Extremely bright flash in the sky - NW UK

Hi folks.

I had a rather unusual experience whilst driving back to my flat in Liverpool, UK, this morning after a night out at a friend's.
I was driving down a road which leads down a hill towards the River Mersey which offers fantastic views over the river, across the Wirral Peninsula and over to Wales at 5.10 am. I'm sure of the time because I checked immediately afterwards.

My attention was caught by an extremely bright white flash in the southern sky. It lasted about 1 second but was really rather large. For anyone who knows the area I was on Upper Parliament Street heading down the hill past the cathedral and the flash was in the direction of the Customs and Excise building.

It was rather high in the sky and it was definitely not a plane or star - the flash was far too big.

I have no idea what it was and don't want to suggest anything. It just struck me as odd and I'm wondering if any other members in the area spotted anything...or perhaps someone might have a suggestion as to what it was.

Here's hoping.

MSP

[edit on 1-2-2008 by more_serotonin_pls]

There was another ATS member who had a similar experience. I will try to find that thread for comparison. That op witnessed multiple flashes over several nights, but in the same location. Did you see just one flash?

I thought it might have been an Iridium satellite flare, which can be extremely bright (magnitudes to -8). However, after plotting your course using Google Earth and referring to the Iridium Flare Predictions on Heavens-Above.com there were none visible in that direction at the stated time.

WG3

Thank you for your replies folks.

It was just the one flash, I was hoping it would happen again and kept looking skywards while driving but it didn't.

I hadn't thought of an iridium satellite flare, but thank you for ruling that out for me.

Much appreciated input on both of your parts.

I'll have to do a search for that similar incident you mentioned.

I'm still just very confused by it all.

reply to post by more_serotonin_pls


Hi, the weather here in the UK has been pretty awful last couple of days....

The light you could of seen may be related to lightning....im sure someone else would say this... if lightning is way off in the distance you may not hear thunder... the term is sometimes referred to as "heat lightning" though quite a few people dont like to use this phrase..

Just an opinion nothing more, nothing less...

Regards,

JQ.

reply to post by John Q


Thanks, John.

I'm sure a lot of people will say lightning, but i'm convinced it wasn't. I've seen lot's of different types of lightning while out sailing in various parts of the world and it was unlike anything I've seen in the sky before.

The best way I can describe it is like a cirular pulse of light spreading outwards from a central point. Like the flash of a camera. This is why I'm so baffled.

Thanks for the input my good man. Appreciated.

Originally posted by more_serotonin_pls
reply to post by John Q

 

There was a major rescue operation happening overnight in Liverpool bay

news.bbc.co.uk...

A passenger ferry was in trouble off the coast of Blackpool, I would imagine they would haave been using flares, that could explain the flash in the sky, I know you only saw 1, im thinking a break in the clouds allowed you to see the flares being launched, and it is the right direction?

Hope this Helps azz

Hi MSP,

Have you tried looking for Elves, Sprites, and Trolls......

Its ok, I havent flipped.....they are all types of lightning, im stuck on the lightning theme, on Google put in "lightning elves" or "lightning pulses" hope this helps...

There is to much conflicting info to bring it all here and still not sure what can viewed from the ground. The elves are the ones that should be of interest to you, and these have been reported over the UK.

Oh yeah, you might get a few links to "Lord of the Rings"......

Failing that, I would go with what azz said..

Regards,

JQ.

reply to post by more_serotonin_pls


Perhaps a meteor or a bolide?? They can be pretty bright, and pretty fast too.

J.