UFOs: Seen One? Personal UFO Sightings (IHTM; Miscellaneous)

[SimonBurchell]

If an airship shaped air balloon was there I guess the tethering rope would not be visible being much further away.

I'm not convinced, I don't think a balloon at the Shepherd and Flock would be visible from street level at West Street, and the object had no detail but no distance haze either, and looked much closer... also it wasn't there when I went back to check.

 

[SimonBurchell]

Interestingly it was near (just north west of) the Shepherd and Flock roundabout so it would have been in the right place.

A map of Farnham with my viewing angle from the Post Office eastwards, my estimation of where I saw the object would give a viewing angle that does indeed cover the direction of the entire southern portion of the Shepherd and Flock roundabout:

I was thinking about your suggestion of an advertising balloon last night, and I vaguely remember the balloon you refer to, but not sure in what period. My recollection is the balloon looked something like this:

I wonder where it was anchored?

 

[ChrisBoardman]

"also it wasn't there when I went back to check."

How much later was it when you went back to check?

 

[SimonBurchell]

"also it wasn't there when I went back to check."

How much later was it when you went back to check?

Ha! We're talking about something that happened over 30 years ago! It could have been a couple of hours, it could have been a couple of days... no idea! However, I used to be walking the streets of Farnham all the time, and my vague recollections of the balloon are of seeing it from the Hale/Heath End area.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

A map of Farnham with my viewing angle from the Post Office eastwards, my estimation of where I saw the object would give a viewing angle that does indeed cover the direction of the entire southern portion of the Shepherd and Flock roundabout:
View attachment 63159
I was thinking about your suggestion of an advertising balloon last night, and I vaguely remember the balloon you refer to, but not sure in what period. My recollection is the balloon looked something like this:
View attachment 63160
I wonder where it was anchored?

That was the sort of balloon that was there 2012-14

 

[ChrisBoardman]

Ha! We're talking about something that happened over 30 years ago! It could have been a couple of hours, it could have been a couple of days... no idea! However, I used to be walking the streets of Farnham all the time, and my vague recollections of the balloon are of seeing it from the Hale/Heath End area.

In two hours the wind can change an it might not be visible.

But if it was a balloon you would have certainly seen it more than once if you regularly visited West Street.

 

[eburacum]

Unless it was a one-off balloon, only flown once as a test of some sort.

Normally I'd say that you can't really gauge the size of an object with the human eye, but if you were walking up and down the street while keeping it in view, you could probably get some sort of idea of its size, distance and absolute location.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

Unless it was a one-off balloon, only flown once as a test of some sort.

Normally I'd say that you can't really gauge the size of an object with the human eye, but if you were walking up and down the street while keeping it in view, you could probably get some sort of idea of its size, distance and absolute location.

Those balloons would cost an enormous amount of money for a one flight, maybe it mas made there and delivered to somewhere else?

 

[BS3]

Here's an interesting one. I want to say it happened in 2004 or so, give or take a year.

It was a hot summer day - July I think - and I was lying on the grass in a central London park. The weather was fine with occasional fair-weather cumulus drifting over at a couple of thousand feet.

During the course of the afternoon I noticed a small dark object moving its way around the sky over us. It seemed to be at about the level of the clouds, as occasionally it would drift into the edge of them. Its movement was as I remember quite slow and steady but, and here's the important bit, in a distinctly different direction to the clouds. I followed it for about 20 minutes as it moved around before losing sight of it. I have a feeling it occasionally seemed to stop or change course but can't now remember exactly what happened. In any case it was clearly moving against the wind at all times.

The object itself was small, dark, and certainly not aircraft or obviously balloon / round shaped. I got a subjective impression that it wasn't that big and perhaps had the form of a small vertical cylinder, dustbin or egg shaped thing. There were no wings visible and I was quite sure it wasn't a high altitude bird.

Now if this had happened these days my first thought would have been 'drone', and indeed at the time I wondered whether I was looking at some sort of aerial surveillance thing. But back in 2004 drones were not very common and didn't really look like what I saw.

Any ideas?

 

[eburacum]

A sun-powered solar balloon might have looked like that. A lightweight cylinder made of thin black plastic would absorb solar rays and float away in quite a mysterious fashion. Probably it would need a circular rib or stiffener at the bottom to keep the cylinder open, a bit like a Chinese lantern, but powered by the sun rather than a candle.

Judging by this image, some versions don't bother with a circular rib at the bottom.

