Poll for all members (skeptics, debunkers, and believers) of ATS: Have you ever had a UFO sighting?

Yes, I was with my daughters at sundown. The sun went behind a patch of trees and the sky was beautiful. I got binoculars just to look at the colors of the clouds and on my way back out from my garage we found ourselves looking at a large reflective disc. It was the same color as the clouds from the reflection of the sun. It was in the clear sky all alone and very obvious. It sat in the sky motionless and I looked with my binoculars and it zoomed off about half way through my vision and stopped on a dime again. The speed was absolutely unexplainable and it was so smooth. No noise that I could tell. It held for about five seconds and took off straight away from us and went to a pin point and disappeared in less than a second. My kids described the same as I saw and we just couldn't explain it. I told them it could be anything and I read about it often and they were not worried and still remember it just fine. Very good stories all around on this forum.

a reply to: cuckooold

I have only once seen something odd in the sky. It was about 20 years ago when I was 12. I had a skylight window in my bedroom with no blind. I just happened to be looking out the window from my bed and saw a formation of small orange lights. It would have been between 10 and 11 pm and was dark outside. There was no audible sound associated with the lights.

I have seen Chinese lanterns numerous times and these lights were not lanterns.

What I saw was 5 or 6 (forget now) small lights in the sky all following the lead light in formation. I have no idea how high the lights where so size and speed were hard to judge, as was how far they were apart. I can compare the lights speed to about 2 to 3 times that of a commercial aircraft seen in the sky at cruising altitude. The lights slithered across the sky changing direction frequently (all following in the path of the light in front). Their path was in an overall south to north direction. I actually stood up to watch them as they went out of view from my bed. They continued across the sky until I could not longer see them due to travelling out of view behind a large building.

Location of sighting Northern Ireland, UK

I have experienced 2 close encounters in daylight and 1 during night.

The first daytime UFO, I was out in my rear garden having a smoke and I looked up and saw what initially I thought was 2 craft. One of the craft appeared to be aiming a jet of fire at the other and initially I thought I was witnessing a dog fight between to unidentifiable craft. I kept watch for a couple of minutes and then these craft headed off in a West to East direction all the while the flame being shot from one to the other. The craft weren't flying at any significant speed, by that I mean a speed I would not expect to see, which made me feel that it was probably some Government project. But in broad daylight, on a summer's day at that, over a city with a population of just under 500,000, I found that strange to say he least. As it got further away it then looked like it could be one craft, but I guess I'll never know.


Most people go around not looking at the Sky, which was evident when I saw the second daylight UFO. I was driving through my home city and there was a disc shaped object hovering above a tower block. I was not able to pull over and get out to take a look due to parking restrictions, but I couldn't identify a single person looking at the object on the street, they were just going about their business, totally unaware of its presence.

The night time experience was a series of flashes in the upper atmosphere and what appeared to be white orbs entering the atmosphere. Initially I thought I was witnessing a meteor shower, but several of these orbs appeared to enter and fly off faster than I have seen anything move and at a 90 degree angle.

Have you ever had a UFO sighting?

Yes

When I was about 9, my mother and I rode around, looking at this very bright light for a long time.It was too big to be the moon and it stayed stationary for a long time. And then it was just gone. Officials said it was a weather balloon. Yeah, righta reply to: cuckooold

a reply to: cuckooold

I've had a few...starting when I was around4 and lasting for about 50 years...

Most "strange" sightings ended n 1994...very abruptly, followed by what is perhaps the most significant abduction experience I've had.

Anyway; sightings...a few years ago I was walking my "puppy" (actually a Wolf Hybrid) when I observed a "light" in the sky...it appeared to be a star, but, in a location that I didn't remember a star being. I made note of it and observed that it didn't move during my 20 minute walk.

When I returned to my computer I opened "Stellarium" to see what the light/star was. I was unable to locate the star with the program. The next night; the light/star was gone, and has not returned.

As for what it was; I don't know...

I've witnessed three UFO sightings over my years - not swamp gas or chinese lanterns.

A friend and I saw something we couldn't explain about 6 or 7 years ago about 30 minutes outside of Fort Collins, Colorado.

We had been inside and were still approximating sobriety when we walked out to the back deck around maybe 10pm.

In the distance we noticed a couple small airplane-sized lights (about the size and appearance of a star) moving back and forth fairly quickly.

He had logged in a bunch of solo flights, and so I deferred to his judgment as a pilot and firm skeptic when he ruled out the possibility of an airplane and helicopter. We just stared and watched them, wondering aloud what the heck they were. They didn't really move outside that general area...so after maybe 20 minutes we decided to head back inside.

Not saying little green men, obviously, but it sure as heck defied an easy explanation.

