I suppose im new, well ill start here.

Originally posted by MoebabFlundershuntz
Welcome Sunburnt!
I used to live down the coast from you in Myrtle Beach, and I've seen lights like that on a few occasions.
The first time, one orange light seemed to drop down, turned into two, and a third split off the second. then the second and third lights swirled around each other. They seemed to shoot sparkles between themselves too. I have seen a lot of fireworks down there, and this was not one. it was also dead silent.
the last time, Three orange lights just appeared over the water out of nowhere, but I was able to see four jets in formation flying at high speed away, so I guessed that they were flares. I didn't see any planes the first time. i still don't even believe my explanation of flares, but it is the most plausible for me.
Anyhoo, welcome to ATS!

I saw this too! A bit south from myrtle beach in garden city! What a coincidence..

Thank you for moving my board

reply to post by Destinyone


its a wonder they dont start saying
no pics of you filming or it didnt happen

Why would someone lie about video taping something?....
That seems pretty juvenile. And un rewarding.

\

oops...wrong thread...my bad....

reply to post by Sunburnt


Did the orange-red light, have a fireball likeness to you ---- Or to put it in other words ---- Did it look like it was on fire?

Thanks,

Erno86

G day Taylor,

Welcome to ATS! first of all i couldnt help but point out Left is =D pass it on to the male voice.

as for the video i did not really see much sharp movement but i do see what you are trying to point out, and well i cannot conclude anything from this so i will leave it to others or await more posts from yourself.

i cannot remember who i stole this from but they stole it from someone else so meh. here is a chart that should help you next time your in doubt xD.



Flagged.

reply to post by Erno86


It did not appear to have any fire type glow.
It was a consistent glow really, and when it faded in and out it faded out white.
Came back the orange/red color!

reply to post by Aarcadius


First off, Haha! I love the chart, made me giggle.
I appreciate your time in the video, I know its not of that much interest, but im quite pleased I even caught it on tape c:

Though im confused on your left and right reference since he did mention left, and to myself and the others there it was moving left, im sure you were just being silly and keeping it light here, which I appreciate, not everything has to be so serious!

reply to post by Aarcadius


mods sorry in advance
I WANT A WEATHER BALLOON

reply to post by Sunburnt


i have a freind whom as a video that he took
(my little bro was there too)
ilasts a long time it was one orb he thought
he was recording (camcorder)that had some of
the same effects as your light i.e. moved away
got bigger smaller nearer changed colour
when he showed meon his big screen tv
we were amazed to see in the top left corner there
was a blue one that moved into screen
and then a red one moved into the bottom of
the right hand side of the screen

and yes ill try and get it off him i have tried loads
of times but he says that he has home made stuff
on it if you know what i mean
but ill try again you never know

reply to post by Sunburnt


by the way
star and flag
good catch

reply to post by Sunburnt


Ok....I have seen many videos like (similar) to this, sorry.

They look very much like the lights of large airliners, off in the distance. As they are being radar-vectored by Air Traffic Control for final approach to their destination airport.

I see, by looking at maps, the general vicinity of the Wilmington Airport, just west by northwest of your position on the Wrightsville Beach.


I presume you were filming out over the water, correct? The lights shifted positions, as you see rather slowly and gradually (which is what it looks like when you see the landing lights of large jets that are distant by 20, 30 or even 50 miles away.

(It is important to understand how the airliners behave on descents. Firstly, it is common to illuminate nearly all of the external lights, to include landing lights, as you descend through 18,000 feet. AT that altitude, you are generally within 50 miles of landing at your destination. Secondly, the arrivals are often "sequenced" by ATC by being given headings to fly, with occasional turns left or right).

Several airplanes, at distance would appear to be "close" to one another, when they are many miles apart. Only as they get nearer to you does this separation they have become more obvious.

I hear a lot of wind in the recording, from that evening. Did the wind happen to be coming mostly from the North, or North and slightly West, by any chance? Or some other direction that was blowing offshore? Because you can see the runway at Wilmington that is aligned North/South.

A wind from the northwest direction would mean they'd be landing in that direction, on that runway. However, due to the angle of the other runway, and the direction some lights appeared to be moving to your North, as you filmed, they could also have been maneuvering to line up to land to the SouthWest, if that was more the wind direction.

SO, if you remember the wind direction, we can figure this out more accurately.


Here is an actual Wilmington Airport diagram:

KILM


See, one Runway is numbered 17/35 (those are magnetic headings, actual numbers are 168.3° and reciprocal of 348.3°, which is how the Runway numbers are derived).

If the wind was more from the South, and West, then it would favor landing into the wind on the crossing Runway. (6/24). Runway 24 being the landing direction.

Was the wind direction that unusual, so the airline traffic was coming from directions you were not used to seeing, before? (Plus, a very clear evening, with very good and distant visibility). These situations often lead to these "sightings" for locals who aren't accustomed to seeing the jets at all, nor in those directions.



This might help you in future, too:

flightaware.com...

From the above ^ ^ ^ you can zoom in on the "Big Map" view and see the airplanes that are arriving/departing from Wilmington.

The airplane icons in cyan are local....the green ones are just passing by, from other origins.

I see, just now as I type this, a lot of rainclouds and weather in your area? Some rain perhaps?? (This is Wednesday afternoon, the 10th January at about 3:30 EST).

Your temperature (at the airport) is 17°Celsius, or about 63°F......so, no snow. The winds are light today, from 140° at about 6 knots.


Aviation Weather Forecast for the next few hours (up to midnight GMT) is for gusty winds from the South and occasional heavy rainshowers......

reply to post by ProudBird


Thanks for taking the time to throw out your opinion, reading up on this now!

After reading through all of that, and trying to make sense of it, the way it looked in person, I just cant pass as any of that!

reply to post by Sunburnt


Well, I hoped to make some sense of it for you.

The thing is, I can only see the videos that you made, and wasn't there to witness, as you were. So, based solely on the videos, they appear (to my eye) very similar to many, many other instances of airliners in the distance, maneuvering and lining up for approach to an airport.

However, your personal experience may not be reflected properly in the video....I just hoped to provide a plausible explanation.