 

[BS3]

That's a good visual match, and it was certainly solar balloon weather.

The big problem is that my first thought was "balloon", so I was looking to see if it moved with the wind. It didn't, though of course this doesn't preclude there being some more complex air current thing going on.

 

[eburacum]

Hmm; perhaps I should relate my most recent UAP experience. As I've noted before, I've seen several different types of UFO, and most of them are related somewhere on this site; but I have generally found a convincing explanation for each of them. (Convincing to me, anyhow).

So: the most recent event happened about 2 weeks ago. We often have helicopters flying over York, sightseeing around the Minster and so on; this area is outside most commercial air lanes, so the only planes we see are tourist craft, light aircraft and military craft. I went outside, and there was a helicopter buzzing around - presumably one of the tourist trips. Looking up I could see something- it looked like a very old helicopter, perhaps a Sigorsky, with the weird bubble shaped cockpit at the front.

But it didn't look right at all. The wheels were somehow invisible, and there was absolutely no sign of the rotor blades above the copter. And weirdly, the bubble-shaped cockpit was constantly facing directly towards me, so that it looked like a light-bulb floating in the sky. But I could hear the rotors, so I knew this must have been an illusion.

Then the actual helicopter came into view - a lot lower down, and a lot farther away. Whatever I had been looking at, it wasn't a helicopter.

Gradually, I realised that the thing I had been looking at was probably some kind of large, dark grey balloon - actually, I had no idea exactly how large, except it looked similar in size to the real helicopter. My mysterious balloon drifted across the sky towards the west (an unusual wind direction, but I later confirmed that the wind was blowing from the east, so the object was indeed flying with the wind).

Eventually it disappeared into the clouds - a fairly low layer of stratus, 2000-3000 feet perhaps, high enough to allow the real helicopter to get a good view of the Minster.

So, I'm completely flummoxed; why should anyone set off (largish) balloons in the middle of the day, posing a potential hazard to commercial tourist flights. Was it even a balloon? Who knows?

 

[eburacum]

As an aside, today I watched a couple of microlights crawl across the sky above my house - a motorised hang-glider and an autogyro. So we get plenty of weird stuff round here on a regular basis.

 

[Sid]

Hmm; perhaps I should relate my most recent UAP experience. As I've noted before, I've seen several different types of UFO, and most of them are related somewhere on this site; but I have generally found a convincing explanation for each of them. (Convincing to me, anyhow).

So: the most recent event happened about 2 weeks ago. We often have helicopters flying over York, sightseeing around the Minster and so on; this area is outside most commercial air lanes, so the only planes we see are tourist craft, light aircraft and military craft. I went outside, and there was a helicopter buzzing around - presumably one of the tourist trips. Looking up I could see something- it looked like a very old helicopter, perhaps a Sigorsky, with the weird bubble shaped cockpit at the front.

But it didn't look right at all. The wheels were somehow invisible, and there was absolutely no sign of the rotor blades above the copter. And weirdly, the bubble-shaped cockpit was constantly facing directly towards me, so that it looked like a light-bulb floating in the sky. But I could hear the rotors, so I knew this must have been an illusion.

Then the actual helicopter came into view - a lot lower down, and a lot farther away. Whatever I had been looking at, it wasn't a helicopter.

Gradually, I realised that the thing I had been looking at was probably some kind of large grey balloon - actually, I had no idea exactly how large, except it looked similar in size to the real helicopter. My mysterious balloon drifted across the sky towards the west (an unusual wind direction, but I later confirmed that the wind was blowing from the east, so the object was indeed flying with the wind).

Eventually it disappeared into the clouds - a fairly low layer of stratus, 2000-3000 feet perhaps, high enough to allow the real helicopter to get a good view of the Minster.

So, I'm completely flummoxed; why should anyone set off (largish) balloons in the middle of the day, posing a potential hazard to commercial tourist flights. Was it even a balloon? Who knows?

It was probably a bug, or a bird, or pollen on the surface of the eye, or a floating spider on a strand of web, even possibly an illusion perhaps?

 

[Paul_Exeter]

OK, as requested by @escargot on another thread, a couple of minor UFO sightings I've had and never posted here, because they were far too inconclusive, and quite possibly had mundane explanations.

