Anyone in North London (UK) see this about 20-30 minutes ago??

Okay so I was walking from my bedroom to the kitchen about 20-30 minutes ago and I have to pass the garden to do so, as I did I looked up and spotted what could only be described as a "ball of orange light" moving from N/NE to S/SW.

I am assuming it's not E.T because it wasn't hovering or speeding off in multiple directions at once, but going a little faster than a plane would (more like a helicopter at altitude). But there was no sound and a few planes passed it, throughout its journey.

I'm just wondering as to whether or not it could have been a Lantern or possibly some space debris kicking into the atmosphere if anyone's heard anything about that tonight? - The idea of one solo lantern is a little confusing to me, albeit possible (it also faded out quite quickly, is this possible?)

So I'm just wondering if anyone else witnessed anything similar? Again it wasn't behaving irratically nor was it stationary but it moved only slightly faster than a plane usually would (tbh as well, looking at clouds the wind is picking up in that direction they're moving pretty swiftly).

reply to post by A55A551N
Check on the NASA website to see if it may have been the ISS.

Or go to this link:
pbs

Or here:

Astronomy blog

Sounds like the same thing that has been showing up all over the world.

You'll probably be told chinese lanterns, or a plane though.

Do you have anything around your house that you could rationalize a UFO being in the area?

I live in Orlando, Fl and all we have is Disney so I doubt ill see any soon.

I've seen things like this before, people may say they are lanterns but i have seen a difference between these lights and lanterns.
I may do a spot of sky watching later, see if i spot anything interesting.
Did you record what you saw?

reply to post by krashx6

You'll probably be told chinese lanterns, or a plane though.

Well, to be fair, halloween is only days away and Chinese lanters are very popular for this time of year. Especially in the UK now it seems.

ETA: This quote from the OP also makes it seem as though it was a chinese lantern because I've seen the exact same thing occur over Doncaster. Single lantern and yes, it also faded out quickly.

- The idea of one solo lantern is a little confusing to me, albeit possible (it also faded out quite quickly, is this possible?)

when i was in london..i saw these orange "lanterns" nearly every night...
noone else seem to care..so i guess they really lanterns :S

but i ask myself...who and why they send out so much all night :O

@butcherguy - Thanks I'll check.

@krashx6 - Yeah I thought I read a story or two about it previously; wasn't a similar thing chased by a police helicopter in the UK a few years back? However that appeared to be moving at some speed... This was just seemingly being carried by the wind.

As for anything near my house? Nope I live pretty much smack-dab in London... The only relatively 'visitable' places E.T's might wanna see are The Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Downing St, etc. Other than that, not really... lol

@Avvie - Unfortunately not, it was too far up to be picked up by my Blackberry's cam/video cam.

@Rising Against - That was my first initial reaction. We've also got November 5th as well which is celebrated in the UK as "Guy Fawkes Night" or "Fireworks Night" for the kiddies... And lantern's are popular in that cultural move too which is why it was my initial thought.

However as I said I'm not sure one solo lantern works the theory. Anytime I've seen CL's it's been in a group of at least 10 of them.

Thanks everyone for your responses!

reply to post by A55A551N

@Rising Against - That was my first initial reaction. We've also got November 5th as well which is celebrated in the UK as "Guy Fawkes Night" or "Fireworks Night" for the kiddies... And lantern's are popular in that cultural move too which is why it was my initial thought.

I know, I live in Doncaster, England.

However as I said I'm not sure one solo lantern works the theory. Anytime I've seen CL's it's been in a group of at least 10 of them.

That's a fair point, but where I am, the most you'll see is 2. 3 if you’re lucky. Even then, they can be pretty far behind each other so believe me when I say a single CL isn't uncommon at all.

Whether that's what you saw or not, I don't know. It just seems as though that's what it was from where I am but I could be wrong still. I know I’d much prefer the alien theory over anything else.

I have just come back from a dinner with mates and one of them saw what they discribed as a ball of orange light low in the night sky for a few seconds. She said that it looked like a firework just before it explodes, excluding the trail behind it. The thing is, it was over the beach in Amanzimtoti, just south of Durban, South Africa, and judging by the time of this post could have been around the same time.... This is no BS, she insisted that she saw it.

Sounds interesting but could your friend have possibly seen a flare if it was over the beach/sea?? I'm not trying to be funny, just interested to hear whether that's possible.

I've heard 1 or 2 fireworks this evening so for now I will be putting my exp' down to a CL... Until I see something with a bit more substance to it.

Thanks for all the replies people.

reply to post by A55A551N


I asked the same question. A flare is visible for a long period of time though and she said it didn't seem to be out over the ocean, rather over the beach. It is difficult to judge distance at night so I am not sure how far away it may have seemed. I wrote it off as nothing but then I read your post and the kid in me started getting a little excited

I've seen several of these lights recently. Once I saw one of these things rise up into the sky, dissappear, and then another trace exactly the same path. They're not lanterns or conventional aircraft, but frankly, compared to the rest of my year, this isn't that bizarre.

I'm the mate who saw the light - definately wasn;t a flare or firework. The light just moved slowly up, and then winked out. It was really close, yet there was no sound whatsoever. Never seen anything like it before. Also, the colour was really bright orange, like a flame.

I didn't see anything, but I guess it would be pretty lucky for me to be looking at the sky in the same direction and at the same time as you.

Which part of Nth London? I'm in Hampstead
How long did it last for?