Places in Surrey

Have you seen the orange lights in Surrey, Sussex or North East Hampshire? Do you have a theory on what may be causing them?

Eleanor
I saw bright lights over farnham last night 28th of august 2009 there were 3 orange lights that were moving quite fast. I think they were chinese lanterns but they were quite high up.

MJ
Saw about 40 orange lights travelling in a line above Haslemere this evening. Can't figure out what they were as seem to travel quite fast then each one disappear suddenly. Trying to convince self military as army bases near by but were so silent???

david
Just seen a line of orange lights over surrey moving north to south - Redhill towards brightron. Too slow for meteors but too fast for lanterns. Looked stunning though!

kimberly plowright
i was outside in my garden it was around 10.00pm and all of a sudden i saw 5 really bright what looked liked stars bright, shinging all in a row all going at the same speed and the went straigtht up into the sky they gradually dissappeared before going up to high to be able to see then then within 2 mins of those gone another 3 came and the same then 2 and then another 2 it was really strange and was all within 5 min and was just wondered if any one had seen anything the same or if anyone had any idea what this could be as have never seen anything like this before

ann King
We have seen these orange/red lights on two occasions. A single light on each occasion moving steadily across the sky, not too high up and definitely not a plane or a Chinese Lantern. Both sightings showed the lights moving from West to East but on a slightly different trajectory each time. We haven,t a clue what they are. There is no noise associated with them and the light is steady, not flickering. We live in the Old Town area of Eastbourne in East Sussex.

Chris in Findon
Myself and my girlfriend were taking an evening walk last night along the A24 by the black horse pub at just gone 9pm when we saw a precession of these lights. just like others have said there was no noise at all. they came over in small groups in a line astern fasion for almost half and hour and we counted at least 22 of them. we did get a film on a mobile phone of one of the lights whizzing around another another in the line but it didnt really pick them up. it was fascinating, as it was much faster and more nimble than any plane i can think of.

Mark
Saw two at 2130 last night (Sunday, 06/09/09) in Findon Valley. May of been more but I needed a cuppa more than a firework display! I got out of my car having just arrived home from work (at Gatwick, so I'm more than familiar with aircraft lights and living on the Shoreham flight path am familiar with both commercial and light aircraft). A deep/burnt orange light was passing over the downs from SW to NE, High Salvington towards Findon Village/Nepcote and must have passed very close to the tower at High Salvington. I couldn't determine height but got the impression that they were only several hundred feet up. It had been dark for about an hour at this point and there was patchy cloud and an almost full moon with a particularly bright sky. Both were below cloud level. The first one I watched until it was over the farmland to the north of Cissbury Ring where it seemed to dim and then disappear. I was unsure whether it disappeared into the cloud, but I don't think it was high enough and the cloud was patchy, so I'd go with the petering out theory. I did wonder whether it was gaining height which is why it dimmed so quickly before disappearing into the clouds, but everytime the patchy cloud theory pokes holes in this idea and given the height of the clouds it would have to have gained in size as it went, so no. My inital thought was that it was a flare but it wasn't actually radiating light as a flare would and the trajectory was totally different. I let the dog into the back garden about a minute later and as I did so the second one came over on almost, if not the exact, same path but possibly at less of an altitude. It seemed very bright as it appeared over the downs at High Salvington and a little dimmer as the ground dropped away. I watched this one until it disappeared over the roof. Had it not been for the distance/time lapse between the two I could have believed they were tethered together. There was no sound. Curious. Curious enough for me to have Googled it this morning. I'm a staunch athiest, don't believe in the supernatural, et al and, although cannot rule out life elsewhere, don't prescribe to the UFO/alien pop culture. To quote Douglas Adams, 'Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?' But it was curious nevertheless, not the bloke on his microlite out for a night time jaunt and dangling a light, although you could have believed this had there been the sound of a motor. Having read the Chinese lantern theory it seems most likely. One UFO buff has argued that the T-candles would flicker and hence be the giveway. However, the gasses in a balloon I imagine would be constant and a small flickering candle obscured by the immediate glow of gasses. The lantern theory would go with my impression that one flickered out. I don't know what the wind direction or speed was but they seemed to be floating on currents. That they were on such a similar flightpath suggests to me that they were released quite close by. There's probably some corn circle-like pranksters having a right laugh at this stuff. Or it could be those spaceships travelling thousands of light years to refuel on the sulphur deposits at Clapham Woods! ;)

Beth
Last night (31/8/09) at around 11pm I was in my gardeni n Hove and saw two orange balls of light move slowly across the sky. Then three more followed in the same direction. Def weren't planes as there were planes in the sky too and they looked very diff - like balls of fire.

West Byfleet Sighting
My wife and i spotted three unexplainable orange lights last night (21:30hrs 30th Aug 2009) travelling towards and over our home in West Byfleet. They came from the west and headed east towards London. Lanterns they were not and there was no indication they were planes / balloons / helicopters etc. These lights had a constant, non-flickering orange glow about them and they emitted no noise that we could here. Their flight path was very strange - they seemed to go fast then slow down then speed up again. The second one seemed to be catching the first before it slowed down and let the gap get back to what it was before. At first i thought they were flares (I lived on the North Scottish coast and would see flares in the sky when boats were in distress) but when the lights came up they started to move across the sky at a very fast speeds over our house. I half expected them to drop to the ground like flares but their paths defied gravity and they flew horizontally. Within seconds we lost sight of the first two "glows" but just before our roof was away to obscure the third it seemed to dim and disappear. I started to think that what we had seen over the 20 second period could have been meteors and that the other two larger “orange glows” had a little further to travel for them to dissipate. However none of them left any trails behind them and, as described before, their paths were not constant. With a flight path above us we see many low and high flying planes and on a clear night we can even see the odd satellite – all of which are explainable with solid evidence. However what we seen last night was in no way explainable so after it being on our minds all day and after stumbling upon this site while “googl’ing” I thought i would share our experience with you all.

Katherine Ashley
I watched a series of orange- coloured lights moving at a regular pace from West to East over SW London at 10.15 on Saturday 29 August. There must have been 40 or so of them travelling in a line one after the other. I watched them for about 20 minutes and then there were no more.

