E arly yesterday morning, several people across England - in Bristol, Herefordshire, Norfolk and elsewhere - saw UFOs in the night sky.
Some called Radio 5 Live to report their experiences. All spoke of weird light effects. Some saw singular star-like objects. Others saw a parade of orbs. One eye-witness captured his sighting on camera.
Already various theories have been advanced - and shot down. The first and most obvious answer was meteorites. Patrick Moore, the veteran TV astronomer, was unimpressed. He thought the lights were unlikely to be 'astronomical' - because the witnesses had not seen contrails and other phenomena associated with meteor storms.
Another theory doing the rounds yesterday was that the lights were 'Chinese lanterns'. This solution is credible. Early on Sunday morning, |
 |
|
 |
 |
|
UFOs were spotted across southern England yesterday. sean thomas checks out the theories |
| |
partygoers at the Big Chill Festival in the Malverns released illuminated balloons into the sultry night sky.
The witness who posted his film on YouTube shot it in the Forest of Dean, quite close to the Malverns. But this answer ignores the many eye-witnesses spread across southern England.
The same problem attaches to a third explanation: that the lights were fireworks. You'd need quite a rocket to get from Norfolk to Shropshire. Another idea - a satellite breaking up - doesn't square with the drifting motion of the objects.
A final theory is secret military experiments. This sounds ludicrous, but according to UFO-logists a similar flap in Ireland last year was provoked by just that.
What is the real answer? Maybe midsummer madness - or too much cold beer. This weekend in England was the hottest of the year so far. 
FIRST POSTED AUGUST 6, 2007 |
