Odd Sightings You Later Found Were Totally Explainable??

Hi everyone,

I remember about nine years ago, I was in my room alone late at night, and I looked out the window and saw a cluster of distinct lights out of the window. They appeared to move in a highly peculiar fashion. I stared at them for quite a while from my bed. I live just outside of Calgary, Canada, so there are no streetlights, and few houses near me. It is generally totally black outside. Totally freaked me out for about 10 minutes. I then decided to take a closer look, and got out of bed and walked towards it. This was when I realized that there was a loose plastic film still on the window, which was reflecting lights that were not in direct line of sight from my bed. The film was loose, so it was moving around slightly in the wind, which caused the lights to appear to move and flicker!
I'm still on the fence about the cause behind UFOs (though I do lean towards the 'paranormal'), but I thought it would be interesting to see other people's experiences with "UFOs that weren't." This incident (and never having witnessed anything that didn't turn out to be totally explainable) has always made me question UFO incidents in general. Which is good, I think. Maybe the real explanation to UFOs is that a collection of highly unlikely events happen together, which give us a UFO incident.

reply to post by Irako

Good story. We've all had moments, I'm sure, where something looked creepy as heck in the dark in our room as a kid, only to find out it was something we'd dumped on a chair that turned into a monster to our eyes once the lights were out, etc.

I agree that looking at all the mundane possibilities that something COULD be, before jumping to the "It's Aliens!" or "UFO!" conclusion is wise.

For myself, and as I have no "proof" this is only for myself, I've seen something completely undebunkable (have I just coined a word?) - it really was a UFO. Now, does that mean "aliens?" I don't know - I didn't see aliens - but I did see an amber red flying circle during the daytime underneath a total grey cloud-cover that then sped up instantaneously to a blur for a second before utterly disappearing, not into the distance, but just *poof* out of existence (at least to my vision).

Anyway, I've shared this story before here. I use this experience as my "yardstick" when I see footage, when I hear other stories, when I evaluate history, etc. I KNOW, again just for myself, that SOMETHING beyond mundane explanation does exist. I really really wish I knew what it was. Even so, I remain an open-minded skeptic (who is also a "believer" of sorts) when it comes to the whole topic, as many stories/videos turn out to be mundane or hoaxes or whatever. If I had NOT had this experience, I would have a very different perspective, I think. It would be easy to dismiss the whole topic, or at least remain on the fence.

Thanks for sharing!

reply to post by Irako

I made a thread about a UFO film called "the Oldfield Film" that was thought to be some of the best UFO evidence ever.

It turned out to be explainable even though it was not any kind of hoax and the film was pretty impressive. Here is the thread:

The Oldfield UFO Film

I've had some sightings like Jill Tartar the Seti researcher described which earned her a spot in the UFO hall of shame, which is really unfair because if you've ever seen what she described, it really does look like a UFO and if conditions get cloudier instead of clearing, you may not figure out what it was you saw. The UFO hall of shame shows pictures of the full moon:

www.ufowatchdog.com...

The reason that's unfair is she never claimed she thought the full moon looked like a UFO. She described overcast conditions where she could see just a little bit of moonlight peek through the clouds, in which case it may not look anything like the moon, depending on how the clouds are formed, etc. The following screencaps aren't from either her or my sightings but they are just examples to give people an idea how sometimes the moon doesn't look much like the moon:

www.youtube.com...


www.youtube.com...


My sighting was different but it was similar in the fact that what I saw didn't look much like the moon. Now if you watch either of those videos long enough you can put those images in context and see it really is the moon, but her point what when you catch a glimpse of it like in that last image and see what looks like multiple points of light or something, it doesn't look much like the moon and you go "what the heck is that?". If it clears up you see it's the moon which is what happened to her, but if it just gets cloudier, then you may not know what you saw which was her point and I have noticed the same thing. I can't be too hard on the guys at UFOwatchdog though, as I agree with most of their other assessments, but I think they missed the boat on this one about Jill Tartar. They should be showing pics like these, not like the one they show of an obvious moon.