Ian
just taken the dog for a walk around 9:30ish on 29/08/09 and have just seen a procession of these lights move past overhead silently. There were seven in all five in one cluster followed by a further two. They were moving quite quickly and soon dissappeared out of sight. I can say that the lights appeared to be flames as they were flickering like flames. Wierd

Chrissy
I saw 5 last night (23 August) but there may have been more before I noticed them. I was standing in the garden looking down towards Newhaven Marina and saw them come up from the river and then turn in land and northwards. I couldnt say how high they were but it was a still night and they made no noise. I can't see they would be lanterns as they all followed the same path and at the same height.

danielle nelson ,glenn durrant and luke lambourne
Last night (22/08/09) at around 10PM I was letting the dog out when I spotted 5 orange lights in the sky. Unsure as to what they were I called my partner Glenn Durrant and my cousin Luke Lambourne to look at the lights. They were bright orange in colour and looked like large stars however they were moving. They all seemed to follow on the same axis but not in a perfectly straight line. They appeared to vanish in to the atmosphere but then another would appear. We witnessed approximately 20 lights in total and could only assume that they were part of meteor showeer but we are unsure!

anita
last night friday 21st at 9.50pm was siting in the garden with friends when 4 orange lights very bright came across the sky quite low in a triangle formation with no sound at all, it really freaked us out it was unlike anything i have seen before

Sarah Hayes
A good friend of mine called me this morning to say that she heard what can only be described as the low hum of a 'space ship' hovering over her house in Saltdean at 2am this morning (19th August 2009). She went to investigate, saw a flash of light and the strange object vanished into thin air. She is convinced it is a U.F.O and as she never tells lies I really do believe her! Did anyone else living in the Saltdean/Rottingdean boarders see this?

kim nicholson
I was out in the garden last night (17/08/09) at about 11pm. I like to star gaze. I saw a very bright orange light in the west, and at first assumed it was a star. The light began to move in a northerly direction, and then faded out for a minute. It then returned continued north for a short distance then did a small u turn and proceeded to zig-zag to the south. It was moving really slowly, I did think it was a satillite untill it did the u-turn. I live in Crawley and Gatwick is only 2mins from my position, but I can say this was not an aircraft of any sort, as it was totally silent and at least 3 aircraft were flying about the skies at the same time. The light did not have any of the flashing lights that aircraft do either. My neighbour also witnessed the light. I have no idea what it was, and would like to find out.

Lorna Tinham
Recently at a wedding we let off flying lanterns which are 1 mtre high paper balloons with the end left open to accommodate a very lightweight holder of a very small amount of some combustible material. This is lit and as the hot air fills the balloon one lets the wind take it. The sight is amazing. The inflated lanterns lift high into the sky, at least 3 - 500ft, and drift in the direction of the wind. They can be alight for 10/20 minutes, glowing an orange colour which becomes paler orange to finally a dark grey/black as the combustile material is used up and scorches the balloon material. Possibility of some sightings but not all.

Nigel & Nikki
At approx 20:40 last night my wife and i observed something that we can't logically explain fly over our garden at an estimated height of 500 ft. We have seen many hot air balloons, microlights and even WW2 fighters flying very low over us but have to admit last nights object has me stumped. It flew from West to East in a straight line with no obvious deviation to height or speed. It appeared to be about the size of a microlight/hangglider but made no sound whatsoever and to be honest, was too fast for either. my wife compared it too a hot air balloon that had shrunk but this had a constant glow as opposed to a variable flame. It was only visible for about 15 - 20 seconds and came from the direction of Herstmonceux observatory which is right next to us. (Did they see anything i wonder) we are surrounded by a wood and therefore the height, speed and scale of the object was balanced against the very high trees that surround us.I Would very much doubt that this could be attributed to a lantern.

Gareth
Saw a group of orange lights on Saturday 15/8 at around 11:30pm. At first, I thought they were fireworks but the realised they were nothing like that. The group of 8-10 large round orange lights moved very slowly. I watched them for more than five minutes before they eventually disappeared behind rooftops and trees. They didn't blink like aircraft landing lights, nor fall downwards like fireworks.

Sarah Blake
Last night 15th August at approx 9.45pm my husband and I witnessed a stream of orange lights moving south west to east over Hampshire/Surrey Border. We saw 3 at first and then they came into 2's and singles for the next 15 minutes. Altogether we think about 20. No noise and bright orange glow?? Any ideas?

Donna Webb
I have seen the same sort of lights that have been described here, tonight in Thetford, Norfolk. It was about 10 in the evening and we were watching the stars with friends after a BBQ, when we saw about 6 to 8 of these lights, all in succession, at about 2-3 minute intervals. They were all the same size and orange in colour. they moved at quite a speed and as there was no noise, I do not think they could have been aircraft. All seemed to come up from the same place and folloe the same trajectory(excuse spelling). The adults and the kids all watched in amazement, wondering what they were. As we live near a big military training area, we put them down to something going on there but who knows. Odd

martin alderton
yes ! tonite at 21.30 ish 3 of them past over durrington. almost noiseless and not to fast. two of them past with the third following along 4 or 5 minutes later

Gemma daniel
Me and my partner witnessed this last summer and again tonight at 9:55pm. Both times there was only one glow but they seem low and a burning colour. The first time it moved slow and then suddenly disappeared. This time it moved right across the sky until we could just see it in the distance. We are curious as to what this is?

Dan Foster
Having read many of these comments both here and on other webpages after my girlfriend saw similar lights in Bristol, the following points are apparent:1. These lights occur in abundance on Friday and Saturday nights. Chinese lanterns are lit and released in abundance on Friday and Saturday nights.2. Where are all the reports of Chinese lanterns floating through the sky? We know that they do work, so it seems likely that reports of floating lights are actually referring to the "missing" lanterns that are never reported.3. Although I wasn't with any of the other posters/comment authors reporting these sightings, I have to say that all reasons cited against the paper lantern theory are very weak. These lanterns can float up over a thousand feet above ground level, and even just a hundred feet in height will expose them to air currents that are not felt at ground level: thus their ability to unexpectedly change direction and formation. Moisture in the air will create an indistinct fuzzy "halo" that some have referred to. It is very easy to get impressions about size and distance of objects, but these impressions are generally very inaccurate - due to the object being unfamiliar to the observer, and the only backdrop to the object being the sky.Yes, they might be aliens, and I'd love it if they were! But unfortunately the paper lantern theory is actually far better than many give it credit.

Chris Waterman
At approx 2130 last evening (8th Aug) my wife & I witnessed a procession of orange lights travelling North to south in the eastern sky. We were in Holbury, and the lights travelled at constant speed, but at irregular intervals. (About 8 in all). They were to the East of us, and the angle of elevation was approximately the same as that of the moon at the time.

Chris Calmus
7th August 2009, Over Worthing seafront travelling north, just seen 9 bright orange lights slowly climbing in total silence. They were not in any pattern, but they all moved in the same direction at the same speed. They faded one at atime leaving the top and bottom alight. Tried to get photo's but not very clear.

Alex Dervin
I just witnessed the exact same thing. Bright orange lights travelling upwards and away from where I was. They appeared in twos mostly and I witnessed at least 12 of these, whats going on!?!?

Ian Prior
last night (tuesday 28th July 2009) I headed to a local pub in Ashurst Wood, Sussex, with two friends. When we got out of the car we saw four orange lights floating past in the sky. We watched for ten imutes or so and there were 13 in total all in a short period of time. They all travelled in similar but not identical trajectories and made no noise at all. They were very different to the airplanes we always see around here. Other people from the pub came out to see what we were looking at but nobody was able to explain what they were.

jason scrase
My wife, our eldest daughter, my wife's friend, her daughter and I saw a single orange glowing ball far to bright for a lantern, much to slow for a meteor on Saturday 25th July around 11pm over Hove East Sussex. Interestingly it didn't drop/fade to the horizon but moved up and away from us to the north east. Again the brightness was alarmingly bright, almost to the point of staggering. Defiantly not a balloon burner etc. as it had the "halo" of brightness around the ball. BRIGHT ORANGE IN COLOUR. NO SOUND OF ENGINES.

