Noticed any helicopters hanging around late at night?

Has anyone, especially in the UK noticed helicopters hanging around an area late at night usually between 12am and 4am?

This has happened on and off now every few months this year and i've noticed them stop and just hover right in our area, they then fly off a bit and do it in another area like they're looking for something quite local, this as far as i can remember never happened before 2007 and it just seems odd behaviour and kind of intrusive due to the noise and nature of it.

I took a look once and it did appear to be very dark, it had a few brightly coloured lights like green, blue, red and i think orange as well, no spot lights were on but these lights don't make much sense, i know planes and helicopters have lights but i thought it was a basic white and red flashing one usually?

I think the most likely possibility is they're looking for the heat signatures of plant growing activity but i can't imagine anything like that happening in our area and why they would take a visit ever few months as well, strange stuff.

[edit on 10/8/07 by just theory]

Whereabouts in the UK are you.
One Helicopter base gave advance notice of a lot of exercises taking place between Middle Wallop ap Salisbury plain area

Around the middle of somerset, do you have any idea what they're up to and why do you think it has to be so late?

Up north it is similar, but I have to say it sounds like a police helecopter. We get them sometimes and often around the time you mention- stopping and staying put then moving and stopping etc. Sometimes with a search light other times without- perhaps using thermal viewing?

Originally posted by just theory
Around the middle of somerset, do you have any idea what they're up to and why do you think it has to be so late?

No its just general excercises. It was announced in the local papers.
They said as well as the normal Apaches zooming around, there would be Chinooks, Hueys and other helicopters excersing for a few weeks. Its due to end soon now though.

Originally posted by Knights
Up north it is similar, but I have to say it sounds like a police helecopter. We get them sometimes and often around the time you mention- stopping and staying put then moving and stopping etc. Sometimes with a search light other times without- perhaps using thermal viewing?

But where he lives, Somerset, is in the UK Apache Longbow exercise area.
I now live near Andover and they are zooming around all the time.
Went past Middle Wallop airbase this morning and I have NEVER seen an Apache on the ground, they are always around the back behind the big hangars but this moring one was on the tarmac where the smaller copters are in full view of the road. Nasty looking beasties close up.

Yeah we do see the odd helicopter go over occasionally in the day but its really not often and this has been happening specifically at night a few times one week of every other month it seems?