I Saw This On July 4th 2013

We all love fireworks displays for our nation's birthday, we all feel so much more American and proud of it on that day. That's why what I saw that night still strikes me as strange.

The time was about 11:30 pm, and most of the displays in my town of Marion, Indiana had been over for a while and I decided to go to the convenience store. That evening had slight rain earlier and it was a little misty, nothing unusual. As I was coming back up my street I saw in the sky three solid balls of light that were moving northward. They were not blinking. I would have thought maybe it might be an airplane, but noticed they were in a straight line and not in a triangular formation. Some other people in my building were watching it also and I asked them what they thought and they replied it had to be some special fireworks that were shot off in honor of veterans.

I am 45 years-old and have seen many, many fireworks displays and never have I seen this in any state or city I have ever been to. By the time I got back into my apartment for my camera, they were gone. But these things were not hovering, they were moving at one pace, in a straight line. I know the difference in airplanes and helicopters, I live a block from the hospital and they have a helicopter landing pad that is used quite frequently and the hospital helicopter flies over my building. That is what made this unusual because they made no sound whatsoever.

I have never seen a fireworks display that moves in a straight line. But they were three balls of light, moving northward. This could not have come from the city display because that was to the southwest of my building, in another section of town.

I live in Marion, Indiana. This still sticks with me and I thought I would post it because I have asked several people I know if they had ever seen this after a fireworks display, no one has ever seen this before. I asked the other witnesses if they had seen it before and they said no, but they were sure that was what it was. This didn't happen last year in this city, so it makes me wonder why they were so quick to dismiss this, even though they had never seen it before either.

Sorry, there are no pictures, I don't normally take a camera with me when going to convenience stores.

reply to post by WarminIndy


Maybe or maybe not related.

I saw a military jet today that appeared to be way too low. I caught view of it out of the corner of my eye. As I turned to look it made a sharp turn to the south, (it was headed west), but there was no sound.

I anticipated this roar from a military jet but it was freaking silent. Then within a few seconds the thing was out of eyesight! It was low, fast and silent.

P.S. - I live in Glendale, AZ about 10 miles from Luke Air Force Base.

reply to post by WarminIndy


Chinese Sky Lanterns.



They're lauched by people, typically to celebrate, and to celebrate any occasion from birthdays, holidays, funerals, the family pet is finally potty trained, any and/or every reason is fair game to launch a lantern, either just one by itself, or, as shown in the video above, by the thousands.

reply to post by AliceBleachWhite


It could be what the op observed but I saw a military jet.

Edit- Is the launching of the lanterns considered littering?

It is typical for people to say that you saw Chinese Lanterns because....

That's probably what they were.

When you combine orange/yellow/red orbs/lights etc floating in the sky, with human celebrations like ID and New Year (esp Chinese or Viet NY), the chances are that 99.9% of the "Orbs" are Lanterns.

Don't forget, people Do tie these things together, or make a triangle form out of them, specifically to see if people see a "UFO" and report it.....They are laughing at the people who do. All innocent fun.
People even do it with RC led light toys.

As far as the "Military Plane", was it moving slowly just above the treetops? Was is a dark colour? Was is a triangluar shape? Was it completely silent even tho you "Should" have heard a jet engine?
If so...congratulations, you have just seen your first elusive "Black Triangle". .
"American Muscle" at its best.

gort51
It is typical for people to say that you saw Chinese Lanterns because....

That's probably what they were.

When you combine orange/yellow/red orbs/lights etc floating in the sky, with human celebrations like ID and New Year (esp Chinese or Viet NY), the chances are that 99.9% of the "Orbs" are Lanterns.

Don't forget, people Do tie these things together, or make a triangle form out of them, specifically to see if people see a "UFO" and report it.....They are laughing at the people who do. All innocent fun.
People even do it with RC led light toys.

As far as the "Military Plane", was it moving slowly just above the treetops? Was is a dark colour? Was is a triangluar shape? Was it completely silent even tho you "Should" have heard a jet engine?
If so...congratulations, you have just seen your first elusive "Black Triangle".

.
"American Muscle" at its best.

No, there was no mass, just three lights. I said in the op that it was not an airplane. Yes, completely silent, moving slowly enough for me to watch them for a few minutes before going in to get the camera.

