Lights in the sky over Dublin Bay

ntrundle

We (there were 3 of us!) were coming back home on the back roads from Lucan to Ongar at around 23:15 tonight (Friday 4th Sept) when we spotted 6 or 7 bright orange lights in the sky. They were in the direction of Dublin Bay, heading away from us and were quite low in the sky. We pulled over and watched as they changed formation and disappeared one by one. This all happened in the space of a couple of minutes. Any ideas what they were? Did anyone else see them?

theloanarranger

4th Sept 21:30 to 21:34 Celbridge, Co Kildare:
I saw 3 orange lights in the skies flying in an easterly direction tonight. When I first spotted them I was standing in my driveway. They were flying much lower than commercial aircraft and I imagined I was seeing some kind of after-burner coming from the back of military planes. However they flew past with absolutely no sound. They were travelling at a leisurely pace, faster than helicopters but slow for jets. My perception was that they were very close to me when I first spotted them. They were in line with overhead power cables that were about 30 metres from where I was standing when I first noticed them. I'm sure some mathematician can calculate their actual height based on this.

The lead object seemed to stay about 30 seconds in front. The second object was flying at the same altitude, whereas the 3rd object was directly above the second and travelling at the same speed as the second object. I called my wife and children out to have a look and we followed the lights for several minutes. They appeared to be flying in a fairly definite formation and heading for north Co Dublin. I would find it hard to believe that these were weather balloons or Chinese lanterns. I thought of Baldonnell but I don't think the Air Corps boys have anything like this.

Bodan

It sounds like something that was posted before. If i can recall correctly, they concluded it was Chinese lanterns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV7nQU7iaCg

ntrundle

They were definitely moving too fast to be Chinese lanterns! And plus they weren't all traveling in the same direction as would be the case with lanterns blowing on the wind? But thanks for the reply anyway.

crabbypatty

hey ntrundle,

there where 15-20 chinese lanterns floating over the ongar area tonight around 11pm-ish, maybe that might explain what you saw??..:)

eimsRV

My boyfriend noticed these too and called me out. Looked like quite a few of them and to us it looked like they were going in the same direction.
Any idea why someone was releasing the lanterns tonight?

DyldeBrill

I love the defence of chinease lanters, but this many sightings in the last few days seems a bit mad to me tbh

HungryJoey

Was from ongar a mate of mine spotted 4 "fireball" like lights moving across the sky. He was positive they were not coming from a light source on the ground, he couldn't even descripe properly what they looked like. He was shocked.

Bettybluebottle

Well if I was a betting woman, I would say it was a meteror shower. I spotted a meteror shower during the summer in the same area. It took me a while to get info as to what it was , I was thinking it was UFOs etc.

rccaulfield

DyldeBrill wrote: »

I love the defence of chinease lanters, but this many sightings in the last few days seems a bit mad to me tbh

Yea cos the more plausible explanation is aliens that have nothing better to do then fly in irregular patterns over Dublin bay!?

Burnt

rccaulfield wrote: »

Yea cos the more plausible explanation is aliens that have nothing better to do then fly in irregular patterns over Dublin bay!?

It's one of Aer Corps' secret sunk works projects :cool:

kyote00

Ok, I 'm just back in 23.23pm 5th Sept - completely sober ....

I just saw dozen of orange light moving int he sky just outside enfield at the longwood road turnoff...

there were quite a few cars stopped ont he road looking at same....

lostexpectation

/goes off to request a chinese lantern spotting forum

Burnt

Are there any aerosexuals here? surely somebody would have a "in" with
air traffic control; over on the aviation & aircraft.

crumbs63

They are meant to be due to perseids. Threads of meteorites in the sky

crumbs63

ntrundle wrote: »

We (there were 3 of us!) were coming back home on the back roads from Lucan to Ongar at around 23:15 tonight (Friday 4th Sept) when we spotted 6 or 7 bright orange lights in the sky. They were in the direction of Dublin Bay, heading away from us and were quite low in the sky. We pulled over and watched as they changed formation and disappeared one by one. This all happened in the space of a couple of minutes. Any ideas what they were? Did anyone else see them?

meant to be meteorites from perseids; don't know if true

Rachael_x

I saw them Today! :eek: ... I live in bray and everyone around bray and shankill was looking at them! .. They were deadly, orange star-like movin lights in the Sky .. i think it was Aliens(:

sarah_lennon

saw them too..... freaky! :pac:

grahamdbailey

Yeah, there were about 20 glowing orange lights over the Dublin/Shankill area, it was amazing! Not sure i 'buy' the whole chinese lantern thing, they seemed very high up?