Ja & Tel
At about 12-30am last night - 25/7/09 we were standing in the back garden off ditchling road in Brighton having a smoke, when we noticed 3 reddish/Orange lights to the south-west. What drew us to them was the fact they were in near perfect formation diagonal, in very close proximity to each other and appeared to be Bemused by what we static in the air, alternating in brightness. After about 5 minutes they simply just disappeared. had just seen, we continued to scan the night sky and out came the binoculars.About 10 minutes had passed and out of nowhere in the same section of the sky, 6 of these reddish/orange lights appeared again, they were again in close formation and seemed to be heading towards us, although travelling very slowly. The direction changed again and headed south west before again just disappearing after about 10 minutes

John Long (Amateur Astronomer)
2am, July 24th 2009Brilliant,orange-yellow flickering motionless light observed for over half an hour, in easterly sky,observed from Brighton. Never seen anything so bright in the night sky.Eventually closed the curtains and slept.Looked out for the same light the next night but there was nothing to be seen!

Linda Ryan
Last night (26/07/09). I was watching telly with my friend and noticed an orange light in the sky through the blinds. I got up and looked and it was very bright, travelling at the speed of a plane or faster over brighton, heading inland. My friend and I ran out the back garden and it passed over us, there was no sound at all and we watched it until it was out of sight. I tried to take a picture but it didn't come out. It was about 21.30 ish. I am sceptical about ufo's but this was strange!!!!

Rob
me and a friend whilst sitting in the garden 25/7/09 have just seen what looked like an orange firework in the sky but when it did not burn out or change course,it just continued in a west to east direction at speed it did not look any thing we had seen before we even questioned that it might be the shuttle on its return through the atmosphere but just checked and its not due back for a few days yet???? anybody else seen this over the suffolk area

John Milbank
There are at least two airports in the area (Gatwick and Shoreham)and it could be related to aviation.

Cathy R
My husband and I saw at least twelve quite large orange lights moving from West to East on Saturday 18th July at 10pm. The colour of the lights was like a 'day-glo' orange and they all followed the same path and then disappeared at the same point in the night sky. There was no noise and the colour and the speed were so unusual that we were mesmerised. The lights seemed to appear at intervals at the same point, follow the same path and moved quickly and smoothly across the night sky. We thought it could be helicopters but there was no noise to be heard. We can't explain what we saw and thought that we would be laughed at if we reported the matter.

Mike Melia
My partner and I both saw three orange lights fly independently of each other yet in formation at midnight 19/7/09, a fourth then followed, stopped in front of us, came towards us then set off to follow the other three. MikeHeaviley, Stockport

Dan Brown
I was walking home from a friend's house (last night 18/07/09) at approximately quater past midnight when I saw one of these orange lights in the sky, it moved directly over me travelling north(ish)and the dissappeared from view. I ran into my Mam and friend standing in the middle of the street and explained that this was the second to travel over! I thought it could have been a plane or helicopter but after taking my earphones out I realised there was no noise. My mam and I talked about it for a while and she suggested chinese lanterns, if it was a lantern it must have been pretty big with a jet pack attatched. We both thought it was very odd and slightly unnerving, I've looked through all the local news pages today and found NOTHING about it!!! I thought it could have been a satelite which had broken up but both lights were travelling in what appeared to be the same direction. This is very weird and would love to hear some sort of theory about. Thank you, Dan. 19th July 2009.

marie lane
I live in Pontypridd south wales, and my partner and myself just seen a bright large red/orange ball in the sky that was travelling slowly across the sky and just seemed to dissapear.

andy
i have just seen what i thought was a shooting star , but it was pritty close and was green , this was over horsham , anyone know wat this is

rosie
i saw bright red/orange lights in the sky around sunset. At first i thought they were planes, but they weren't moving, they just hovered in the sky. Then when they finally did move the light faded slightly.

Anne
I have seen similar lights in sussex but learnt through a friend that they could be highpowered laser light shows that can produce different patterns and colours and they can and do disapear above low cloud which makes them look as they have gone but reapear.

Mel
On Saturday 4th July 2009 between 10:30pm and 10:50pm I saw around 100 orange bright dots moving across the sky above Leatherhead, Surrey. They moved in clusters, sporadic groups, or single units, some at synchronised speed, some not. They travelled in the same direction, South to North, in a "lane" approximately 30 degrees above horizon. The objects were silent, and the closest distance seemed to be around 300 to 400 yards away, below clouds. I have a number of clear photographs of them.

Natalie & Emma
We we're sat out on our terrace on the night of sat the 4th of july, At around 12.50am we saw what looked like 3 balls of fire floating above us. They were traveling quite slow at first and then sped up and disapeared over our roof. We thought maybe we were going mad but after talking to friends locally we found that others had seen them too. Our other flat mate has since told us that she heard our neighbours outside around an hour earlier and that she saw they we're looking up at the sky so being nosey she looked up too and saw one just hovering in he sky! There was no sound at all coming from these and sorry but they looked far too bright to be lanterns and also i can't see how lanterns can change speed and formation like these objects did! The air was still and sky was clear.

Sara
On Friday 26th June at around 11.30pm we saw 5 of these lights travelling west to east in the sky at East Preston. There was no sound and they were going at a regular speed. Two were in the sky at the same time. When they first appeared over the western horizon they were quite large and very orange. We have no idea what they were and would love to know if anyone else saw them or has an explaination.

martin & sarah
On 4th July 2009 we saw a whole series of orange lights moving in a northerly direction between Dorking and Leatherhead. The phenomenon lasted for several minutes with upto 50 lights moving in waves. Some maintaining a similar altitude, others rising gently into the sky. Does anyone know if there was a party in the area where they were releasing lanterns?

Corall
on sayurday the 4th of july 2009 about 10.55 pm i was thaking my mum home to the other side of chester to where i live an as i drove past the race course i seen about 20 little orange lights.When i got to my mums i stood on her balcony an watched them,some were in clusters some in lines all going the same way. But im sorry to dissapoint anyone but i really do beleive they are chinese lanterns.

Nicole
On Saturday 27th June 2009, at around 11.30pm we were walking by Brighton sea front, and saw 3 bright orange lights in a vertical formation above us in the night sky. Initially we thought they were stars but the orange colour was not at all star like. Then the lowest light sped off and disappeard,within 20 seconds the next lowest one did the same, leaving the last one hovering for around 30 seconds more before following the others. Definitely not stars, and definaely not planes. We were amazed to see our first UFO's. did anyone else see them that night?

Anne Rayment
On Friday 12 june 2009 at 11.20pm we saw a series of orange lights in Cambridgeshire coming from the Duxford direction - they continued to appear with the same distance between, noiseless going upwards into the sky behind the cloud until we went to bed at 12.15am. There were 6 of us sitting round watching them fascinated but didnt think to take any photos! Went to bed and dreamt about Aliens! Very strange - any suggestions as to what they might be?