/sweetblog

Yep, Ive always meant to do an Introduction thread covering the reasons why I signed up here, and the UFO sighting I had with 4 friends (we were 16-17) back in 96/97 is probably the main reason for my interest in the paranormal (though Ive had a fair few other un-explainable things happen as well). I'll do my best to explain it below, so if you're not interested in the details and just want a "YES" or "NO", then it is a definite "YES", and read no further!

I would hope I am a relatively rational thinking person, and I do not jump to conclusions about odd sightings. (proof of this could be seen in my first thread started here, where I saw a very bright object pass overhead at night. I posted it in the Space forum, as I was fairly certain what Id witnessed was only un-identified by myself, and there would be a rational explanation - It was ISS!)

That being said,
In 96/97, I witnessed, with others present, a large, low and slow flying vehicle, with very distinct lighting. It was night, and it passed over an area we were skating at called St.Marys Quad in St.Andrews, Scotland (part of the Uni).

As it was night, it was hard to define the edges of the craft, but the lighting probably gives a rough shape of it.

EDIT: Just to mention, the description below is as seen from directly underneath it -

I would describe it as similar in shape to how a chid draws a house in 2D. A square, with a triangle on the top (leading) side. There were red lights located at each corner of the square, and at the very top point of the triangle, with a larger white central light bang centre of the square, and smaller amber lights running from each of the 5 corner points into the large central light (creating a sort of asterisk pattern).

I would guess it was approx 250-500ft up (leaning to the lower end of that), and around 40-50 ft wide, 60-70ft tip to tail.

It took around 2 minutes to traverse the visible sky above us (before obscured by the buildings at the opposite side of the quad). There was minimal noise. Just a low monotone hum. We managed to leave the quad and follow its path over the town centre, before losing it at the west edge of the town centre.


St.Andrews is right next to Leuchars air force base (1 of Scotlands biggest military airbases), so we were used to seeing many types of aircraft overhead. The UFO was reported by others to a paper called the Dundee Courier, and I was told they ran a small story on it, where they contacted the airbase, and were advised Leuchars claimed they had nothing in the air at that time. Ive not personally seen the article, and Ive never found it in any archive when the moods taken me to look for it. Im not very savvy in that regard though, so doesn't mean it isn't out there.

Finally, just a little background. Until I was around 15, I shared a room with an older brother who, since before I was born, wanted to be a pilot ( his current profession). As such, I grew up with walls covered in aircraft porn, books on them, boxes of plane identification cards (the 1's where it shows you the numerous silhouette's of aircraft at different angles), and many other items of aviation memorabilia. For someone who does not work in the field, I feel I have a reasonable knowledge of the varying known aircraft out there.

To this day, I still cannot identify the craft I saw that evening.

The 1 thing I would put money on though, is that it was terrestrial in origin.

BTW, During 96/97, another scottish airbase at Machrihanish was being used by the US, and Ive read that this is where an Aurora may have been based around this period. Whether true or not, I do have friends from around that area with their own sightings.

Thanks for reading if anyone has. Been meaning to type that up for a while!

Cheers OP.

a reply to: cuckooold

My wife and I jointly had a sighting this past summer. Possible weather balloons, I thought (I know, I know... lol) but haven't been able to debunk as such yet.

I've had many sightings myself,including what seemed to be one ufo chasing another off,which I made a thread about,witnessed by the husband also.The orange ufo has been by our neck of the woods many times too.and others.I'm not gonna argue or put myself out about my sightings,just doing a small favor by replying,since you asked.My answer would thus be,yes,many ufo sightings for this member.

Sadly, never. I really wanted to, but it never happened.

The closest I came was about twelve years ago. Driving home about two in the morning after visiting a girlfriend who lived out of town, I found myself on a stretch of road between paddy fields — flat land, no moon, starlight dimly outlining the flooded fields. I was feeling good, mulling over the evening. Suddenly, in the sky directly in front of me, I saw a yellow light hanging suspended. It was dimmer than the moon, about the same size, but rectangular.

There were no pylons or any other tall structures nearby. The thing seemed to hang motionless in the sky. I watched it, intrigued but not very excited, until the road began to curve away and I had to look where I was going. Lo and behold, there was another of those rectangular lights hanging in the sky before me!

Now thoroughly shaken out of postcoital langour, I stopped the car and climbed out to take a proper look. And to my amazement, there were not two but three, no, four, no... seven of the things, stretched out in a staight line across maybe a quarter of the sky. They were impressively still, and identical.

I stood gazing up in wonder. Obviously I was thinking PORTHOLES of GIGANTIC STARSHIP HOVERING ABOVE ME. But then, to my disappointment, I started to see stars, here and there, in places where the hull of GIGANTIC STARSHIP should have been.

It still took me a few minutes to figure it out. The giveaway was the slight catenary curve of the line of lights I'd previously thought perfectly straight. Somebody was doing some wee-hours kite-flying, and had attached lights or lanterns at regular intervals along the kite-string.

