Weird Lights in the clouds over Pittsburgh

OK, I don't want to be alarmist at all....and I am not sure I am doing this right so all apologies right off....but is anyone else seeing the weird lights behind the clouds over Pittsburgh right now? I am thinking they must be spotlights, but they aren't acting like spotlights, there are three of them rotating around each other and there is no source for the beam.....wow!

[edit on 5/15/2009 by greeneyedleo]

I am sooo sorry, but my camera just won't get it with the lighting. I am near the city and it's just not showing up on my camera. The lights are behind the clouds and you sort of have to stare into them to see the lights. I'll keep trying. I just wanted to get it out there in case anyone else in the area was around and could look up. It's rather beautiful, whatever it is.

Sorry bud, just called my buddy in Mount Washington... If anybody in the city would have a view, it would be from that area. He said he can't see squat but clouds.

reply to post by cbianchi513


I'm in Brookline....and they are over me. The clouds are breaking up but I can still see the lights.....tell him to look my way.

reply to post by glad_to_be_His


....the clouds are gone and so are the lights. Totally weird. If it were spotlights I would think they would be easier to see now. What's the chance the spots got turned off right when the clouds disappeared. Wow.

He's going up to the roof of his building... Give him a few minutes...

Yup, he sees it now... What IS that he says.

You might be on to something. Too bad he only has a camera phone, and I'm not there with my camera. He's calling somebody to take pics, but I'm not holding my breath... sounds like a party at his house, as usual.

On the bright side, according to him, y'all are getting quite the show!

EDIT: Gone, he said... just like you said. Maybe he was drunk though...
He did say it looked cool though.

[edit on 15/5/09 by cbianchi513]

I would suggest a video camera on hand for just such an occasion.. I know it may sound overkill but I have one always plugged in to A/C power with an extension cord and a battery on full charge in another camera for back up! lol
you can never be too ready!!

reply to post by glad_to_be_His


This is what you are seeing..

Here

Here is a close up
Here

This is the green and white lights from the county airport. I lived in Homestead pa and was constantly seeing those after the mills shut down.. They can be seen for a good distance considering that is the highest point in Allegheny County.

::EDIT::

Links

[edit on 5/15/2009 by ThichHeaded]

He sent me a pic from his camera phone, but it's worthless, as predicted...
All I can see is the crappiest city in PA, aside from Reading, that is.

EDIT: I'm sorry, they're ALL crappy, I forgot. I just hate the squeelers.

[edit on 15/5/09 by cbianchi513]

reply to post by ThichHeaded


The county airport is in the opposite direction of where I was seeing the lights. There were no green lights, they were all white. They moved around each other. The best way I can describe it is like if you imagined three very large rings inside each other each representing a different plane....put a point of light on each ring and then send it around the ring....that's what it looked like to me. I thought once the clouds broke up I would find the source of the beam and then decide it was just a spotlight but when the clouds broke up the lights faded. I watched them fade, they didn't just turn off.

Its the airport...

There is a spotlight kinda like on a light house that shines 2 lights or 3 lights, I am betting you are seeing the 2 white lights.. They do this so planes know to land there..

Really ask some older person in the area and they will tell you the same exact thing.

reply to post by glad_to_be_His


That's what my buddy said... they just faded, not shut off abruptly. He didn't think they looked like spot lights either, but you know that clouds around the rivers can "bounce" light and such.

It was probably swamp gas.


I guess we'll never know... No pics from my buddy due to lack of proper motivation, and distraction due to scantily clad, half lit nubiles.

Man I miss college.

Originally posted by cbianchi513

EDIT: I'm sorry, they're ALL crappy, I forgot. I just hate the squeelers.

[edit on 15/5/09 by cbianchi513]

Awww....just when I felt we were bonding over something special ...well, hopefully the Stanley Cup will be easier for you to swallow ...hehe. Thanks for popping in and having your friend take a look. My son saw it with me....I am glad to know someone else saw something

Peace

reply to post by ThichHeaded


I have lived in this area for fifteen years and I have seen the spots. You can see where a spotlight starts and they are usually more over the city. These lights were nowhere near the airports....You could be right, but it didn't look like that to me. Thanks for the input though.

reply to post by glad_to_be_His


No problem... but Stanley Cup? What is that? Canadian futbal?


Yeah, they saw something alright, but I'm inclined to agree with the prevailing opinion, having no photos and not having been there. I live about the same distance from my local regional, and I see their ILS beacon under the right conditions... So it stands to reason that this is a plausible explanation.

Then again, does anybody know where the flying spaghetti monster is tonight?

reply to post by cbianchi513


LOL....maybe I missed the Bat signal...I don't know. Glad to know my tax dollars are putting on such an elaborate light show....hmmm so how do the planes know where to go now that the lights are gone?

reply to post by glad_to_be_His



ILS= Instrument Landing System. The pilots generally only use the beacon as a last minute visual reference, so it's pretty much window dressing in IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) condition.

Interesting. I live in Taupo, New Zealand and two nights ago (14th) my girlfriend noticed lights in the clouds it was above normal urban living area, no parks or places these lights could of been coming from the ground because i know this area very well. It was also semi foggy that night and there were no light beams lighting up the path from cloud to ground so i don't think this was from the ground.

There was two large circles about a football field length in diametre and about a quarter a kilometer apart. There was about a 12+ orbs circling clock wise in a circle formation and every 7 seconds or so would instantly start circling the other way and so on.

This went on for about 3 hours until I noticed the clouds were gone and no more light. Was this like anything you saw ?

reply to post by eathis


I didn't see any large circles....just balls of light chasing each other around. They appear only in the clouds....when the clouds fade so do the lights. They did come back briefly about an hour and half later last night. I tried again to take a picture, a still this time, but nothing shows up. I think I just catch too much light from the city. I should point out that when they appeared the second time they were further north. I keep going back to the post suggesting I am close to the county airport. I am near 10 miles from the airport. This was not coming from the airport.