Bronte
Last night on June 14 '09 my boyfriend and I saw 10 bright orange round shapes around the Knaphill area going from Brookwood way towards Knaphill. They were travelling quite fast and low about the size of a 1p coin in the sky! They were all pretty equally distanced apart and the night was clear at this point. As they went across the sky the objects gradually faded to nothing and just disappeared into thin air. This all happened around 10:30pm and lasted between 5 and 10 minutes. Finally found people who will believe me.... everyone else thinks I'm nuts!

lena and Jess
We have seen these!! in Treforest, Pontypridd 13/06/09 we were sat outside about 9.45pm and our dog was just staring up into the sky- not barking just a fixed gaze! then my husband said there was a shooting star. It wasn't, it was a large fire ball of orange moving at a pace that almost hit a plane! that by contrast was much much smaller- there was no way anyone on the plane couldn't have seen it,it was much much bigger than the plane!. My husband then rushed upstairs to get his hyper optic binoculars(not sure what they are but strong) and what we were fortunate to view about two minutes later was the second one that followed. It appeared through the binoculars to be a 'jelly fish' form on fire moving across the sky at a very fast pace following the same route and then it just dissapeared! it was not a chinese lattern! it was five hundred times bigger and just kept burning. By the way my husband is a real critic on stuff like this, and has never believed in U.F.O's but is at a loss to explain what we saw and any explanantion would be appreciated.

peter
approx 6 weeks ago me and my partner saw an orange light moving across from north to south over southwick heading out to sea it was moving very fast and it was certainly on fire with no noise at about 1000 feet up, 2 weeks ago 23/05/09 we saw orange lights out to sea, i am a sceptic but no more, these were not planes or flares etc.... what were they! if these are chinese lanterns i saw then they must be turbo charged. 05/06/09 peter and claire

Jody T
last Saturday (30/5/09) my father and bother-in-law saw orange lights low in the horizon which proceeded to move very rapidly with fast changes in direction in the westerly skies over Chertsey in Surrey......on the same night my sister-in-law and her husband also saw 3 orange lights that they say were high in the sky and appeared to glow unlike anything they'd ever seen. Unfortunately I never got to see these lights but am still on the look out....oh both these sightings were during daylight! Weird no?

Jon
Last night, Sunday 31st May 2009 Eastbourne between 10 and 11 pm. I was having a ciggie out of the bathroom window and saw a large 'fireball' (glowing orange) moving horizontally and quite low in the sky. This thing appeared to be both bigger than a 747, and faster than any plane or helicopter. I watched it, shouted and ran to get my partner, was literally gone 3-4 seconds, and when I returned it had just vanished ! Impossible ! I know what I saw, and it wasn't anything man made (that I know of !). Just a big ball of fire flying at a constant speed and height. It's stayed in my mind all day as it was so bizarre.

Paul
We were driving home in Farnham, Surrey at about 10:15pm tonight (30/05/09)and saw what looked like a large orange burning ball moving along in the sky. We stopped the car to look and it had gone altogether. It had no resemblance to a plane or helicopter.

chrissi smith
10.30 pm with my partner jon standing in the garden saw multiple orange lights traveling across the sky in a north south direction. traveling all in the same direction & at the same pace. when I googled it I found this page.From Normandy Surrey 30th May

Ann Jacobs
I saw the orange lights on Saturday 25th April. there were approximately 15 of them coming up from the downs - Pewly hill area in Guildford and drifting towards the castle before disappearing. Presume they were Chinese lanterns. Tempted to try and but these and set them off to compare what I saw. Sadly my camera battery was flat

Lindsay
Myself and my family saw about 6 orange lights at about 21.50 on the 24th May ove Crawley Ridge, Camberley. There was no noise and the lights were quite low. I have no idea what they were - does anyone know?

vicky mccluskey
On Sunday 26th May 2009, My husband and I were enjoying the warm night in the garden, it was about 11.30pm and we looked up to see five bright orange lights following each other silently across the sky they appeared to be going straight up before disappearing. We live in North East England.

John Evans
Was driving home from Guildford Surrey at around 00:20 24/05/2009 when about a dozen bright orange lights came into view. They were in 3 sets of formation of 4 lights. I stopped the car to watch and after a while they broke formation and moved off in varying directions. My daughter and her friend(both 17) were with me and witnessed this event. I have never seen anything like this before, but am sure they were not planes or helicopters.

Elaine
At 11.30pm in north london on saturday 23rd 09 we saw orange lights in the sky.These lights appeared in the flight path where i usually see the plains from heathrow however they seemed lower,i didnt see any aircraft as such but how the lights were formated made me think that it must have been an aircraft as they all moved at once. i ever called heathrow after and asked if anyone had seen anything or called in,i also mentioned a meteor shower he said he had been there all night and not heard of this i was the only call.we called sky news and they said other people had reported it aswell.At first glance it seemed like there was more than a dozen orange lights but more appeared and was moving slowly to the right.I ran to the garden but they was harder to see for some reason being lower restricted my veiw and i could only see a couple through the trees,i ran to the street and you couldnt see them at all but my friends who were in the same place as us but higher could still see over 50 they said it was hundreads that was passing while i was trying to get pics and look from another angle.It lasted several minuets and kept moving slowly to the right i managed to get a photo of the tail end of what we saw but that was only a couple.what was it?.its odd because several thoughts went through my mind,jets? as 3 lights seemed to form a triangle but as my eyes adjusted i saw that these triangles was forming a pattern covering a large space in the sky it seemed like a massive pattern of lights that could have been set in something round in shape,but then there was loads could be 2 hundred i think it stopped before i went to the garden then a new lot started again,by this time i thought 2 U.F.Os.but then there was hundreds following the same path at which i thought must be some kind of comic raindrops but they wasnt falling and all was the same size,i just kept think what is the rational behind what im seeing.By the time i came back from the garden but still outside on the stairs it seemed like this pattern again i.e i thought u.f.o again. very strange i have never seen anything like this before it was nice to look at.There was also no noise and like other people have commented they remained steady.

P Abbott
I saw 9 lights at 10pm 19/5/09 at Nuthall Notts. All moving at the same speed in the same direction and about 1/4 mile apart. I had two witnesses. I have since spoken to someone else who has seen similar lights. I did see one last november in the same spot!Very unnerving

aieden
me and some friends saw 7 drifting across the sky in Worthing, scared us out of our wits, we followed them to the front of the house when they just disappeared. its weird

Wendy A
On Saturday, 9 May 2009, just before midnight we saw an orange light moving across the sky above West Byfleet untill it disappeared behind trees. A second followed shortly after on the same path, but it just faded out and disappeared. It was very strange as they obviously weren't planes and we couldn't here any noise.Any ideas on what these could be?

Angela Horst
The lights I saw with 3 of my friends in Cambridge last night Sat 2nd May between 11.15 and 11.30 were quite spooky,orange,no noise.Now that I have seen so many other reports there must be a logical explanation.Glad there is the internet to throw light on an initially worrying sight.Sleep Well.

Laurie L
My son and I saw one glowing orange light going slowly across the sky above our house near Penshurst in Kent last night (2nd May 09)at around 9.30 to 10pm. It was completely silent and looked as if it was an orange ball burning in the sky. We kept watching it for about 20 minutes until it went further away and then seemed to peeter out gradually until it disappeared.

ann Jacobs
I have just seen a fleet of orange lights about 10-15 all in a line moving slowly almost drifting and then disappear. They were not aircraft as they did not have flashing lights. They came from the downs in the east of Guildford and travelled towards the cathedral. No idea what they were

Rudi Roberts
I saw these orange lights at 10.05 on a saturday. Although not from this area i saw them over the town of wrexham. There were 20 of these then three more. We saw one fall and disappear over the houses. Many thanks.

