Plane circling my city

Several days ago I was walking outside with my girlfriend. She thought she saw a ufo and pointed it out to me. I saw that it was a plane, but it was an odd plane because the wings were covered in lights that were strobing in an irregular pattern. There must have been about 8 of them, as well as at least one or 2 red lights. It was high up, but not as high as a plane at cruising altitude.

I saw the plane once again the next night, the lights on its wings really make it stand out from an ordinary plane. On this night I realized that it was circling my city.

I saw it again the next night, and the next. It has been 5 nights now and every single evening this plane has been circling the city. Each night that I've seen it has been between 8pm and 11pm.

I don't want to say what city I live in quite yet, but it is a major metropolitan city in the US.

My question for you guys: Has anyone else seen this plane circling their city? What sort of plane has lights like this? I've never seen such a plane before.

And why would it circle the city every night?

reply to post by BrandonD


Was it a big plane? Are you in a an American city? A Drone? Maybe it is a test flight on new models?

Could be an aerial tour of the city, or novelty flight.

Is other an airport/airbase(s) near by? Are there any air traffic control facilities near by? Any aviation training or repiar facilities near by? It could be a radar calibration aircraft, or possibly a LIDAR mapping aircraft or some such other survey aircraft, possibly opearting at night to take advantage of a local airpsace closure or something like that. IS the city you are in on the west coast, east coast or the gulf coast? don't want to push you to tell me what city, but I really get into 'undefined aircraft' sightings like this ! Thanks. Cheers. R.

reply to post by beautyofperil


Think you could be right about it being a drone

have you not filmed it???
i mean 5 nights running and no footage?
it would certainly help us identify it

Sorry about not filming it, it never occurred to me to film it since it's just a plane after all.

There is an airport in the city because it's a very major city, but I have never in all my years living here seen a plane circling the downtown area of the city. And for 5 nights in a row at roughly the same time, it seems very odd!

I'm leaving town tomorrow so I won't be able to film it. It's alright if I'm not believed, but it seems that if I was going to make up a story I'd make up something more interesting than just an airplane.

Does anyone here have a specific reference to a type of plane that flies with lots of strobe lights on its wings? There are several planes that fly over the city because it's near a major airport, but they all fly in a straight line away from the city or towards it (rather than making circles around the city), and none of them have lights like this one. I see planes all the time, which is why this particular one is so odd.

(edit: also about the filming, I still own a flip phone with TERRIBLE video so I'd need to actually have my digital camera handy when I see it. I'll take it with me tomorrow just in case I see it when I'm leaving)

Do you by chance live in or around Pittsburgh? I heard on the local radio station that the DJ spotted a drone and was quite shaken by it. I was unable to find out any other info on it.

JT

EDIT to add: I found 1 thread over at GLP about it

I know exactly what that decribes . Drones . They fly them in circles in areas of cities or the country and have those weird lights and that annoying drone sound .
They love to come snoop in your windows at night . Very invasive and my pet hate since these are our new life in our western countries . Invasive snooping drones .
watching everything . Who the heck wants to sit and watch everything ..very sickl people do
what city are you in

Well I guess since no one else has seen it I'll say my city, I just wanted to wait until someone else confirmed it. I live in Houston, TX. I live only about a mile or less from downtown so when I take my dog for a walk I can see the sky right over downtown.

I read in an article recently that Montgomery county was the first police force to get its own drone plane, which they promptly crashed into an armored car. Montgomery county is right near Houston, so maybe it is a drone.

Another person has mentioned to me that it is very likely a drone.

If anyone has seen a similar plane circling their city, you should mention it here!

I have not seen anything similar to what you described.

What I did see though was two bombers circling Phoenix on Saturday.
I was taken back at first as I had not heard of any airshows or tours going on that would include those large planes.

They were doing this around 1pm and were over Awahtukee and Mesa. Not something you see every day.

One more thing, the plane I'm referring to was doing wide circles around the city so it was not readily obvious that it was circling. You have to actually watch it for a little while to see that it's actually circling.

So if you see any odd planes out there, watch them for a little while.

Originally posted by GezinhoKiko
have you not filmed it???
i mean 5 nights running and no footage?
it would certainly help us identify it

I agree. I would have had a video and pictures the first night... But that's just me...

-SAP-

reply to post by BrandonD

You are right about the watching them do their little turns around and around . Most people dont think anything about them because they dont watch long enough . One night I watched 8 of them come out trailing each other around in a circle and the little buggers have been here ever since .
Im not even in a city .People arenot realizing the drone age is upon us

reply to post by BrandonD





what do you guys think these aircraft are? this image was taken by my sister in a very small city in south central pennsylvania, 20 or so miles away from ft. indiantown gap--no large, non-military airports within at least 30miles. everyday there are numerous helicopter patrols/flybys with apaches, chinooks, and blackhawks. more recently we are starting to see jets, bombers or gunships flying in formation around our tiny town and central pennsylvania in general.

reply to post by drockEst1983


that image link took me to "add e-mail to your google account" web page
its either a wrong link or mis-spelled

Yeah its probably one of those new super-drones they have been testing that only target ATS members.

Either that or it could be that it’s just a new regular flight out of the local airport and is in no way spectacular.

Yup think that’s going to be my guess, it’s just a plane you have never noticed before that uses that flight path at about the same time most (or every) nights.

Good luck to you and your girlfriend on your UFO and Drone spotting adventures.

reply to post by drockEst1983


en.zimagez.com...

here is the correct link to the picture that i was hoping to get some input on; three aircraft in some sort of maneuvers or formation. i don't think any commercial airliners would be flying like this...maybe someone can identify military aircraft?

OP, How have you verified that what you are seeing each night is in fact the same aircraft?

For all your years living in the city you say you have not witnessed this, did you observe the same are of the sky every night to be able say this with any authority?