The first happened around 1990, when I was living in Farnham, Surrey. I was standing on West Street in the town centre, outside the post office, chatting to a friend late one morning, and looking towards the Downing Street junction when I noticed a classic saucer shape hovering above the buildings on the corner. It wasn't huge, about 2-3 degrees across, hard to pin down the distance, but I thought it was over the buildings on the corner, so about 50m off. If I was pressed to estimate a size, I would say somewhere between 1-3 metres across. This was all a very long time ago, so all estimates could be way off. I looked at it fixedly because I had never seen a satellite dish or anything similar on those buildings and couldn't understand what I was looking at. After a while, I commented to my friend "What is that?" and pointed it out to him, he looked at it and saw it but displayed little interest, saying rather mockingly, "Maybe it is a UFO." and returned to the normal conversation. Next time I was back on West Street, I looked at the buildings from the same angle and there was nothing there. No idea what it was I saw, this was 1990, so drones weren't a thing. It was completely stationary and didn't look like a balloon - but it could have been! Just one of those things, minor weirdness, probably not aliens!

The second was rather more recent, in fact I made a note at the time, so it was 6 October 2021 - mid pandemic although I can't remember what the lockdown status was at the time. It was early evening and I was walking towards the local supermarket via the service drive when I saw a bright red light approaching fast below the cloud cover. It grabbed my attention because of the intensity of the colour and the unusual depth-of-field - it felt more 3D than real 3D, hard to explain. I would estimate that it was small and low, coming over a nearby hill. I decided to stand and watch it in order to better identify it. Since I was standing in the middle of the service drive, I glanced away for a split second to make sure I was not about to be mowed down by a supermarket lorry - when I looked back it was gone. My home town is under the flight paths for Heathrow and Gatwick, so there are always lots of planes in the sky, but this wasn't a plane (no flashing lights, no visible fuselage). It could have been a drone. I found the colour, my precise awareness of where it was in 3D space, and its disappearance the moment I looked away for less than a second, all very odd. But again, possibly mundane.

Interesting, especially the indifferent response that, as others have already pointed out, is not uncommon to UFO encounters. Was the second incident also in Farnham? It would be really useful to have a location so that I can have a look at Google maps, thanks

 

[SimonBurchell]

Interesting, especially the indifferent response that, as others have already pointed out, is not uncommon to UFO encounters. Was the second incident also in Farnham? It would be really useful to have a location so that I can have a look at Google maps, thanks

No, it wasn't in Farnham. I'll PM you the location.

 

[eburacum]

Then the actual helicopter came into view - a lot lower down, and a lot farther away. Whatever I had been looking at, it wasn't a helicopter.
Gradually, I realised that the thing I had been looking at was probably some kind of large, dark grey balloon - actually, I had no idea exactly how large, except it looked similar in size to the real helicopter. My mysterious balloon drifted across the sky towards the west (an unusual wind direction, but I later confirmed that the wind was blowing from the east, so the object was indeed flying with the wind).
Eventually it disappeared into the clouds.

This is how I think UFO encounters usually go. In many cases people see things they can't identify, and while they are actually watching the phenomenon they are flipping through a range of different possible interpretations. In most cases the observer makes an identification - usually something quite mundane seen in unusual circumstances - and then the other possible interpretations are dropped, and the true characteristics of the phenomenon can be recognised.

But sometimes, the phenomenon stops or becomes invisible before the observer has settled upon a suitable explanation, so it remains puzzling. In cases like this the observer has not managed to make a definite estimation of the true distance or size, and therefore its speed and other motion characteristics. So they are left with the unexplained characteristics alone - which then sometimes get exaggerated by their memory, although this doesn't always happen.

During the period when the observer is hunting for an explanation, their senses are often heightened, and they may experience an adrenaline rush of excitement or fear - this can cause the effect Jenny Randles calls the Oz Factor, and (somewhat more prosaically) I sometimes call embiggening. If the observer loses sight of the object before identifying it, the Oz Factor and embiggening may still be in play, and the event becomes exaggerated in the mind's eye. I've experienced this Oz Factor at least five times, perhaps more; at least once, the event went on for around an hour before I finally settled on a solution.

Perhaps some people jump to the 'alien' or 'extradimensional' explanation early in the event, but I don't see much evidence of this happening - in most cases the observer watches the phenomenon carefully for a reasonable length of time, but it can still be unresolved at the end of the sighting. If the weirdness persists after the stimulus has ceased, that is when the sighting becomes a memorable event; unfortunately, the persistence of the Oz Factor sometimes prevents a satisfactory identification.

