x50 binos i could see a turning object which did look like a rock. Can anyone explain what i have seen here was it a meteor shower ?

I have posted a picture from the film i have showing 5 of the objects and i will convert the video film and post it tommorow >

ps im in kent near the sea did anyone else see this spectacular view ??

Regards Daren

[jgs001]

could it have been the chinese lantern thingies ?

[Dazraz]

Hi its 12.20 am 13th septhember and me and my family have just been stargazing and have seen a very weird thing. All of a sudden about 8 orange balls rose in to the night sky some of them getting feint and some glowing very bright orange then my son picked it up on the 8" Dob and said he could see a rock shaped object when i looked through my 12x50 binos i could see a turning object which did look like a rock. Can anyone explain what i have seen here was it a meteor shower ?

I have posted a picture from the film i have showing 5 of the objects and i will convert the video film and post it tommorow >

ps im in kent near the sea did anyone else see this spectacular view ??

Regards Daren

Well funny you should say that coz someone did say there was a wedding in the area but im not sure - what are chinse lantern thingies ?

[InterGalacticTez]

Hi its 12.20 am 13th septhember and me and my family have just been stargazing and have seen a very weird thing. All of a sudden about 8 orange balls rose in to the night sky some of them getting feint and some glowing very bright orange then my son picked it up on the 8" Dob and said he could see a rock shaped object when i looked through my 12x50 binos i could see a turning object which did look like a rock. Can anyone explain what i have seen here was it a meteor shower ?

I have posted a picture from the film i have showing 5 of the objects and i will convert the video film and post it tommorow >

ps im in kent near the sea did anyone else see this spectacular view ??

Regards Daren

yeah im pretty sure they are chinese lanterns judging by your description and the photo.

people set them off all the time here in brighton especially at a weekend, the farmers have been moaning about them a fair bit recently

[Dazraz]

Just seen a video of these chinese lantern thingies and would 90% say it was what i saw - but very nice at the same time - oh well there goes my meteor shower theory out the window

here is the full video : http://www.zshare.net/video/654767736051956b/

[InterGalacticTez]

haha i wonderd what the hell they were when i first saw them because when they are high they just look like silent flickering orange balls.

ive heard they can rise up to a mile high.

people have been stringing them together here in brighton so they look like they are flying in formation lol and yeah they are popular at weddings.

meteor showers look totally different, have you never seen a so called "shooting star" before daren ?

[InterGalacticTez]

Just seen a video of these chinese lantern thingies and would 90% say it was what i saw - but very nice at the same time - oh well there goes my meteor shower theory out the window

here is the full video : zSHARE - Picture 030.avi

just watched your video they are chinese lanterns mate 100%

they are pretty good though i might let some off on new years eve or something lol i reckon my kids would love them

[Dazraz]

just watched your video they are chinese lanterns mate 100%

they are pretty good though i might let some off on new years eve or something lol i reckon my kids would love them

Thinking i might get some myself

The ones that were getting bright were obviosly when they were catching light but as i said before a awsome viewing - one of the best i have seen since i started stargazing even though they were not stars lol !

Yes i have seen a shooting star we saw 3 tonight !!!!

[InterGalacticTez]

lol yeah they are good to watch although ive never watched chinese lanterns through a telescope.

they sell them on ebay i think.

[Dazraz]

lol yeah they are good to watch although ive never watched chinese lanterns through a telescope.

they sell them on ebay i think.

Yes they do £10 for 10

[00stefan]

I can't see how these lights can be Chinese lanterns from brighton I live in cheltenham and saw the same eight objects in sky but they were moving from a north east to south east direction I was hoping I wasn't only person to have witnessed this

[Dazraz]

I can't see how these lights can be Chinese lanterns from brighton I live in cheltenham and saw the same eight objects in sky but they were moving from a north east to south east direction I was hoping I wasn't only person to have witnessed this

I think he was saying they let them off in brighton from time to time i live in margate and think they were over this way or close as i heard someone had a wedding in the area

[skye at night]

Oh go on get loads!!!

All we need is MORE LP around the UK skies...

Amazing what folks can find to waste time and money on...

:)

[Dazraz]

Oh go on get loads!!!

All we need is MORE LP around the UK skies...

Amazing what folks can find to waste time and money on...