Andy Parker
I was travelling home in Guildford last night (04/04) around 10:00-10:15 and saw a series of about 7 of these lights travelling in the same direction over the space of a few minutes.The first three seemed to just disappear as they passed overhead, but when the second batch arrived, one of the lights clearly slpit and fell. At that point looked it was clear that there were flames and after a few seconds they disappeared.It was difficult to estimate the height they were at.

Sarah Broad
I have just seen 8 orange lights moving slowly across the sky, I watched for about 3 or 4 minutes as each one gradually faded and then disappeared, I called my husband to see them too, and he just caught the last one. This happened on 4th April 2009 at 8.45pm in High Salvington in Worthing. The lights were moving South.

Robert and Trevor Ellis
We have been seeing orange lights in the night sky at around 10.30pm for the last five evenings. Haven't managed to film them yet as last night when we got the video out they just disappeared. No sound which makes it feel sppoky

Steve Williams
Having just read these comments I am encouraged to say what my wife & I saw on the 11th Oct 08. We had just returned to Folkestone at about 10 ish at night (rough estimate) we saw many lights in the sky. I have no idea of the altitude but not commercial airliner height, lower than that. They were heading inland from the channel, I lost count but 30 would be a reasonable estimate. They were all travelling on a rigid flight path at the same constant speed which remained steady. They were not all in line, some were in pairs, some in three's and some on ther own, but all going in the same direction and not changing formation at all. There were too many of them for them to be aircraft (I have never seen 30 odd smaller aircraft travelling together in a haphazard arrangement anyway! I drove quickly to the beach area for a clearer view. I expected to see others looking or to hear something on the news but there was nothing! I searched the internet for sightings but again, nothing! So I just accepted it as a mystery, why did no one else see them? You dont like to talk about it to people in case they think your nuts!!

Elaine Forse
My friend Samantha Panther and i were leaving work today 25th March 2009 at 9.30pm. We saw what i can only describe as two bright orange lights in the sky over the sea at Bexhill on sea unsure what they were we drove down to the sea front and watched in total amazement as they gradually dissapeared into the distance further to to sea! they were totally silent and followed the same path we watched in amazment as another five appeared and followed the same path!!!!! Did anyone else see them????

julie p
my husband and i and a couple of friends saw loads of orange lights slowily moving across the skies all jaggered in a line moving in the same direction what was also strange there was no noise this was on saturday 21st march 2009 about 7.45pm. what are they ?

Steph A
This happened in Brighton (06/03/09) at about 21:30. My sister and I were sitting in the living room. Our flat has a sea view and suddenly this red light appeared almost hovering above the sea. I am not sure whether it can be said to be a meteorite but it seems unlikely. I was wondering if anyone happened to see it.

Jane W
My daughter and I saw one orange light (5 March 2009)in the sky last night over Crawley around 8:30. We were just leaving K2 and the light was very orange, like a ball of fire, definitely NOT a plane and moving quite quickly across the sky. It appeared to be quite low as well. By the time we had driven home it has gone. It was very strange!!

matt
Saturday 28th Feb 09,me and my friend were going for some drinks in Oxted, surrey. It was around 9.30pm when we went out of the house looked up and saw around 30 - 40 of these bright orange flying objects travelling in a south westerly direction from Biggin hill direction. They were in a S formation, and were approximately 1000 ft up. They disappeared very quickly. however there appeared to be one stationary over master park, oxted surrey.This is the first time i have seen anything like this again they were silent.This was also witnessed by my parents. i have never seen anything like this in the night sky before,and they demonstrated by there amazing flying formation that they appeared to be coming out of thee night sky. Did anyone else see these on saturday???

Lisa Beattie
14th Feb 2009 my friend and i watched a bright orange light just by the west pier - it moved up and down and it seemed to cover a lot of distance with out seeming as though it was moving fast. It was def not a chinese lantern. It was quite eerie. About 2 mins after that we saw another one that seemed to be headed staight for us!!!...it went in the direction of Brighton to Hove on the seafront and just disapeared by Brunswick square. Did anyone else see them?

Dan Belton
A friend and I just saw a dozen to thirty orange lights, seemingly equisdistant, tho at angles slowly and orderly travelling South East from Hove over Brighton (Norfolk Square)at 20.20 approx. My friend noticed them a little before this. As they reached the coast line they 'went out' or hit cloud one by one.

kate
Yesterday (15/2/09) we saw 3 orange balls of fire above Hailsham at/regular intervals about 19.30pm. What the hell are they?

Jon H
I was out in Brighton Main near north street (i think) on the 7th January 2009 (07/01/09) when we saw a single orange glowing object. Moving too slow to be anything uncontrollably entering the atmosphere (i.e. meteor) and it was MASSIVE (probably 10x the width of a star - we'd all be dead now if it was a meteor!) it moved in a straight line i guess north to south... gradually faded and then seem to 'wink' twice before disappearing all together. No other lights were on the object. it made no discernible sound

Ezna Lane
Last evening (7.2.09)at approximately 6.40pm my husband & I witnessed a great number of small pinky/red lights moving very slowly in formation from west to east in the Hangleton area. We called our friends who witnessed the final few. They were very vivid against the night sky but then disappeared beneath low cloud. A deep,low humming sound could be heard quite clearly. DEFINATELY NOT aircraft noise as we are quite au fait with that sound living close to Shoreham airport. Anylight you can shed on this phenomenon would be much appreciated.

Michael Irvine
I spotted around 12 orange balls of light appearing in the sky above my house in Haslemere Surrey tonight at 21.00 approx. They varied in size and appearing either 1 or 2 at time travelling from east to west across the sky. They were be brightly lit and I can only compare them to balls of fire and as they moved across the sky would become smaller before appearing to burn out. The whole thing was spectacular and I have never seen anything like it before. In all I would say the 'show' lasted for 5-10 mins.

Jacob
20 minutes ago i saw an orangey red light slowly moving i ran downstairs and alerted my mum it was smaller when i saw it downstairs i ran got my camera but by the time i got to the window there was no trace

Lisa Daddy
Don't believe it, have seen the SAME lights, the SAME formation, tonight 7th February 2009 at approx 9pm... What on earth are they??? I live in Haslemere, Surrey and had a clear view of them. They seem to be coming up from direction of Devils Punchbowl/A3 area.... They are bright fast moving light and seem to dissipate into the atmosphere... please someone tell me what this is!!??

jason brooks brighton
Myself, my mother in law, my niece and nephew, and my daughter have just seen 10 bright lights in Brighton, looking towards Eastbourne. There is currently still lights there now. The date today is the 7/2/2009 and the time is 19.00pm. They have been there for a least half an hour.

Carl
I was with a friend in southgate london last night and saw lots of orange glowing things. No noise nothing, just moving then they got smaller and dissapeared?

michael
Yes, I and several other dog walkers saw 5 over Hastings at about 11.30 on New Year's Eve. They all followed exactly the same route and didn't appear to be affected by the wind. I'm open minded about what they were.