 

[Sid]

This is how I think UFO encounters usually go. In many cases people see things they can't identify, and while they are actually watching the phenomenon they are flipping through a range of different possible interpretations. In most cases the observer makes an identification - usually something quite mundane seen in unusual circumstances - and then the other possible interpretations are dropped, and the true characteristics of the phenomenon can be recognised.

But sometimes, the phenomenon stops or becomes invisible before the observer has settled upon a suitable explanation, so it remains puzzling. In cases like this the observer has not managed to make a definite estimation of the true distance or size, and therefore its speed and other motion characteristics. So they are left with the unexplained characteristics alone - which then sometimes get exaggerated by their memory, although this doesn't always happen.

During the period when the observer is hunting for an explanation, their senses are often heightened, and they may experience an adrenaline rush of excitement or fear - this can cause the effect Jenny Randles calls the Oz Factor, and (somewhat more prosaically) I sometimes call embiggening. If the observer loses sight of the object before identifying it, the Oz Factor and embiggening may still be in play, and the event becomes exaggerated in the mind's eye. I've experienced this Oz Factor at least five times, perhaps more; at least once, the event went on for around an hour before I finally settled on a solution.

Perhaps some people jump to the 'alien' or 'extradimensional' explanation early in the event, but I don't see much evidence of this happening - in most cases the observer watches the phenomenon carefully for a reasonable length of time, but it can still be unresolved at the end of the sighting. If the weirdness persists after the stimulus has ceased, that is when the sighting becomes a memorable event; unfortunately, the persistence of the Oz Factor sometimes prevents a satisfactory identification.

In some instances, I think it can be very difficult to interpret what you've just witnessed, and even harder sometimes to turn it into something that other people can understand.
There again, there are some that are so clearly defined that describing the event can sound bonkers - even though it relates perfectly well with the person who witnessed it.

 

[BS3]

This is how I think UFO encounters usually go. In many cases people see things they can't identify, and while they are actually watching the phenomenon they are flipping through a range of different possible interpretations. In most cases the observer makes an identification - usually something quite mundane seen in unusual circumstances - and then the other possible interpretations are dropped, and the true characteristics of the phenomenon can be recognised.

But sometimes, the phenomenon stops or becomes invisible before the observer has settled upon a suitable explanation, so it remains puzzling. In cases like this the observer has not managed to make a definite estimation of the true distance or size, and therefore its speed and other motion characteristics. So they are left with the unexplained characteristics alone - which then sometimes get exaggerated by their memory, although this doesn't always happen.

During the period when the observer is hunting for an explanation, their senses are often heightened, and they may experience an adrenaline rush of excitement or fear - this can cause the effect Jenny Randles calls the Oz Factor, and (somewhat more prosaically) I sometimes call embiggening. If the observer loses sight of the object before identifying it, the Oz Factor and embiggening may still be in play, and the event becomes exaggerated in the mind's eye. I've experienced this Oz Factor at least five times, perhaps more; at least once, the event went on for around an hour before I finally settled on a solution.

Perhaps some people jump to the 'alien' or 'extradimensional' explanation early in the event, but I don't see much evidence of this happening - in most cases the observer watches the phenomenon carefully for a reasonable length of time, but it can still be unresolved at the end of the sighting. If the weirdness persists after the stimulus has ceased, that is when the sighting becomes a memorable event; unfortunately, the persistence of the Oz Factor sometimes prevents a satisfactory identification.

That first bit reminds me of one of my own 'IFO' experiences, when walking across Leyton Flats in London, and I saw a rapidly and erratically moving cylinder shaped object low in the sky. There were a few seconds when I really couldn't process what I was seeing.

Then its angle changed and it was revealed to be a model aircraft, seen edge-on and much, much closer to me than I had thought. If it had gone out of view before then I'd still be puzzling about it 20 years later, no doubt.

I think the exaggeration of such an experience, while the brain is desperately trying to fit what is being perceived to existing patterns, can lead people down some strange, possibly even hallucinatory paths. Andy Roberts used to call it "radical misperception".

 

[eburacum]

I played on Leyton Flats as a kid, and I remember seeing the planes descending towards Heathrow in the far distance catching the sunlight. Even then I was thinking 'I wonder if anyone ever thinks those weird glints are UFOs?'.

 

[BS3]

A second 'UFO' I've seen was actually accompanied by a photograph (the photograph's on an old PC at the moment so may take a while to dig it out).

