Chinese Lanterns Theory on ‘Ufo’ Sightings

REPORTED UFO sightings over Northumberland on Saturday night may have been Chinese lanterns.

Peter Jackson, a 30-year-old gardener who lives near Morpeth, contacted The Journal yesterday after seeing 15 unidentified flying objects while enjoying a barbecue with his family on Saturday night.

He used a digital camera to capture video footage of the white objects, which later became a mix of orange and red, as they flew in formation below cloud level from 10.15pm to 10.30pm.

Mr Jackson watched in astonishment with neighbours and a food delivery man outside his home at Swansfield, Kirkhill, as the ‘UFOs’ headed in the direction of Newbiggin by the Sea, without making a sound, at high speed.

He said: “It was a once in a lifetime chance to catch anything like that. I have certainly seen nothing like it before. Some people were quite shaken up by it.”

Mr Jackson says objects similar to those he saw were reported in Minnesota, America, three months ago.

But last night a spokesman for Newcastle International Airport revealed that air traffic control had been informed in advance that around half a dozen Chinese lanterns were to be released from Tynemouth Priory as part of a celebration at 10.30pm.

The spokeswoman said a wind may have caught the lanterns and blown them over the Morpeth area.

“They look like large balloons with a light inside them. That is what we suspect it was,” she added.

The only sighting on the airport’s radar was a police helicopter.

Mr Jackson said he would have to see what size the lanterns were before accepting the airport’s explanation.

The Ministry of Defence was unable to provide any guidance on what the objects may have been.

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Source: The Journal - Newcastle-upon-Tyne

UFO Skeptics Throw in the Towel - How Did Meier Beat NASA by 32 Years?

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) August 4, 2008 — The subject of UFOs is no longer just fodder for the tabloids, as several recent Larry King TV shows indicate. Though primarily dominated by discussions about sightings of lights in the sky, and perennial dead-end conjecture about Roswell, the recent shows have engaged viewers everywhere.

They also coincide with increased worldwide attention being once again focused on the highly controversial Billy Meier UFO contacts in Switzerland, due to the release of the new film on the case, “The Silent Revolution of Truth” (http://www.theyfly.com), and the newest scientific corroboration for Meier’s prophetic information.

While NASA’s announcement on July 31, regarding proof of the discovery of water on Mars, excited scientists, Meier had already been informed about water on the red planet - on July 8, 1976. (English language translations of this information, available since 1986, were also published by Lt. Col. Wendelle Stevens, USAF Ret., in 1993, in Volume 3 of Message from the Pleiades. The four-book series, now out of print, collector’s items, are available as ebooks http://theyfly.com/products/products.htm).

Read more …

Are UFOs a Threat to National Security ?

ON the afternoon of Nov. 7, 2006, pilots and airport employees at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago saw a disc-like object hovering over the tarmac for several minutes. Because nothing was tracked on radar, the Federal Aviation Administration did not investigate. Yet radar is not a reliable detector of all aircraft. Stealth planes are designed to be invisible to radar, and many radar systems filter out signals not matching the normal characteristics of aircraft. Did it really make sense to entirely ignore the observations of several witnesses?

A healthy skepticism about extraterrestrial space travelers leads people to disregard U.F.O. sightings without a moment’s thought. But in the United States, this translates into overdependence on radar data and indifference to all kinds of unidentified aircraft — a weakness that could be exploited by terrorists or anyone seeking to engage in espionage against the United States. Read more …

Police flooded with UFO sightings

More than a dozen UFO sightings were reported to police after partygoers attached candles to balloons and released them into the night sky.

Saturday night revellers in Grangemouth, Stirlingshire, were said to be playing a mystery game.

But residents in the surrounding area believed the illuminated objects were an alien invasion.

A spokesman for Central Scotland Police said: “We’ve had call, after call, after call, saying it’s UFOs.”

He said they received more than a dozen calls in half an hour.

“It turns out that there’s a party going on and they are letting off balloons with candles on. They make a wish and then release them into the sky.”