Um, you forgot to read where I live at, and no, there is no Asian community. This didn't happen the year before. Like I said, I have seen many, many fireworks displays in my life. I have also seen airplanes and helicopters, I am 45 years-old now.

I did not estimate the speed so I can't say how fast they were going, but they were going as slow as my electric wheelchair on high speed, but not as fast as a car would, even at 35 mph. There was no sound. They didn't trail and they were not going straight up, rather straight north. They were high enough not to hit the hospital that is a block over from me.

Like I said, I know what jets and helicopters look like and sound like. I have flown many times, have been around airports and grew up in an area that was a regular flight pattern for airplanes flying from Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio. These were not an airplane. I did not say they made a triangle. When I saw them, they were in a straight line.

I live in a 6 story apartment building, but I was outside at this time. I just don't know what they were, but they were something I had never seen before and I have been out many times that late in the evening.

WarminIndy

No, there was no mass, just three lights. I said in the op that it was not an airplane. Yes, completely silent, moving slowly enough for me to watch them for a few minutes before going in to get the camera.

Um, you forgot to read where I live at, and no, there is no Asian community. This didn't happen the year before. Like I said, I have seen many, many fireworks displays in my life. I have also seen airplanes and helicopters, I am 45 years-old now.

I did not estimate the speed so I can't say how fast they were going, but they were going as slow as my electric wheelchair on high speed, but not as fast as a car would, even at 35 mph. There was no sound. They didn't trail and they were not going straight up, rather straight north. They were high enough not to hit the hospital that is a block over from me.

Like I said, I know what jets and helicopters look like and sound like. I have flown many times, have been around airports and grew up in an area that was a regular flight pattern for airplanes flying from Dayton International Airport in Dayton, Ohio. These were not an airplane. I did not say they made a triangle. When I saw them, they were in a straight line.

I live in a 6 story apartment building, but I was outside at this time. I just don't know what they were, but they were something I had never seen before and I have been out many times that late in the evening.

Look; White People launching a Chinese Sky Lantern ...


Are they launching thousands or masses of them?
NO.

I thought I was clear about lanterns being launched individually, for any and/or every excuse or occasion.

Certainly, yes, there are festivals where lanterns are launched in the hundreds and thousands.
However, more often than not, when people launch their own lanterns for whatever occasions, it's usually 1, 2, 3; just a very small number typically representative of a family.

Being Asian, or having any Asian heritage at all is not mandatory.
White people can can do this too.

People do this in Brazil, India, and other non-Asian places too.

The description you gave of golden glowing orbs, especially in conjunction with a holiday event gives strong likelihood that what you saw was indeed a few Sky Lanterns; all 3 released at once, drifting on the wind.

There's tons of UFO reports mistaking Sky lanterns for something more significant, so, it's not anything to be bothered or defensive about in failing to make the distinction.
Interestingly enough there's tons of UFO reports where people have mistaken Venus, Spica, Jupiter, or even the Constellation of Orion as UFOs.

In your case, the probability seems highest for Sky Lanterns according the description given in OP.

Excellent post as always Alice.

One thing people should remember is that fireworks retailers also sell Chinese Lanterns so they are often used on the same holidays (July 4, New Years Eve, probably Guy Fawkes Day in England) etc.

They are also now a common thing for people to use at night on someone's birthday or a wedding or even engagement.

WarminIndy


No, there was no mass, just three lights. I said in the op that it was not an airplane. Yes, completely silent, moving slowly enough for me to watch them for a few minutes before going in to get the camera.

Um, you forgot to read where I live at, and no, there is no Asian community.

....and AGAIN Chinese Lanterns at this point are like fireworks. Just as you don't have to be Chinese or Asian (who still uses the word "oriental"?) to light off fireworks you don't have to be to send up Chinese Lanterns.

They are often sold from the same outlets.

Like many things in America it's a tradition (lighting Chinese lanterns and sending them aloft on New Years Eve, birthdays, weddings, etc) that has been adopted by many non-Chinese, non-Asian people.

Like yoga.

AliceBleachWhite
In your case, the probability seems highest for Sky Lanterns according the description given in OP.

No idea how you can read a short post on a sighting and declare it's likely Sky Lanterns. That is either an amazing investigative talent...or a wild jump to an answer you personally like.

Why not suggest the OP contact Mufon, make a report and talk to a qualified investigator? That's what I'd suggest.