Maynard

Posted the below in another thread in this forum, not sure which is most appropriate;

Last night (19/09/09) I was at a friends house (between Shankill and Ballybrack, Dublin) and was called out into the back garden at about 11.40pm to look at strange lights in the sky. There was a very noticeably bright white star visible, and around it there were up to eight smaller red lights all moving a various speeds from right to left across the front of this brighter star.

Some of these seemed to fade away in the night sky after a few minutes, whilst others simply remained moving a high speeds in and around the vicinity of the bright star.

All four of us in the house eventually ended up standing agog at this for about ten minutes having no idea what it could be. It was a very still, clear and quiet night and there were no sounds to be heard (engines etc)

If anyone else saw this or could help explain this myself, and my three friends would greatly appreciate it!

joes girls

Is anyone seeing anything in the tallaght area tonight?

jimbis

joes girls wrote: »

Is anyone seeing anything in the tallaght area tonight?

I seen a chinese lantern thingy over sandyford at 10.10 tonight, Coming from tallagh direction heading east. Was low enough!
I can see how people can confuse them with the unknown!;)

fintonie

its being reported since our civilization has evolved to the stage it is now at other species from other planets can slowly show them selves to us,

in doing this we will not go crazy thinking the world is over and run a muck on the streets raiding and pillaging as if this happened we would be seeming to regress in our progress of evolution,

it has been said they will abolish the prime directive shortly.

joes girls

Thanks jimbis, but he was not happy with that answer.:) didnt see them myself so cant really say what they were like!

Rachael_x

jimbis wrote: »

I seen a chinese lantern thingy over sandyford at 10.10 tonight, Coming from tallagh direction heading east. Was low enough!
I can see how people can confuse them with the unknown!;)

Even on Astronomy Ireland they werent sure if it was chinese lanterns or a UFO. How can you be so sure it wasnt the unknown?
People can believe what they want to believe.

jimbis

Rachael_x wrote: »

Even on Astronomy Ireland they werent sure if it was chinese lanterns or a UFO. How can you be so sure it wasnt the unknown?
People can believe what they want to believe.

Oh dont get me wrong i wasnt saying chinese lantrens are the answer to all sightings, i was just replying to the post before me asking did anyone see anything over tallagh around the same time i seen the lantren, because it definatly was one (i should've quoted the post to avoid confusion;))
And yep, people can believe what they want and i myself am very open minded about this whole subject too but i was just pointing out how easily they can be confused after i seen that one the other night!

Sleipnir

fintonie wrote: »

it has been said they will abolish the prime directive shortly.

This is not the Star Trek forum!

Calibos

Believe what you want. Doesn't make it true though. If you want to think that little Joe Soap amatuer astronomers like me with our telescopes in our back gardens are part of a worldwide conspiracy to hide the truth then you can believe that if you want. You are actually correct. I have been brainwashed by the CIA via subliminal messages everytime I log onto NASA TV and programmed to see little baskets with a flame under a big paper bag floating through the sky every time I point my telescope at one of these or group of these things.

And Graham said they seemed very high up. Did he have a laser range finder? Remember the Space Shuttle and fuel Tank flyover last month (Code word for Advanced Alien Exploration craft). That looked as close as an airliner on approach to Dublin airport (3000ft @ 200mph). It was infact 200 miles up in space climbing to the ISS orbit and traveling at 17000mph. A big bright object (lit by the full glare of the sun up in space) travelling at 17,000mph can look like an airliner with its headlights on at 3000ft travelling at 200mph. A dim but close object the size of a Chinese lantern at 800ft travelling in a 40mph wind can look like a space shuttle orange fuel tank 200 miles up at 17,000mph etc etc etc Think about it for a minut. A model of Mount everest 2ft infront of you can look the same size as the real thing in the background......A candle sitting on top of the bush in your garden can look as bright as a gorse fire burning on the mountains in the background 50 miles away.......etc etc etc.