I had a strange sighting in 2000 when I working on the night shift as a taxi driver in Oss, the Netherlands.
During the early morning hours there were not many fares, so I went home to watch some TV, waiting for a call for the next ride. It was around 5:00 AM and the window of the living room faces east. I saw the first break of light and the stars were fading slowly, all but one. I saw a large star moving slowly and was fascinated by it.
A UFO?
I could see it moving for almost 20 minutes and it seemed to get closer. Than I saw what it was, it was a plane and the sun was reflecting from the bottom of the plane.

reply to post by AboveBoard


I really wish I had an experience I couldn't explain. Very envious of you :-). I haven't really had any sighting I couldn't explain - keep wishing a giant boomerang would fly over my house one day lol.

A few years back I used to go out at night to prospect for gold in the Goldfield Mountains outside of Apache Junction. You can see and hear lots of cool things at night out in the desert and it is slightly cooler than in the daytime. Anyway it is about nine o'clock at night and I see a large amorphous light rising majestically and slowly in the west. It seems to take forever as it arches majestically skyward. I am really getting into it thinking that I have seen an alien space ship taking off. When I get home the late, late news is on as I am unpacking my gear and I see it just in time for them to announce a missile launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. This is obviously what I had seen.

Back in the early sixties, maybe '61 or'62 I was sleeping in the back yard of my parents house in Las Vegas. It was late, probably after midnight anyways. When I woke up it was dark. I blinked my eyes and it was daytime. By the time I blinked my eyes again it was night again. I think it was a meteorite that was seen in four states that night.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Hi Arbitrageur,
I remember that thread. Although it had become too long for me to actually wade through properly.
It is always a surprise to me when someone puts forth a common astronomical object as an explanation for a sighting, but it does happen quite a bit. Those explanations generally don't go over well with some people, but it happens so often! There are so many different conditions in which to view the moon or stars that it quickly becomes a viable explanation for many sightings.

Two or more (?) decades ago I had multiple sightings of bright orange orbs. This was at a time when Chinese lanterns were not wildly known respective many did not even know such things exist, back then. (This was in Europe).

The sighting(s) were VERY impressive for me at the time, one "orb" actually came closer to the house and literally flew over the house.
Later on I had multiple sightings of orange orbs, sometimes even a bunch of them in a line flying "in formation".

It took me several years to actually admit/realize it was no UFOs but small balloons with a fire underneath. It is hard to believe how bright they can be. By the way, in the States and elsewhere, I think many of them are actually flown at certain holidays/celebrations like new years, 4th July..this is why you get increased sightings of the orange orbs around those times.

reply to post by Regenstorm


I hate it when light glints off of airplanes like that! Gets my hopes up :-). I live near an airport, so I've got used to 'UFOs' that were actually a plane.

reply to post by groingrinder


Oh wow. Now that's an experience! I remember there was there was a large meteor that came down near Edmonton a few years back. It was all over the news (and ATS of course). Watching the videos I couldn't believe how bright those things can get.

reply to post by NoRulesAllowed


I think it was only until a few years ago that Chinese lanterns were shown to be a viable explanation for many many UFO sightings. I my self had never heard of them before someone posted a video of them seeming to fly in formation across the sky. I've pretty much lost interest in 'lights in the sky' type sightings. Its just too easy to fool the eye, and even if someone saw a genuine alien ship (that merely appeared as a light), it would give no additional knowledge to us.

True story.

Back on the New year's Eve of 95/96, I was stationed in Germany. As My enlistment was due to end in a mere 4 months, I felt it was an especially good New Year, and got exceptionally drunk at a metal bar I frequented. I decided to step outside for a bit of fresh air and smoke a clove I had traded with a German for a Marlboro. As I was smoking and trying to keep my hair from blowing into the lit clove, I glanced up, and two white objects overhead the nearby street area caught my eye. They were large, somewhat conical, but mainly round. They wobbled in line, back and forth, went up and down, spun, but hovered over one particular area. They flashed, sparkled, and had many colored lights. I watched them for a moment, spellbound, and realized I was seeing two flying saucers right in the middle of Frankfurt on New Years Eve. I ran back in the bar and shouted over Pantera for everyone to get outside, there were freakin UFOs right outside. Several of the other regulars who knew me got up and went outside, and I pointed where the UFOs had been spotted. They all looked, squinted, and 5 seconds later burst out laughing. Juergen the bartender went back inside, grabbed a broom, came out, walked across the cobblestone to the other side of the courtyard, and proceeded down the flying saucer invasion with his might broom. He picked up the wreckage, came back, and handed it to me. It was a very large rhinestone bra.