This one was from suburban Bristol, about 2018 IIRC. Another clear, sunny day. My eye was drawn to a...well, a blobby, silvery thing probably at some altitude, travelling on a straight course, fairly slowly. My first thought was that it might be a foil balloon, or possibly a collection of them given its blobby shape, but two things argued against it:

- Being a sceptical Fortean I've paid close attention to any escaped balloons I've seen. They usually tumble in flight or move in some way that makes their balloon status evident. This didn't; it was completely steady

- I immediately checked the prevailing wind direction and it was apparently not moving with the wind, though unfortunately I can't remember which direction it was actually moving in

I kept an eye on it for about 15 minutes until it was lost in the sun's glare. I took a photo not expecting anything to come out and was surprised when it did, although the photo doesn't really offer any clues.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

A second 'UFO' I've seen was actually accompanied by a photograph (the photograph's on an old PC at the moment so may take a while to dig it out).

This one was from suburban Bristol, about 2018 IIRC. Another clear, sunny day. My eye was drawn to a...well, a blobby, silvery thing probably at some altitude, travelling on a straight course, fairly slowly. My first thought was that it might be a foil balloon, or possibly a collection of them given its blobby shape, but two things argued against it:

- Being a sceptical Fortean I've paid close attention to any escaped balloons I've seen. They usually tumble in flight or move in some way that makes their balloon status evident. This didn't; it was completely steady

- I immediately checked the prevailing wind direction and it was apparently not moving with the wind, though unfortunately I can't remember which direction it was actually moving in

I kept an eye on it for about 15 minutes until it was lost in the sun's glare. I took a photo not expecting anything to come out and was surprised when it did, although the photo doesn't really offer any clues.

Look forward to seeing the photo.

 

[BS3]

Here we go; zoomed in and cropped (to eliminate my house).

Taken 25 June 2018 at 10am.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

My guess is an air balloon of an unusual shape, like this

 

[BS3]

My initial thought also - either that or a cluster of foil balloons.

However the balloon, or whatever it was, was travelling at at least 90 degrees to the prevailing wind direction (I've just checked the historic weather data and it was blowing from the north at that time; it was travelling approximately west-east as I recall).

We get a lot of air balloons coming over here and this would have been extremely high if it was one.

 

[eburacum]

That really looks like a cluster of balloons. Winds can be chaotic at various levels - balloon pilots use this fact to navigate, although it is not a particularly reliable method.

In the last flap of balloon-related UAPs in America, several people referred to the way that Google balloons use different wind currents at different levels to remain centred over a particular area; some suspected the Chinese balloon was using a similar method to loiter over Montana, but this seems unlikely, since the balloon was no longer transmitting at that point (allegedly).

Your cluster of balloons may even have been some kind of research rig designed to test this technique out. By inflating and deflating different balloons inside a larger outer shell, surveillance balloons can control their altitude and reach different airstreams. Your balloons might have found a cross-stream by chance, or it may have been deliberately looking for it.

 

[BS3]

It did indeed look like a bit like a cluster of balloons, although didn't really move anything like other escaped balloon clusters I've seen. The 'orientation' was always completely steady: one option might be a novelty shaped, but stable, balloon of some sort, or perhaps a larger balloon at some height. Subjectively it appeared to be a slightly matt silver colour.

 

[ChrisBoardman]

It did indeed look like a bit like a cluster of balloons, although didn't really move anything like other escaped balloon clusters I've seen. The 'orientation' was always completely steady: one option might be a novelty shaped, but stable, balloon of some sort, or perhaps a larger balloon at some height. Subjectively it appeared to be a slightly matt silver colour.

I did a google image search on "unusual shaped air balloons"

Looks possible.

 

[eburacum]

One time I tied a bunch of kids' balloons together, and released them into the sky. (This was a birthday party, and we had a few to spare). They rose really quickly to a respectable height, and in a few minutes we lost sight of them altogether. After that, I periodically caught sight of them in the depths of the sky, until they were gone.

I've found out since that typical toy helium balloons rise quickly up until they reach an altitude where they burst, since mylar balloons have very little 'give' in them. If you want them to last longer you need to only half-fill them, or keep them for a day or so in order to let the helium escape. If they are half-empty but still positively buoyant, they can rise up to a respectable height then float for hundreds of miles or more.

 

[charliebrown]

I have seen UFOs but never had witnesses or proof.

But if UFOs are established as real, would societies, banks, religions disintegrate ?

Maybe UFOs should be kept as the secret as it is now.

I don’t think people can handle the truth.