Susan LLoyd
Myself, husband and two children saw two bright orange/red coloured bright lights on new years day, between the times 12.10 and 12.15am, we thought they were fireworks at first, but instead of dispearsing the lights continued to soar across the sky heading from marple towards cheadle. The lights were travelling slowly a uniform distance apart, we thought it could be a plane, but we realised this could not be possible as there was no noise. As the lights were travelling into the cheadle area one of the lights diverted and disapeared from sight, whilst the other took a turn upward through some cloud and faded out of site, again with no sound!.

Gerald Wilson
I have seen this phenomonon twice recently in Fleet Hants. The first was New Years Eve 2008. A firework rocket was set off, when I looked up I saw the light and thought that it was the rocket falling back to ground. However the light remained in the sky and drifted north. A few days later, with very low cloud cover, I saw a similar light drifting to the west. It did seem to have something surrounding it, like a lamp shade, but that could have been reflection in the cloud.

Malcolm and Belinda
sighted at 1am 1/1/09Eastbourne at Langney Point. Spotted two orange lights hovering together. One flew away, hover around 300 yards away.The other one stayed hovering where it was then suddenly moved on to join the other waiting one and both took off at a fast speed.We were saying to goodbye to friends in their car.They must of circled and come back because they flew over our friends car. It was either the the first two or another two. We have no idea to what these lights were but it freaked us all out badly.

Jason
Bit further away in Aviemore, Scotland, but I saw 2 orange lights travelling north across the sky at around 0010 on 1st January 2009. There was no sound and they travelled at a steady speed and kept the same distance apart before suddenly disappearing. Been searching the internet to see if anyone else had seen them and came across this site. Apparently these lights have been seen all over the world according to what you find on the net. I would love to know what they were as have never seen anything like it and I am fairly sure they were not satellites or shooting stars based on having seen both of these before.

Beth
Last night (04/Jan/09) in Crawley my dad and I noticed that some of the stars in the sky were red later on we saw that they were 7 orange lights travelling slowly across the sky with no noise. Having read all of these sightings it is so strange to see the exact description of what we saw. Why anyone would set off chinese lanterns in minus temperatures is beyond me. But if we see them again I will certainly look out to see if they are. If not then it is very strange.

Sarah and Jason Brown
3/1/09 at approx 9.30pm, we also saw lots of orange lights one after the other about 15 in total.We were visiting friends in Crawley in Gossops Green area.Seven of us stood in the back garden watching them come over from the north east and disappering almost above us.Not a sound was heard by them but they had a distinct orange glow.

Dave Goulding
Me and my mates were talking about this last night and it got me on a crazy mad research spree, but everywhere i look i can not find a feasible explination! it was about 6 months ago now, around 10-11pm. I cant remember exactly how many there were but it was around 6-8 of these orange glowing lights pretty much exactly the same distance from each other in a straight line above the West Midlands Area. The closest i could describe them as is a series of flares although i have never seen a flare in real life. They were traveling relitavely slow towards the sky the thought of them being meteors is absurd. I suppose they could have been those chinese lanterns but would of been VERY coicidential for them to not drift off from each other. Dave, Bewdley.

Tab
We saw 2 orange lights in the sky west of Chichester. It was approx. 10 minutes into the 2009 New Year. We looked out of a window which faces south and saw one orange light in the sky which hovered for about 4 minutes in the same location and then moved away slowly until it was very faint. Then another orange light approached rapidly from a different direction until it reached the original location of the first light. At this point the first light then vanished. The second light hovered for a short period of time and this eventually faded upwards into the night sky. These were definitely not aircraft or fireworks and we were sober. Did anyone else see them?

laura
i saw 3 orange lights last night. (31 december) around half 12ish. 2 of them went flying in one direction, another stayed for a while and then flew off really fast aswel, how weird

Mr Brian Lockyer
I saw 8 orange lights in the sky at 9.40 pm on tues 30th dec 2008 in New Milton Hants, UK. They were stationety for a few seconds then they moved along slowly then faded away, this was witnessed also by another male next to me int the tescos car park.

Barbara Metherell
I haven't seen these lights, but back in the '70's we were living in Qatar and one night because we had a power cut we were dipping in and out of our swimming pool. Lying on the parapet round the pool looking up into the sky I saw seven silver balls tracking across the sky at regular intervals of only a few minutes and we came to the conclusion that they were some sort of satellites. Don't know if this adds anything useful to the discussion!

Holly
Just seen one large orange/red light in teh sky, around 15mins ago... moved slow enough for me to stand and watch it for around 5mins, before it was out of sight or "burnt out" not sure which... very bright, but not flashing. definately not a plane, helicopter or shooting star of any kind. Moved in vague straight line though seemed to change course halfway across the sky.

Tony
23rd Dec 2008 at 10.30pm over holbrook, Horsham. 3 bright orange lights moving at speed then stationary before shooting straight up in to the night sky. no noise very low. not a helicoptor or aircraft. The orange balls seemed to have a brighter glow around the outside of them. This was nothing manmade. Im still reeling from what I saw. Did anyone else report this last night ?

Geoffrey Whitby
One seen from Beacon Hill on Saturday 6 December 2008. Clear conditions with little wind. Moving silently on a NE to SW direction. Looking very like a Chinese sky lantern.

Alan Potter
I live in North Wiltshire, so a little out of your range! However, following my experiences on Saturday evening, I searched the web and came across your story which was remarkably similar to my own experience. On Saturday evening my wife and I were driving home from a Christmas concert in a neighbouring village at around 9:30pm when we became aware of around four bright orange lights in the sky trvalling in a westerly dirtection. Obviously as I was driving it was difficult to make a detailed observation, but the movements and speed appeared to be similar to conventional aircraft; it was just the colour of the lights that made us notice them. Unfortunately by the time we arrived home and I got my binoculars they were virtually out of sight. Very mysterious though - I'd be interested to know what they were!Alan

Mo
I saw a bright white light (ball)descending quickly through the sky when I was walking towards the library from west hampstead station at around 10.20pm on 24/11/2008. No other lights around it to suggest it was an aircraft and the speed was too quick. It came into view and then disappeared through clouds after being visible for about 3-4 seconds at a descending angle. These comments have been illuminating - forgive the pun - to know such other things have been seen.

Lorraine Hobbs
I saw 9 orange lights tonight 21/11/08 at 11.30 moving south east. They followed each other and kept formation as they silently flew over head. I was clear and I was unable to guess their height. They just followed each other and they faded into the night sky. I called by partner out and we are both al a loss to explain then. we have never seen anything like it before.

Grace Cole
I think this is all very exciting because I myself have seen objects in the sky that seem to unreal to just be a plane, helicopter or satellite. And it' nice to know I am not the only, so at least I can rule out the topic of me being crazy, I would just love to know what they were.

Margaret
I saw lights like these in Raynes Park, London, some 10 years or so ago. There were about 5 orange lights flying in a V shaped formation. On two occasions after that I saw a single light, they were all quite low and made no sound. I now live in Kent and there was a recent report in the local paper that similar lights were seen over Whitstable High Street.

claire
my husband and i seen four orange lights in the sky last night 9/11/2008 at 11pm in plymouth no noise could be heard coming from the lights, it looked like the orange lights were on fire, we have not seen anythink like this before we would love to know what they were????