It had been caught over a wire, and had been flapping in the wind. Its numerous rhinestones were reflecting the many colors of light from all the bar signs and fireworks going off all over the place (It was about 2:30 a.m. A testament to how very drunk I was, I no longer so much as flinched when fire crackers went off within 20 feet of me. I don't think I really noticed.)Though not really padded, the cups were very stiff and conical. Because I was so freakin drunk, I totally misjudged the distance, and thus their actual size. I thought they were several blocks away, and thus, much larger.

For the rest of the 4 months left that I was there, I never lived that night down.

reply to post by Irako
I posted this before but its fairly recent and fits right on topic.
Last fall I was walking the dog and saw what I thought was a drone flying overhead. I pointed it out to my brother as a third one flew pretty low overhead. I raced back to the house to get binoculars when I saw a second one fly overhead a few minutes after the first on the same exact course. I got binoculars and we saw that the third one was not a drone( we do have a nearby drone base in the next county over) but a big Lear jet. Then a fourth one flew overhead, same exact flight path each a few minutes apart. I'm convinced these were techs being flown out to fix the Obamacare debacle which was just making headlines at the time. It was weird, at least four big Lear jets flying low off heading west.
As I was looking at the jet, I noticed a snowball like orb way up in the sky, invisible to the naked eye. I just saw it as I was following the jet. Like a star during mid morning. I thought it was a UFO way up in the atmosphere, stationary. I realized later that night it was in the same position I was seeing Jupiter and that you can see Jupiter even during the day with a telescope. Or any bright enough celestial object.

I had a recent odd sighting but think it has an explainable nature, I'm fairly positive now that what I saw was a low flying Airbus A320/330 that flies from Gatwick to Brize Norton/Fairford at about 2000 ft max. It was only last week that I saw it from my window and tracked it on flightradar and that's when it became apparent it was most likely what I saw. I intend to catch it and try and get underneath it again so I can fully debunk myself, though it's a random flight not set to days/times - presumably it's related to taking troops/officials to these RAF bases. Most likely explainable though.

Cannot explain any of my other sightings yet tho, the "high altitude" ones...

Not so much UFO, but definitely an "odd sighting"...

I live in a small village, out in the countryside, and it can be very dark at night.
I was headed home after a night out, and was walking up a country road towards the village, well past midnight.
The road winds it's way through hedgerows and fields, and at this particular point it performs a z-bend turn before straightening out under the canopy of two rows of large old trees, which follow this dead-straight section of road down to the base of a steep hill about two hundred yards away. the impression that this gives, especially at night, is that of entering a deep dark tunnel, stretching out in front of you. It is quite creepy at the best of times....

But on this particular night, it was really scary!
I had just rounded the last bend of the "z" and was entering the "tunnel" of the trees... when I noticed a large object in the distance, further up the road...near the base of the hill.
It was big! At least the size of a large Dog! but kind of amorphous?
It was very difficult to make out its shape.
I FROZE when I saw it.... thinking wtf?? Until.... I noticed that it was MOVING!!
It was MOVING STRAIGHT TOWARDS ME!!!
Slowly..... Silently..... This Big BLACK THING was headed right at me!!!
My mind started racing.... What Could It Be???... Do I run??... Challenge it??? Shout????
In the end I just Froze and stood motionless as it approached... closer and closer.... My Heart POUNDING!!!!

Until, at last... as it got within about 20 feet of me.... I saw...

A Black Plastic Garbage Bag!! (The really large ones you would use for "Wheelie Bins") as it drifted slowly past me, full of the breeze!
I have never been so scared, or felt so stupid!!! LOL

reply to post by Irako


Got quite a funny one,a couple of years ago I looked out my kitchen window and saw a red light in the sky, very clear I was baffled
because at the time it really looked liked something odd, next day I realised it was a light from the top of a crane. I felt like a right idiot