Strange Flashes in the night sky ,what are they,and have you seen them?

I have seen them too, on wednesday night between 10pm and 11:30pm I saw two flashes about 30mins to an hour apart exactly as the OP explained I am about 70 miles west of the OP also on the south coast and they definately lit up the room I sat in like a camera flash.

I have spent many evenings outside working over the last 20 years yet never seen anything like this before.

It freaked me a little because an ATS friend text me about them 10 minutes before I saw the first one.

Something is a miss.

Maybe explosive bits of/or fuel from that satelite everyone seems to have forgotten about which was blown to pieces a while back by the USA?

Maybe its a war of the worlds type alien invasion, who knows? not me but it would satisfy my curiosity to get some answers.

Regards S_G

reply to post by Insomniac


Insomniac,

Yes, I did miss your point there. Thanks for setting me straight.

However, I still don't agree that anything unusual is going on here. You might well be right about more people noticing these usually less frequently observed phenomena though, but that could just be due to more people who tend to watch the sky more visiting these forums. I wouldn't be surprised if the internet itself has not contributed towards a greater awareness of events occurring in the night sky amongst a certain segment of the population - the ability to communicate such as we are doing here and now must have a bearing on it.

It is only natural that some of them would gravitate here, giving the impression that more people are seeing these things, when in fact it's just people that have seen these things in the past coming out of the woodwork (as well as the new "army of sky watchers" that the internet has created).

I have only been an amateur astronomer for about a decade, so perhaps I can't see the bigger picture as well as you, but it does seem to me that in the last 10 years or so, with the help of the internet, people (astronomers in particular) are more willing to talk more openly bout the stranger things they see, which might at one time have been scoffed on.

As an amateur astronomer, quite frankly, I'd be more willing to gauge the "unusualness of the current situation" by what I observe with my very own eyes, and the reports I regularly receive from fellow amateur astronomers. These are people from around the world who have in some cases observed the sky, regularly looking for meteors (ie naked eye observing), for many decades in some cases. Many of them, including myself, are so passionate about this we will often go to extreme lengths to find dark clear skies with wide uninterrupted horizons and observe until first light, or till you can no longer keep your eyes open. Which ever comes first.

Anyway, my point is, if anything unusual was going on up there recently, I'd be in a good position to know about it IMHO, and so far I've seen nothing to indicate that...

In my 10 years I've also seen the weak flashes associated with space-junk, and this is often reported in the meteor observing community and a well known phenomenon.

As for exploding meteors, I saw more of those in the night that hooked me than I can remember - There's some footage from the same night in this Sky At Night episode: Meteor Mania: November 2007, BBC4 Special and some written accounts here

Last year I photographed a small exploding meteor. U2U me if you'd like to see it - I warn you, it's not the best shot in the world though.


Edit to add: It's also not considered too unusual to see bright flashes that light the ground/sky/ or can be seen "over the horizon", which can often be attributed to distant lightning, meteors, transformer accidents, rail lines, or any number of possibles that range from mundane to relatively rare, but perfectly normal and explainable causes...

In short it could be anything, and is probably not due to aliens (at least in most cases!), although I like to keep an open mind about these things, so there may be a very very small possibility, that some of these may be due to yet undocumented phenomena - but lets not jump to any conclusions about there being aliens involved yet!


[edit on 5-7-2008 by C.H.U.D.]

Does it look anything like this?
Lights (Between 45 and 55 sec)
If so, it could be due to geological activity. Quartz crystals inside igneous rock produce piezoelectricity.
Just a tought here, I could be wrong.

C.H.U.D. I have been watching the skies closely since Close Encounters of the Third kind came out in the 70's. I was just a kid. I never have saw anything strange in the skies until this year. Weird.

I also saw a light hover and it was green, big and took off really fast, then left a streak. I get chills thinking about that night. so yeah stuff is strange in the night sky lately. Is it alien? I dont know really but I think its our own Government vehicles.

Originally posted by Jigore
Does it look anything like this?
Lights (Between 45 and 55 sec)
If so, it could be due to geological activity. Quartz crystals inside igneous rock produce piezoelectricity.
Just a tought here, I could be wrong.

The one i saw was a actual ball about 50 feet in diameter. It didnt light up anything around it, no ambient light. I t was like someone turned on a giant LED light.

reply to post by C.H.U.D.


I don't think there is a need to start other threads on the basis of flash intensity... we are all discussing a mysterious flash that occurs on a cloudless or fairly cloudless night regardless if it lights up the whole sky or only a portion of it for a split second.

I will keep my eyes peeled... as ive seen these quite a few times, sometimes two or three times on the same night.

Saw two of these bright flashes just to the north of the Ursa major tonight. They were so bright that at first I started to dismiss them as a Airliner. But then I noticed nothing else come from that vicinity-No light or sound.

reply to post by Anonymous ATS


Yes I thought the flashes looked manufactured and in some sort of sequence rather than sunlight reflection off a sat.The 4 flashes were in the same part of the sky directly above and were not close enough to have come from one sat alone.It was like four objects flashed each other.I am waiting for another clear night to look again at about 11pm gmt. Prehaps a few more people should do the same and report here what ,if anything they have seen. Tarifa37

reply to post by colz2000


I am glad you are seeing the same thing too.The question is what the hell are they?? Also I have only seen the white light flash not the other colours reported here.But if there are other colours as well it makes it even more interesting.