Please don't ask why the flame of a chinese candle doesn't blow out in a 40mph wind. Its like the French lad who thought it would be a good idea to fit sails to a hot air balloon in 1795

Fuzzy Clam

Calibos wrote: »

And Graham said they seemed very high up. Did he have a laser range finder? Remember the Space Shuttle and fuel Tank flyover last month (Code word for Advanced Alien Exploration craft). That looked as close as an airliner on approach to Dublin airport (3000ft @ 200mph). It was infact 200 miles up in space climbing to the ISS orbit and traveling at 17000mph. A big bright object (lit by the full glare of the sun up in space) travelling at 17,000mph can look like an airliner with its headlights on at 3000ft travelling at 200mph. A dim but close object the size of a Chinese lantern at 800ft travelling in a 40mph wind can look like a space shuttle orange fuel tank 200 miles up at 17,000mph etc etc etc Think about it for a minut. A model of Mount everest 2ft infront of you can look the same size as the real thing in the background......A candle sitting on top of the bush in your garden can look as bright as a gorse fire burning on the mountains in the background 50 miles away.......etc etc etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmU_q5xrnto

Burnt

Still nobody's called ATC at dublin?


Next time give them a call, I'm sure they would be interest in 6/8 ufo's buzzing around the bay if it was anything at all. they might even get a
giggle out of it.

ronbyrne2005

Just saw a red/orange chinese lantern over north dublin travelling in an easterly direction.

Darren09

believe what you want to believe about lanterns or whatever ,ive seen two bright coloured orange lights fly over my head in the matter of 5 minutes tonight about half hour ago and there was no way it was lanterns they were moving too quick to be lanterns or even a helicoptor or plane..they were about 4 minutes apart from each other and the second one was brighter and was closer. It also had something like a ball of light the same color as it but about tenth the size fall about ten feet from it then dim out and disappear. ive seen it once or twice before from far away but always thought it was a helicoptor but tonight it was right over my head its hard to explain, i'm not saying its aliens or UFO's but its though to think of an explanation i'm in tallaght by the way and they came from what looks like is just over the mountains and heading out towards the sea or dublin bay if anyone knows or thinks they know what it could be please let me know its freaking me out, and none of that lantern bull..

Darren09

exactly what i thought about the baldonnel thing but doubt they have anything with stealth mode lol. i seen 2 of them about 4 minutes apart and second one looked like something fell from it like a ball of light the same color but tenth the size is freaking me out i'm dying to know what it is

Mr Benevolent

Darren09 wrote: »

exactly what i thought about the baldonnel thing but doubt they have anything with stealth mode lol. i seen 2 of them about 4 minutes apart and second one looked like something fell from it like a ball of light the same color but tenth the size is freaking me out i'm dying to know what it is

This is getting ridiculous imo. They're chinese lanterns, there's no conspiracy theory, Ireland can't afford afterburning jets and definitely can't afford to divert meteors for the entertainment of Irish citizens. Get a grip.

dubmess

I was just googling 'orange lights over dublin' and came across this thread, as myself and my housemate just saw 5 fly overhead in the space of 10 minutes. We are in Crumlin and they came form a southerly direction, heading north(ish).
While they were approaching (at different intervals), one flew close to the path of a plane, yet appeared to be above it. was visible through cloud cover, but then it was as if the light was directional as when i watched them float away i could see no light, only a haze. One of them however stopped coming towards us and moved straight up until the light disappeared. Another one definitely changed direction overhead.
Really odd, and I'm sure there is a plausible explanation, but it was quite interesting to watch! Would love to know if others saw them.
Happened about 6.10-6.20 pm

zidewayz

Darren09 wrote: »

exactly what i thought about the baldonnel thing but doubt they have anything with stealth mode lol. i seen 2 of them about 4 minutes apart and second one looked like something fell from it like a ball of light the same color but tenth the size is freaking me out i'm dying to know what it is

All these lights are moving north or east. Irish winds are generally south/southwest. Leads me to beleive theres nothing to get excited about. Lanterns of some sort.

Sleipnir

dubmess wrote: »

I was just googling 'orange lights over dublin' and came across this thread, as myself and my housemate just saw 5 fly overhead in the space of 10 minutes. We are in Crumlin and they came form a southerly direction, heading north(ish).
While they were approaching (at different intervals), one flew close to the path of a plane, yet appeared to be above it. was visible through cloud cover, but then it was as if the light was directional as when i watched them float away i could see no light, only a haze. One of them however stopped coming towards us and moved straight up until the light disappeared. Another one definitely changed direction overhead.
Really odd, and I'm sure there is a plausible explanation, but it was quite interesting to watch! Would love to know if others saw them.
Happened about 6.10-6.20 pm

I saw these as well. Chinese lanterns and somebody also fired two emergency flares also, for some reason.

