Swindon UFO Research

Lamenting Lanterns

What has North Sheffield, Warwick, Clwyd, Selby and London have in common?

They have all recently been reported in various newspapers with stories of orange glowing orbs in the sky. The standard reporting stance has been taken, with the witness reporting their sighting, usually followed by some ‘expert’ comment and then the ending line of ‘If you have seen anything please get in touch with the paper’. What exactly are the newspapers going to do with any reports the public sends in?

There are some great stories. The one about the reaction of the pet dog brought a smile to my face. Apparently the dog was so ‘distressed’ it ran around in a circle three times. The dog now apparently always looks to the sky when he goes out. Who knows, perhaps he always did that anyway?

What is this fascination with orange lights? We all know that the chance of them being lanterns must be around 90%, especially when fleets of them are seen, but still the reports continue and still the press print them. Surely there is something more interesting going on than people releasing miniature hot air balloons into the sky? Oh, there is, but that’s all doom and gloom isn’t it. Perhaps orange lights are better than reading about how Woolworth's are going under or that another bank has failed or how much the current crisis will cost us tax payers.

SUFOR haven’t had that many orange balls of light reports into the desk, perhaps five or six. Two of these turned out to be a helicopter, with the rest attributed to lanterns. We did of course have the Children in Need night release of lanterns, but interestingly only one person reported these to us and I saw nothing in the press about it. Perhaps the locals of Swindon are much wiser when it comes to identifying objects in the skies. Perhaps they were all in doors watching Children in Need or even in the pub.

The latest sighting reports to SUFOR have had a common theme. These cases report pinpoints of lights moving in the sky, some times singularly, but interestingly sometimes in pairs.

As we come into the party season with Christmas and New Years, I predict a few more orange balls of light will be in the skies over the UK. Exactly how many remains to be seen, but will this be the last we hear of them? Will the appetite for this type of reporting be finally sated by the festive season?

Of course not!