Andrea Gaines
I live in camberley, surrey and me and my family were having fireworks when suddenly we spotted these lights. It was about 20.15 on 7th November 2008.

Lucy
I saw them on Friday 7th November at around 6:50pm - ish.I was just walking to the corner shop when one went over my head, I had to stop & watch it at first, it was a really bright orange light travelling probably the same speed as a satellite would. After coming out of the shop 5 minutes later, another one went over & then another about 2 minutes later.

Danielle
On three seperate occasions now I have seen these flying anomalies over Stockport, Cheshire. I call them flying fire as that is exactly what they look like. At first I thought it was a hot air balloon flying in the dark but on the second and third occasion of seeing them I realised there was no sillouette of a balloon. I wish someone could find out what is causing them because I'm completely baffled!!!!

katie
I was out with my mates one saturday 1st november 2008, we saw an orange/red light fly upwards in the sky, then it changed direction and looked as if it was coming towards us, i dont know what it was but want to know what it was, it is in the paper today about it but they claim it was a UFO, but do they actually exist?

Natasha
When I was visiting friends from August 12 to August 22 we saw a light similar to the ones described above.Since it was cloudy we thought it was the sun at first, but then realized that there were two lights in the sky. One was definetely the sun, but the other seemed to be slightly dimished compared to the sun and had an almost rainbow quality to it. Very strange, same thing? Who knows!

Lisa
I have sat on Brighton sea front, near the west pier, and seen these "orange lights", it was late and it took us a few minutes to work out what they were, and even though we couldn't see them flickering, there was no doubt that they were infact floating laterns.

Bob
Perhaps there are small stars nearby which could be dimmer yet closer that the sun.

Chris
I live on exmoor and tonight at about 11.45 until now the whole sky (cloudy) has been flashing "Horizon to Horizon" bright blue from above the clouds .The flashing is not regular (ie although the period the flashing begins is about once every 45secs to 1 min the number of flashes over a 3 sec period is made up of up to 5 flashes.I did notice briefly 3 bright blue/orange lights so intense they could be seen through the clouds ...I thought it was high altitudelighting but somehow I doubt it.I was wondering of the International space station was conducting some experiment ??

David Huggett
Sunday 26th October in Hailsham, East Sussex - about 10pm. Five lights in formation, far from the Gatwick flightpaths going in a south east direction. After a few minutes, the formation broke up and the lights went off in different directions. There was no noise and the lights were flashing (like an aircraft) but with aircaft, as they pass you, you only get to see their navigation lights because their "headlights" are facing away from you. The lights I saw were as bright as a plane coming into land but going in the opposite direction. I can guarantee that they were not balloons, helicopters etc!

Glynis Freeman
On 26 April 2007 I sent the following email to the metoffice enquires:HiI live in Portslade and have a wonderful view of the sea.Last night around midnight I saw orange lightning for the very first time.It was fascinating to watch the sky lit up in orange. I believe it musthave been either in the middle of the sea or near France somewhere.Can you tell me what causes this?I have looked on the internet today to find this out, but cannot find thisinformation.

Robert T
I also saw lights late april, I live just outside canterbury in kent and was looking north, it started as just a couple of orange lights 'falling?' very gradually down at a slight left angle then more followed all at exactly the same pace and direction, at times 7-8 in a row, then they kept appearing but in lesser numbers until they stopped, in all it went on for about 20 min's. From my perspective they appeared from behind a cloud and disappeared over the horizon, i assumed it was space debris or something but they were all identical in size and speed, i'm baffled!

Cat
The comment about sky lanterns flickering is only relevant when they are low down, once they get to a certain height you cant see the flicker anymore - but you can still see the bright orange light for a long time afterwards. Having seen many of these go up this summer at festivals, it sounds exactly like most people have described here.

Jack
i am writing this on the 27th of october 2008, the night i saw the following.Tonight i was driving from work in Ashford towards Tunbridge Wells at approximately 7:00pm, i saw strange orange/red lights glowing in a line not spaced evenly but moving all at the same speed, i had to pull over to get a better look or i would have drove straight under them. i got out of the car and could hear no sound at all. i called my girlfriend and left a message about what was happening, they started to fade out slowly as they passed over me..normally im quite the skeptical one and question everything that i see or hear, but i could come up with no explanation for this.tonight i have been scouring the internet and looking for answers, and it appears im not alone in what i have seen, so scary everyone describing the same things.

Ben Hanks
They sound initially like sky lanterns as the time they are reported they appear to head out to sea, which would follow the land breeze (high to low pressure reverses from a sea breeze during the day to a land breeze blowing out to sea at night) they appear to follow the wind direction and speed, Lanterns also look uniform in motion when flying in groups. If these objects are as bright as the images above depict, I can only think of aircraft landing lights or cloud at very high altitude has a greater view of the setting sun and would projct a reflection as if it were as bright as it was at say midday from the ground. Butr I cant say that I have peronsally witnessed this.

henry carroll
There is no such this as UFO'S its a fantesy

Dave Rogers
I live in Brighton and I buy these from Brighton Fireworks. They are brilliant! A great quiet alternative to fireworks.

lee
18th October 2008. 11pm.Southwater near Horsham.It was a clear night when I saw approx 15 round orange lights moving across the sky in an Easterly direction, i called my wife to come and watch too. They appered to be travelling about the same hight as a helicopter would but there was complete silence. They seemed to disapear into the night sky. We must live under the flight path between RAF bases because there are Chinooks that travel over daily which are extremly loud. We were under the conclusion that it must be some sort of silent military excercise. We would love to hear of any other explanation

scott
I saw several of these lights in hastings moving from the west hill up towards fairlight they were being launched from a garden and i'm sure they were chinese lanterns

Maggie Hall
The artists impression at the top is exactly what my son camcorded on Monday evening 13th at approx ten minutes to midnight and I witnessed it too. There were lots of these lights going along at regular intervals and then hovering for some time and then disappearring. When you looked at them through binoculars they were like balls of fire. We have 18 minutes of recording on a disc.

Darrell Hughes
I have no explanation as to what these light are, but I would like to offer some logic to those who think they are Intelligent life from another planet. If we are to assume that other life forms have found a means of travelling the huge distances from their planet to ours, then we must also assume that they are highly intelligent in order to do this. They would therefore have some reason for visiting us. In which case they would either want us to know that they are their (making it totally uneccesary for us to provide grainy photos or jerky home videos to prove their existence), or they would wish to remain undetected. If they wished to remain undetected (which we must assume, as they clearly haven't shown their intention to be identified), then why would these highly intelligent beings keep forgetting to turn their massive halogen headlights off every time they enter our atmosphere ???????

charlie
I just got back from Thailand where there are hundreds of lanterns every night on the beaches, and the badly made ones often burst into flames which last about a minute. That would probably explain why they disappear if you turn around. And yes, it explains the orangeness of the lights. sorry.