The kite itself was invisible against the night sky.

It was a breathtaking sight, even after I'd worked out what it was. There was no traffic on the road at that hour, and I had the view to myself. I stood there for several minutes, taking it in, alone amidst the rice-fields.

A night I shall never forget.

late in 2002 my brother his then wife and I were on our balcony, no later then 9 pm. we saw a meteor that was very close to us over the Santa Ana mountains. it was moving fast and looked to be burning up in reentry. then it came to a quick stop. it was large and close enough that we could see fire falling off of it. it hovered were it stopped for all about 5 seconds. then it shot straight up at a speed that i have never seen before or since then. it blew our minds that night. after that event, my eyes have been opened to possibility of life from some were else.

I've definitely seen something i couldn't explain. I created a thread here: Hilton Head Sighting

a reply to: cuckooold
my first one showed up in a scenery video on Maui in a location that completely rules out something else conventional. Then for a year or two I saw several others, some of which are recorded. I love how the "experts" who weren't there, nor who haven't analyzed the raw files know exactly what they are. I've tried and tried to get people to professionally analyze them to no avail. Even had Springer tell me he would pass one of the videos to another "expert in the field" only to have him stonewall me and then finally get agitated when asked how it was going. Talk about perpetuating ignorance. I'm not looking for stardom just some intelligent answers.

I've come to believe over the years that they (you know THOSE GUYS UP THERE) will come to people for a while and then go away. I actually think I scared mine away without intending to do so.

You can go to my Youtube channel and see for yourself. www.youtube.com...

In the past few months I've been seeing an endless wave of strange craft over my Canadian east coast city. Most are government craft. Other's I'm not so sure. Strange yellow lights, slow moving comets which break up. My ex girlfriend saw a large red object fly over her car and split into three pieces then disappear.

Something strange is happening, no doubt. I've been keeping a close eye on my skies since childhood. I haven't seen anything like what I have been in the past year...

Your sigthting of the lights following a lead made me think a bit of a sighting myself,the husband+our son had-orange lights,6 in the sky at any given time,only these were mathematically precise.They would travel till the 1st one came to a certain spot in the sky-than the front one would instantly vanish,to be instantly replaced/replenished at the back by another one.These were not erratic in course,though,a member said the description made him think of a a military parade.And on thinking back,that would be accurate.Unwavering mathematical precision in that meaneouvre. reply to: Agent69

Yes, 2 fast-walkers and 1 circling-then-falling-leaf motion thing, my 'definite' UFO sightings. Several other odd things that I couldn't identify but generally leave them out when people ask how many I've seen.

The fast walkers were clear as day, both early evening in Winter. Spotted at far horizon, passed over head to opposite horizon (we have no hills around here) in 5-8 seconds (one in 2005, the other in 2007). Not a hallucination in my opinion, as I've seen them twice, and when you watch something go from one horizon to the opposite you typically have to turn your head/body as you watch it cover such a distance. Not an eye trick!

I don't know whether our Earth's rotiation speed plays a part in "their" speed, but I did the maths once and calculated the speed of the fastwalkers. They were kind enough to follow similar routes to UK planes, so by working out where a plane on the horizon is on Google earth, and where planes are on the opposite horizon - the fasterwalkers I saw were travelling in the region of 10-50,000mph. (Sorry I can't be so specific, I'd need to go and do all the calculations again)

The only possibility is that they were meteors. But they didn't look like them, and... well, just no. I simply can't buy that, because whatever they were they were keeping their distance above the ground, not descending in any fashion and appeared well under the atmosphere at a normal plane altitude of around 40,000ft. They're also widely reported by pilots and an Airbus pilot flying over the area I've seen them has reported them also.

Hoping I see more before the end of this mortal coil... they are cool

I can understand why I did see them when I did, I would sit outside on a deck chair smoking at all times of the year even through the coldest of winter (cos we had a no smoking household). I can understand why other people wouldn't see them, a because of their speed and b because not many people sit out on their deck chairs mid-winter...

I have been interested in ufos all my 51 years and to this day I have never seen one, I am always looking up and even own a 8" telescope. I want to believe in them and I have read or seen a few of very convincing cases, but with the invent of the internet and all the tech. having to do with cameras and photoshop it is getting harder to believe anymore. I mean there are so many people on boards like this one and others that are so full of themselves and fecal matter its hard to pick out the wheat from the chaff. I am convinced that there must be other planets that support intelligent life that could be millenia ahead of us but I still havent seen anything to convince me that it is so. But I will continue to search and hope to see something. I just wish the ones that make these wilde claims would quiet down, you know put up or shut up, they make true believers or hopers look bad.
ETA Please excuse my spelling and grammer I am a Machine Repairman not an English major
Thanks Ed