I have no clue what you saw OP. There are people who investigate sightings and have really good experience in figuring out what it might have been. It takes some time to answer a bunch of questions but the process is judgement free and you learn a lot about things in the sky you might not have known where there. Don't be shy to give Mufon a call.

reply to post by justreleased


I've seen many military jets and Helicopters were I live, in central Kentucky. they usually fly low and make no sound. even at night though I could not mistake them as UFOs, as they have blinking red and blue lights. what WARMININDY saw was probably a foo' fighter as described by WWII army air corps pilots.

reply to post by WarminIndy


Google Foo' Fighter.
it sounds like that was what you saw.
Sie haben ein gut neu Jahre!

rachtenspiel
reply to post by WarminIndy

 

Google Foo' Fighter.
it sounds like that was what you saw.
Sie haben ein gut neu Jahre!

You have a good new year also.

I don't think they were Chinese sky lanterns, as I said it was raining earlier that evening and there was some debate as to whether or not there would be a display. Marion usually has four displays, depending on what part of town, usually the city has theirs at a water park, but the others are usually by private companies. There are a lot of private citizens that shoot off their around town, depending on where they live.

Where I live is close to a hospital that has a regular helicopter landing pad that is used quite frequently, because it is only a block away, the helicopter has to fly very close over my building, so I am used to that. People here in my building are afraid it might hit us one day.


AliceBleachWhite

Here are the rules for Chinese Sky lanterns...weddingdaysparklers.com...

Do NOT fly them when it is raining. It had been raining that night. If they were sky lanterns, the people would also have had to gotten permission to fly them.

As I saw them, it took longer than half the time they can fly....

The fuel source in each sky lantern will burn for approximately 8-10 minutes

I watched them for about 5 minutes before going to get the camera. They were not flying this high

sky lanterns will easily reach heights of over 1000 feet (typically between 700 and 1600 feet)

It makes no sense that it would be a Chinese Sky lantern. We had rain that night, we were still expecting more rain, it was misty and when I saw them, they were at the tree top level, and yet my building is higher than the tree tops.

And flying RC planes near a hospital that has a helicopter pad, one would be arrested for that.

I saw 3 of these on new years eve, and not for ONE SECOND did I imagine they where anything other than Chinese Sky Lantirns! People clearly have no clue what they're lookin at

YES! They are often seen floating up to space where they are caught on Shuttle/ISS cams too. Its ridiculous

JadeStar

WarminIndy


No, there was no mass, just three lights. I said in the op that it was not an airplane. Yes, completely silent, moving slowly enough for me to watch them for a few minutes before going in to get the camera.

Um, you forgot to read where I live at, and no, there is no Asian community.

....and AGAIN Chinese Lanterns at this point are like fireworks. Just as you don't have to be Chinese or Asian (who still uses the word "oriental"?) to light off fireworks you don't have to be to send up Chinese Lanterns.

They are often sold from the same outlets.

Like many things in America it's a tradition (lighting Chinese lanterns and sending them aloft on New Years Eve, birthdays, weddings, etc) that has been adopted by many non-Chinese, non-Asian people.

Like yoga.

edit on 7-1-2014 by JadeStar because: (no reason given)

ATSZOMBIE
YES! They are often seen floating up to space where they are caught on Shuttle/ISS cams too. Its ridiculous

I have no idea what you're talking about. I was answering a question about this particular sighting. I have never seen anything like a chinese lantern in ISS video.

JadeStar

ATSZOMBIE
YES! They are often seen floating up to space where they are caught on Shuttle/ISS cams too. Its ridiculous

I have no idea what you're talking about. I was answering a question about this particular sighting. I have never seen anything like a chinese lantern in ISS video.

edit on 9-1-2014 by JadeStar because: (no reason given)

I think that was sarcasm by the poster.

The poster was implying that if it is Chinese sky lanterns, then the pictures of light anomalies taken by the ISS must also be Chinese sky lanterns. And since Chinese sky lanterns do not go that high, then that means the light anomalies must be something else, but since the anomalies are Chinese sky lanterns, then the ISS is taking pictures of Chinese sky lanterns.

Either the ISS is taking impossible pictures of impossibly high flying Chinese sky lanterns, or taking pictures of unknown light anomalies, that people are calling Chinese sky lanterns.