Rob Bryant
I Have only just read this article (19/10/08), but on Saturday 27th September I was driving from Horam to Hailsham just before 8 pm. In the sky to my left as if over Hellingly I saw three large bright orange lights. They were not moving. I pulled over to look at them , there was no noise. They were not helicopters or lanterns. I arrived at my destination about 5 minutes later. I used the phone there to phone back to my wife who was at home just outside Horam.My wife went out of the house, the lights were not over Hellingly but had moved as if heading towards Laughton. Again there was no noise and they did not resemble any type of aircraft known to either of us. By the time I returned home only 15 mibutes later there was no sign of any lights anywhere!

Rob
Looking out of my window one evening a few weeks ago, I also saw an orange light moving slowly out to sea at Brighton. No flame was visible with the naked eye, but with binoculars the flicker of the flame could quite clearly be seen. I have no doubt it was a chinese lantern.

Chris-D-
Me and some colleagues were smoking in the car park at EDF in Hove and saw strange lights... was it ET?

Piggy
Forget your lanterns and balloons and read this. I am the last person in the world to put myself up for ridicule, and also am a firm believer in "I believe it when I see it". I live in Bentley Surrey and have my 10 year old son as a witness.On the 12th of july this year at about 11.00pm I was leaning out of the bedroom window having a fag looking into the sky. It was a clear night and I was staring southbound at the stars when this one flicker looked different. I kept staring, blinking my eyes trying to focus. I quickly realised it was moving towards me and was orange. My heart started beating faster and I realised it was definately not a plane or helicopter or the distinctive sound of a chinook...because there was no sound. I jumped up and shouted to my son to grab the camera. He couldnt find it and joined me outside. We both stared up and looked at the light which in my estimation was about a half a mile away and was now moving slowly eastward towards Farnham. I kept double checking with my son that he could see it as well, he replied "you cant exactly miss it dad". We were both outside for about 2 mins still staring when before our very eyes the round orange silent light turned on a six pence and moved at an incredible acceleration southward and disappeared without any noise whatsoever. It was like nothing I have ever witnessed, and I have seen every kind of plane and helicopter and balloon and lantern.......and it wasnt the afterburn of a fighter jet either as my friend suggested.

Rosie
On the Farnham to Alton road in Surrey, my boyfriend and I were on the way to Alton at about 11pm, and we saw about 5 or six orange lights, which seemed to be stationary. It was really quite strange, there were also cars parked along the road who were also looking at them. I really have never been a believer of UFOs but these weird orange lights were unlike anyyyything i've ever seen! They were also silent, and match exactly these descriptions!

sallyanng.greenwood@btinternet.com
Monday 13th October, 11.30pm: I saw a large 'orange ball' of light move swiftly from West to East (over Derby). Neither its colour nor shape appeared to change as I watched it move.

Barry Lane
My friend called me on Saturday night from Folkestone to ask me if I could see in Eastbourne what she was seeing overhead in Kent: orange lights. I couldn't. She described waves of four orange lights moving steadily in a northerly direction. What direction was the wind blowing on Saturday evening?

Emma (Hove)
My friend and I saw six red lights ascending slowly over the South Downs from the balcony of my flat at about 00.45 on Sunday morning (12th October). They were in an arrowhead formation. They remained static for quite a while before the three lights forming one line of the formation disappeared, then about three minutes later the three forming the other line also disappeared.They could've been Chinese lanterns but how do they hold their position at such high altitude?

Miss Karen Endean
I saw orange lights on Saturday 11th October at around 9.20 pm. They went across the sky over Stafford, i was in my back garden. They travelled failrly slowly in pairs in an orderly fashion, there were around 12 pairs of lights. I listended and they did not sound like any planes or helicopters, but they were totally different, more like bright orange stars gliding across the sky.I fetched my camera and managed to catch a pair, but very faint on picture.

Peter Phillips
About 5 years ago I spotted a single orange light in the sky as I was driving east on the A27.It was located between Polegate & Wilmington, it appeared stationary and was at (I would guess) about 500ft.It was visible for a while then just disapeared.

Steve Brooks
Sitting in the garden in Goring i have just spotted three of these strange lights float over at regular intervals starting at about 8.50 pm going south to north easy to see there is flames involved but not possible to whats above but its not a ballon but looks like a large lantern of some form

toby
hi, i have been watching a lot of orange lights moving across the sky in folkestone stated around 9.40 pm and are still more come it is now 10.07 pm does anyone have a clue what they are, i must have seen at least 50 go across the sky but stop counting at 30 i hope someone can tell me what they are. thanks

Henry
My girlfriend and I were walking along Brighton seafront at about 10pm early October and we saw an orange light moving slowly and silently out to sea. It came directly overhead and appeared to be around 500ft above us. It looked like a slow moving in distress flare but it traveled horizontally and we were able to track it for approx 5 mins until it dissapeared behind clouds on the horizon.

Kelly
Two of my friends in Horsham have been sending up ballons with lights in for ages, it often sparks news stories in the local press about ufo sightings

Chris, Hove
This years V festival and others noticed a single orange light float past in the evening.

Neil
I live in Farnham, in the flight path for RAF Odiham. The orange lights seen are Chinooks, which although tend to fly individually during the day, seem to fly in formations of three or more at night. I've lived here for four years, and have only seen them fly at night about five times. The lights are very bright orange, and can be seen from along way away. It's only when they are nearly overhead can you tell they're Chinooks from their distinctive noise.

Pat
I have set off these lanterns too. Initially you can see the flicker of the flame, but as they rise higher it seems for all the world that they are hovering UFO's. The fact that all these apparent UFO sightings state that they are all the same colour, orange (the colour of flame), also should be an indication that they are more likely to be Chinese Lanterns than anything else. Anyway, if I were in a UFO I certainly would not want to advertise my presence by glowing brightly in the sky.. Would you?!All the sightings of these lights in my area (Crawley) have all been positively identified a day or two later by the originators as Lanterns to celebrate a wedding or other celebration. I guess the same is true for all the other sightings.Summer, weddings, lanterns, a rise in UFO sightings.. It all falls into place

Mark White
I have lights exactly like these twice in the last month. both times i was driving home from work at around 9.40pm to 10.00pm. I live in seaford and these lights were round and orange and started over the downs and moved fairly slowly what appeared to be upwards, then slowly over me in a westerly direction. There was one light the first time i saw it, and 2 the next time, which was a few days later. I even stopped the car the first time, got out and watched it go over me. there was no sound and no signs of any other lights like you would have on a plane or helicopter. strange.

joanne
I saw 3 slow moving orange fire balls in the sky over Stockport Cheshire on Sunday 5 October 2008, a very strange experience

Nat
I have to disgree with your quote from Mr Parsons. A few years ago we were driving between Chichester and Petworth when we saw some orange globes gently floating upwards - it was only when we got much nearer that we realised that they were Chinese lanterns from a wedding reception. You can only see the flickering of the candes when you are close up. From a distance they just appear as gently glowing globes.

Janet
About a year ago at 10.30pm I saw three orange globes moving south to north over Crawley and they disappeared as they came towards me. I thought they were something to do with Gatwick airport but have always wondered about them.

josh from nottingham
i seen a bright light in nuthall in nottingham at 22:00 on the 1 october 2008 i was moving around and i look if there was any helicopters or planes but there none