:)

I cant see that a few lanterns for someones wedding is going to bring the sky crashing down - i better not stick 40 candles on my cake this year then

[InterGalacticTez]

Oh go on get loads!!!

All we need is MORE LP around the UK skies...

Amazing what folks can find to waste time and money on...

:)

LP ? ...... In brighton ?.....your joking right ?

I practicly live in between a floodlit football ground and a 24 hour floodlit asda i think it might be a bit late to start worrying about how much LP 1 candle will throw off lol

[Dazraz]

LP ? ...... In brighton ?.....your joking right ?

I practicly live in between a floodlit football ground and a 24 hour floodlit asda i think it might be a bit late to start worrying about how much LP 1 candle will throw off lol

lol !!!!

[skye at night]

lol !!!!

They may not actually project much Lp on a local scale but if imaging (or even eyeballling) they are a bl**dy nuisance....

I live where the skies (when cloudless, not often) are very dark.. but my one and only recent experience of these things ruined the only 30 mins of imaging time I have had in the last few weeks..

They create a forest fire risk even up here and further south farmers are finding that the wire remains are being choped/ploughed into the stubble of their fields and grazed by their animals with sad consequences....

With Britain being such a trend and fashion driven place I can unfortunately see the things becoming more and more common...

They may not bring planes down.. but I would lump them in the same compartment as green lasers in the hands of idiots...

It may be small but just another addition to the floodlit buildings, lasers in the sky (was that Brighton Councils great Idea?) etc.. that seem to be getting promoted more and more...

I think as a community that craves, needs and tries to promote the darkening of our skies we should do all we can to avoid and discourage the things...

But then again.. just my opinion...

If you are going to Kelling Heath take a few along and set them off through the night... you could even point at them with a green laser just in case they had gone unnoticed and see what happens!

As said already... amazing what some folks can find to spend their money on!

Steve

[nijthered]

I too have seen these lights on numerous occasions, however the Chinese lantern theory doesn't ring true. I saw 4 of these lights last night all travelling in different directions on quite a windy night.

Maybe people are looking for something that isn't there but I don't see how they can travel in different directions in the space of 5 minutes.

I have seen some of these lanterns released at a wedding and they really don't give off the intensity of light that the one's I witnessed did. Like I said, how can they travel in different directions?

[Astro_Baby]

I get them a lot round here - they can appear to travel in different directions and in fact DO trave in different directions at altitude due to wind shear. They can also appear to fly in perfect formation. Last week there appeared to be a whole load of them, 10 or more, all flying in line astern of each other.

Also against a black sky its sometimes very hard to judge how far away they are, what their speed is or what direction they are moving in. Th first one I saw seemed to be orbiting Gatwick airport and for a few scary seconds I thought it was a plane on fire and trying to get down.

They can seem at times to be flying in formation or eveb appear to move very fast but its just an illusion. I doubt aliens would come millions of miles across interstellar space by means of a hot air balloon powered by a candle

[glowjet]

Perhaps it is another way our mysterious visitors have found to disguise themselves.

[vegas]

I saw 5 this evening over Peterborough.. At first very eerie, until I realised what they were.

[Stargazer49]

Hi All Yes you are all right they are the chinese lantern thingies. I got caught out on Xmas night seeing about 10 flying northeastwards out of Bedford at about 9.15. Thinking if the were lowflying aircraft I posted on another forum for advice. The answer CHINESE LANTERNS!! They do look funny from a distance and they do go quite high

[Ant]

Every year at Kelling someone in the surrounding area lets a load off, they do look quite odd and the ones that I saw did change direction and act rather unexpectedly.

Ant

[matt c]

Hi everyone saw what must have been chinese lanterns but they behave so strangely, 3 of them flew by in a line horizontal to thier direction while another one was weaving back and fourth in front of them. They moved through the dipper in about 1.5-2 seconds, rationally I know they were lanterns but your eyes tell you otherwise very very strange

[Dazraz]

Hi everyone saw what must have been chinese lanterns but they behave so strangely, 3 of them flew by in a line horizontal to thier direction while another one was weaving back and fourth in front of them. They moved through the dipper in about 1.5-2 seconds, rationally I know they were lanterns but your eyes tell you otherwise very very strange

Yes they are wierd things