The white flashes i see come from a faint pulsating star like object.. i see two flashes the other night
so i grabbed my bino's and spotted the object traveling south to north..

reply to post by Kuro34


Hi Kuro34.Thanks for your post.I think so many times people see something strange and have nowhere to go and no one to tell without fear of getting the p ripped out of them.At least here on ats you have a chance to share a sighting and maybe even get to the bottom of it. If it is just sat glinting in the sun good a least we know. However having read your post and others and taking my own into account I think it maybe something else. If we all keep watching the skys, if something is going on we will be one of the first to know. Cheers tarifa37

reply to post by Death_Kron


Hi what you saw was not the same as mine, as the flash i saw was very high in the sky and was about twice the size of a large star.Not enough to light the sky just enough to think what was that? The first time I saw it ,it was more out of the corner of my eye and I was unsure of what i had seen .However the second time I saw it I was already lying on my back in the garden gazing at the stars when I saw a distinct flash exactly where I was already looking ,and then another 3 flashes in the the same part of the sky although a good distance apart ,Im talking many miles at that hight. What is interesting to me about your post is I think you may have seen the same lights in the sky that I saw in France 2002.Look at my thread www.abovetopsecret.com... tell me what you think . Cheers tarifa37

reply to post by thecandyman


I live in the south and have seen plenty of heat lightning, that is not what I am seeing. The area of flash is far too small to be heat lightning and the flash itself doesn't last as long as heat lightning does, not that it last a long time because it doesn't but it is nothing like these flashes.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


The grandchildren and I likewise saw flashes to the north the Dipper. We were outside and the grandchildren were impressing me with their knowledge of the stars. In spite of all that happens around us, they give me great hope for the future.

reply to post by space cadet


It is definitely not heat lightning. It strikes me as something different but akin to the aurora b.

Hello tarifa37 !
We see the same Flash.
The same thing, at first I was unsure if there was something in the sky, they flash so fast, that its hard to see them, if you dont look straight to them. I thought my eyes were playing some tricks, but if you concentrate and look constant in the sky you will see a flash again or starlike moving objects.
One evening I looked out of the window at my mothers house (in late may08 at 23:00 till 24:00)
I spoted a flash and told her to come over to the window and after some minutes of stargazing together, this flash occured again, not at the same spot but very near at the first one, just upper and more left. (high left angle of the big dipper)!
Then after a two or three minutes a third flash occured then a fourth one.
After that show it was over.
My mother was schocked, she never saw a strange flash like this in her entire life.
Back to the flash:
They are near earth orbit, they are tall and slim.
The colour is Dark Bluish-White, they look manufactured.
They last only for a second or shorter and they dont light up the sky, its just a short flashing.
You have to look closely to see and recognize them, they dont appear randomly, they look always the same, after you spotted one, just wait some minutes to see a flash again, in a near direction where the old flash was.
They flash in a straight line with a curve upwards the sky.
Example:
----->fourth flash
----->third flash
----->second flash
----->first flash

Sometime a Point is moving (Starlike looking Object) or two Points in a straight line, are crossing the path of the flashes.

FACT:
A Dark Bluish White Flash
Tall and Slim, longer as a star (Height)
Near Earth Orbit
More as a single Flash is occuring.
They look always the same (manfactured)
Hard to spot, they last only under a second.
They dont light up the sky, more a dark blueish white bright in a dark sky.
They appear in a line who is getting upwards the sky (look example)
Sometimes a Starlike Object or Two in a line are moving in their direction.

I don't know if this is coincidence or not, but I'm seeing much more of these posts between the 3rd and 5th of July.... Hmmm has anyone seen the lanterns people have been putting into the sky lately?? I could see how they could easily be mistaken for UFO's because I would think the same if I didn't know any better....

I could see making a mistake of a reflection off a satellite or some twinkling star, but the one i saw was no lantern either. It was low and big and Bright!!! Like someone had a giant sized flash on their camera.

reply to post by C.H.U.D.


Hi C.H.U.D,

Thanks for the reply. I'm not able to view the Sky at Night prog yet, as I'm at work. (I probably saw it when first transmitted though). I have read the written reports however, and they refer to fireballs (AKA Boloids). I've seen quite a few of those and are not the same as meteors exploding.

You may well be right, perhaps the increased number of reports is due to people paying more attention to the night sky. It would be interesting if there are any statistics on exploding meteors so that we could guage their rarity or otherwise. Perhaps the B.A.A might have some figures.

My impression is though, that they are quite rare. As I said in my previous post, I've only seen one. It's possible that I've just been unlucky - always looking in the wrong place. But at no point did I suggest they are anything other than meteors, I just queried the (apparent) increase in the phenomenon.

I would love to see your exploding meteor pic! U2U on its way - Thanks!

[edit on 7/7/08 by Insomniac]

Last night 8/7/08 at about 11.15pm once again I saw something strange in the same part of the sky as before and at about the same time.This time I saw a larger oblong flash brighter and bigger than the camera like flashes i saw the other night. This flash almost made me jump as I had been watching that part of the sky for about 10 mins and was thinking about turning in when "BAM" a large oblong flash of white light lasting for about one second.The size of the flash was about the size of a plane that you would see high in the sky. So again not huge but stood out against the black sky and other stars because of the intensity of it. Then shortly after in the same part of the sky but more over to the south I saw an object that could be a sat but not a plane because of the hight ,flash on and of as it went across the sky untill out of sight. The part of the sky to look at for these flashes is almost directly above and 10deg east sort of opposite the plough. If you look with the naked eye at around 11pm gmt you should see something. Just be a little patient. I would not bother with binoculars as you will miss it ,and they are easy to see if you are looking in the right place. We now have cloud and heavey rain here and more on the way so will have to wait for the next clear night to watch again. What has happened to the Summer ?