chinese intercontinental surveillance lantern over Poland - or was it a UFO?

location: Bielsko-Biala, Poland

time and date: around 9pm yesterday, local time - around 14h ago, more or less

description: i went out to get a pack of ciggies and take a walk. in front of a store, i've noticed a woman (working at that store) finishing her cig and staring at the sky. she went back inside as soon as she noticed me, but then i've looked up in the same direction she was watching and i saw a bright light flying over my block of flats, more or less in S-N - SSE-NNW direction. i have no idea how high it was, but it seemed it is pretty high. the light was very bright, it looked as bright as a full moon, only it was much much smaller - but still few times larger than jupiter or venus would be, not even mentioning the stars. the light had a slightly orange tint and it seemed to - i wouldn't say blink, i would say pulsate - but those changes were sudden. on the other hand, those changes looked kinda regular, not random like in case of a star, and the average brightness was constant until the end of the observation. the light was flying in a straight line while i've watched it for 30s - 1min, perhaps a little bit more, not less, but it had to be visible earlier because obviously i wasn't the only one watching it. at the end it started to get dimmer and dimmer - while still pulsating - and then it just vanished. there weren't any clouds in that area, so it couldn't hide behind them - actually i was counting on it that it'll go behind one cloud, so i can properly judge the distance - but it vanished before getting anywhere close to it. and yeah, it was dark already, the sky was clean and one could see some stars, but they were pretty dim because of the light pollution. that thing was much, much brighter. also, while pulsating, it never went completely dark - it was more like a fluctuation. it wasn't a plane, i can see lights on the wingtips of the planes flying pretty far away, and this thing was a single, bright light, and it was moving way faster than any plane flying over this city at such distance would move. also, it was completely silent.

the only conventional explanation that crossed my mind, would be some meteor, but those tend to fall from the sky and disappear in a blink of an eye, not fly across it and then slowly disappear. also, judging by the light size and brightness, it would have to make one hell of an crash site. if you have half a brain, don't even try to suggest a chinese lantern - i am pretty sure it wasn't one, i was just being sarcastic in the thread title.

anyone else saw it or something similar? any ideas?

btw, i didn't speak with that woman about it, she was busy with the customers already anyway, and while i was watching the light, some people on bikes rode near me, and when they were getting away (they didn't stop for a moment i think, but i was too busy watching the light to notice), one of them said 'it disappeared'.

sorry, no pics. i have extremely low end cell phone with no camera at all, and seeing how fast that thing was moving, i wouldn't manage to get a digital camera from home and get back in time.

Well essencially I think you've cracked thw ufo mystery wide open

reply to post by jedi_hamster

if you have half a brain, don't even try to suggest a chinese lantern

Well I have a whole brain so I guess I'm safe ...... Chinese lantern .
Seems they are as popular in Poland as everywhere else .

reply to post by gortex


Sorry goretx i dont think Giorgio agrees

reply to post by gortex


which part of the 'i am pretty sure it wasn't one' you don't understand?

- it was extremely bright and it was pretty high - it would have to be one hell of a chinese lantern, if possible at all
- its flight path was rock solid - and i would imagine that at such altitude chinese lantern would have to be affected by the wind blows
- wind was basically/almost nonexistent, and that light was moving faster than any plane that can be seen here at such altitude

conclusion: it wasn't a chinese lantern.

if 'chinese lantern' is all you can post in a forum dedicated to UFOs, get out and find yourself a different hobby than trolling. while i'm all for 'deny ignorance', it is your ignorance that has to be denied here. two replies so far, first poster didn't even seem to bother to read the OP, and you didn't try to understand, nitpicking few words to match 'chinese lantern' theory instead. what the f.. is wrong with you people?

Replies that make fun or otherwise ridicule and demean those posting honest experiences and/or questions will be removed. Members who post such responses repeatedly will be banned.

this is UFO forum. if you're not willing to consider 'what if' and discuss all options before drawing your conclusion, this isn't the place for you. i'm not saying it was extra-terrestial/dimensional, i'm not saying it was a meteor, but it could be either of those things, or something entirely else. i just don't know. what i do know is that it wasn't a chinese lantern and i'm as sure of it as of the fact that it wasn't a CGI - because i don't have google glasses. well, unless we're all living in a matrix, but that's a different story.

reply to post by jedi_hamster

which part of the 'i am pretty sure it wasn't one' you don't understand?

I understand that "pretty sure" isn't certain , there is an element of doubt .

if 'chinese lantern' is all you can post in a forum dedicated to UFOs, get out and find yourself a different hobby than trolling.

Why is it that people on this forum have to be so dam hostile to other peoples opinions

this is UFO forum. if you're not willing to consider 'what if' and discuss all options before drawing your conclusion, this isn't the place for you.

Just because it's a UFO forum doesn't mean I have to see UFOs everywhere , if the description sounds like and lantern and it behaves like a lantern there's a good probability it is a lantern .

Could it have been the sun reflecting off of a plane?
I think at around 9pm a high enough plane could still catch the sun below the horizon.

Which direction was the wind blowing at altitude that night ? Quite an easy way to permenantly exclude lanterns from the list of possibilities.

Ive seen 3 orange lights that were strange. 2 at low level, could have been lanterns, but they seemed to be flying in formation and having fun. Their movement seemed playful. Another time I saw 1 big orange light, over the see. Reasonably stationary, was there for over 30 minutes in roughly the same area.