I wish people would think before they launch these Chinese lanterns in urban areas. Yes, they do look lovely but I happened to be out in my garden late one night a couple of weeks ago when one landed, on fire, in my neighbour's hedge.
I had to get the hose out to make sure it didn't set a few gardens ablaze.

Saw another one land of the college on Clogher road too but it thankfully went out after a few minutes.

Thanks, morons.

tubos

when you set off a lantern in high winds, they certainly get some speed up. I've seen quite a few head straight for the Irish sea after being launched!!! When a number are launched together in winds, the don't always travel the same trajectory due to gusts of wind catching some and not others. I'm sure all these sightings are lanterns.

dubmess

Definitely lanterns, saw another couple overhead last night, and one actually landed in our back garden overnight, like a previous poster said, I'm glad it wasn't alight when it landed. They're not like normal lanterns though, more like a balloon type thing and it seems it's a kind of firework that inflates it, it's something that burns quite aggressively.
I also agree that these things seem to be quite dangerous, I'd imagine they're illegal.

zidewayz

dubmess wrote: »

Definitely lanterns, saw another couple overhead last night, and one actually landed in our back garden overnight, like a previous poster said, I'm glad it wasn't alight when it landed. They're not like normal lanterns though, more like a balloon type thing and it seems it's a kind of firework that inflates it, it's something that burns quite aggressively.
I also agree that these things seem to be quite dangerous, I'd imagine they're illegal.

At a wedding in carlow, we were brought outside later in the evening to light these lanterns. Small round wick that we lit to make them rise. So many going skyward that some collided igniting the lanterns with some falling on roofs of nearby houses. Dangerous. I presume they might be dangerous to low flying aircraft.

Mz Lazy

Hi guys, was googling chinese lanterns n this came up: http://www.herald.ie/national-news/city-news/is-this-a-ufo-flying-over-south-dublin-1842572.html I'm not saying I beleive this as I've seen things in the sky which could not be chinese lanterns nor planes IMO but I could be wrong. So just posting this as it mentions the lanterns giving people the ideas of UFOS. any whos, hopefully we'll get it all explained at some stage

The Bishop Basher

Was out stargazing last night and saw one of these "orange balls of light". Have to say it was a spectacular sight, heading East between Bray and Greystones towards the sea. I stood there with my jaw open for about 10 minutes in disbelief before concluding that it was a lantern. Glad to see my suspicions are confirmed

skeetabix

At 23:30 last night there was 2 of these orange lights in the sky. At first I thought it was a firework of some kind because it was a fiery looking ball of light, orange with a hint of red and it appeared to be flying low. We saw 1 coming from the north very close to Dublin airport above Poppintree and within a minute a second 1 came from the same direction many miles apart. When our attention was drawn to the second one, the first dissapeared instantly. We watched this second orange light fly across the sky for a further 3-4 mins until it went from the size if a 1 cent coin to a tiny star sized object and disappeared. Looked as if it flew further away upward, beyond our atmosphere. Strange! Will be watching the skies more often. Surely air traffic control in Dublin airport spotted them too!

zackersetu

Just saw it myself travelling South over Eircom building, Heuston station and onward. Far too bright to be a lantern as it seemed very high ... therefore it would have to be one big bright lantern!! Very intriguing! :eek:

m8

Anyone get a photo or a video of these?

zackersetu

saw about 5 or 6 more after posting! but only an iphone to work with so no photos! i'd love to know what they are!!!

thebman

m8 wrote: »

Anyone get a photo or a video of these?

Yeah

http://xmb.stuffucanuse.com/xmb/viewthread.php?action=attachment&tid=4119&pid=12084

:P

tubos

zackersetu wrote: »

saw about 5 or 6 more after posting! but only an iphone to work with so no photos! i'd love to know what they are!!!

http://www.gstore.ie/products/Flying_Chinese_Lanterns

(I have no affiliation with gstore.ie)

aphex™

Are these lanterns not really dangerous?

I mean, I've been up the mountains the odd time and seen whole mountainsides of gorse on fire. Now you can buy your own flying bomb to set the whole thing in motion?

Franko73

I seen one of these things in Celbridge on Halloween night..... I put it down to some kind of firework but it was very weird looking..... very high up, very very bright and moving very fast.... didnt seem like a lantern to be honest, it did not dim at all and flew in the direction of weston airport. I was tempted to call them to find out if it was a plane or something but felt a bit stupid so I left it..... weird

Tony255

Hi Guys,

To put your mind at easy these were probably our halloween version of the flying lanterns we sold a lot of them to customers in Dublin.

Best Regards
Tony