I'd class all 3 lights as unexplainable. Southern UK by the way.

Originally posted by gortex
reply to post by jedi_hamster

 

which part of the 'i am pretty sure it wasn't one' you don't understand?

I understand that "pretty sure" isn't certain , there is an element of doubt .

very little one.

Originally posted by gortex
reply to post by jedi_hamster

 

if 'chinese lantern' is all you can post in a forum dedicated to UFOs, get out and find yourself a different hobby than trolling.

Why is it that people on this forum have to be so dam hostile to other peoples opinions

perhaps because this forum is full of people claiming that everything was a damn chinese lantern.

Originally posted by gortex
reply to post by jedi_hamster

 

this is UFO forum. if you're not willing to consider 'what if' and discuss all options before drawing your conclusion, this isn't the place for you.

Just because it's a UFO forum doesn't mean I have to see UFOs everywhere , if the description sounds like and lantern and it behaves like a lantern there's a good probability it is a lantern .

the description does not sound like a lantern and it weren't behaving like a lantern, so there's a good probability you're just derailing this thread on purpose.

Originally posted by Kaiju
Could it have been the sun reflecting off of a plane?
I think at around 9pm a high enough plane could still catch the sun below the horizon.

sunset was around 8pm, so i doubt it would be possible, even if not considering the fact that the plane would have to be pretty big and even high flying jets are audible here. this was completely silent.

Originally posted by pot8er
Which direction was the wind blowing at altitude that night ? Quite an easy way to permenantly exclude lanterns from the list of possibilities.

according to the local meteo station, the wind direction yesterday was E at 8:50pm, S at 9:00pm and E at 9:10pm, so in theory it could match. the trouble is, average wind speed at 9pm was 6.1km/h, max 8.7km/h. that light was flying much faster than that - and considering the fact that while i have no idea about the exact altitude, i am sure it was in hundreds of meters. why? because i'm wearing prescription glasses and i got them some time ago - just -0.5 on both eyes, but when i look at something that is very distant, like stars or moon, i see subtle halo around it. stars are very subtly blurred, moon - a little bit, i can see details. i can see wings and wing lights of a high flying passenger jet, so i would say i see pretty well. still, i can judge longer distances by the sharpness of the image. that thing was most probably flying with supersonic speed at very high altitude, or slightly below supersonic at hundreds of meters in worst case. does that sound like a chinese lantern?

meteo station (in polish)

reply to post by jedi_hamster

so there's a good probability you're just derailing this thread on purpose.

Do you think so ?
Check this out ...


Now the video isn't very long (24 seconds) but it may be relevant if it looks like what you saw .

reply to post by jedi_hamster

Fascinating account of your sighting jedi_hamster. From the information you have stated it looks like you have seen something that can be identified as a genuine UFO. Congratulations, it will change your life. You will face a barrage of swamp gas, chinese lanterns, fire flies, asteroids, santa on his sleigh and general derision, but seeing is believing.

reply to post by jedi_hamster

the only conventional explanation that crossed my mind, would be some meteor, but those tend to fall from the sky and disappear in a blink of an eye, not fly across it and then slowly disappear. also, judging by the light size and brightness, it would have to make one hell of an crash site. if you have half a brain, don't even try to suggest a chinese lantern - i am pretty sure it wasn't one, i was just being sarcastic in the thread title.

Sure sound like one from what you describe or the International Space station.

You can check to see if it should have visible from where you are at that time.

what the f.. is wrong with you people?

Bravo, great way to get people to listen

this isn't the place for you.

Your telling other posters this or your making jokes because its

the description does not sound like a lantern and it weren't behaving like a lantern,

Yes it does, but its moving at a pace that could be matched to a satellite.

when i look at something that is very distant, like stars or moon, i see subtle halo around it. stars are very subtly blurred, moon - a little bit, i can see details. i can see wings and wing lights of a high flying passenger jet, so i would say i see pretty well. still, i can judge longer distances by the sharpness of the image. that thing was most probably flying with supersonic speed at very high altitude, or slightly below supersonic at hundreds of meters in worst case.

So you have good eyes your saying,

Do people with good eyes usually get

i'm wearing prescription glasses and i got them some time ago

I think your prescription is needing an update seeing as what you post here

considering the fact that while i have no idea about the exact altitude, i am sure it was in hundreds of meters.

or should I

I think I am back at

reply to post by gortex


nothing like it. colour was stable, only brightness was subtly fluctuating. shape was stable (circle, as far as i could tell considering the distance), and it was moving WAY faster.

today i saw another one. same hour - 9pm, same area - a little bit more to the south and west, but the same flight direction. this one was more yellow-red, almost like there were two light sources in place, disappeared after more or less 30s and was moving much slower, the light was also much dimmer than the one i saw yesterday, and was flying at lower altitude. wind direction would be more or less a match and i would say that this one was a chinese lantern. yesterday though - it looked entirely different. it was bright and fast. weird coincidence when it comes to the timing, but still - it looked entirely different.

reply to post by jedi_hamster


Sounding more and more like a satellite to me...or the I.S.S.

reply to post by gavron


the problem is, according to the spaceweather flybys website, it was neither. they can have limited database though, i don't know. it wasn't the ISS. first, the time doesn't match. second, the direction doesn't match either (i was looking toward NE and it was flying from the right to the left), and third, i saw ISS few times and it was never, ever, that bright - and i don't recall it being that big either.