NUFORC Sighting 180127

Occurred: 2000-08-04 22:45 Local - Approximate
Reported: 2024-01-23 06:53 Pacific
Duration: 30 minutes
No of observers: 2

Location: Sandown, England, United Kingdom

Shape: Triangle
Color: Orange lights
Estimated Size: Slightly larger than a large aircraft
Viewed From: Land
Angle of Elevation: 90
Closest Distance: 30,000 ft
Estimated Speed: 1000s of miles an hour, minimum.
Characteristics: Lights on object, Left a trail

Night time, very fast, no sound, left a very brief chem trail same colour of the lights, traveled distance across sky disappeared.

I was staying with my best friend, I was about 13/14, we were camping in his garden. We decided to just poke our heads out of the tent and stargaze. After about 5 minutes we saw something roughly the size of a fingernail if you were to hold your hand up at the sky, which zipped across the sky then disappeared. It moved a significant distance across the sky. Initially, being young we just assumed it was a shooting star. We ran inside the house to get my friend's brother and then got him to come out. Nothing happened for about 10 minutes so his brother went back indoors. After about another 5 or ten minutes it reappeared and did the same thing, but this time from a different part of the sky going in a different direction. It did this roughly 7 or 8 times over the next hour.

It was an orange triangle with soft corners and three orange lights, one at each peak of the triangle but inside the outer triangular light. There was brief chem trails which lasted for about 1 second after, which emanated from the rear or the opposite direction to which it was travelling. There was 4 chem trail lines, 2 on the outside on either side which were brighter orange, then 2 inner chem trail lines which were a fainter orange.

The object appeared and instantly zipped across the sky then disappeared, this was repeated numerous times. There was no sound whatsoever.

I am convinced it was something very unusual, at the time I was young and naive, the internet was also not ubiquitous then, so it wasn't obvious that we could report it. We just laughed and sort of couldn't really believe it. The next day there was a carnival in his sleepy town and we attended it. On the way home me and his sister both observed the phenomenon again, this time only once. It seemed very coincidental that at the precise time we looked up we actually saw it.

I am unsure if either of those would remember or be able to corroborate this but I do have contact with my friend still, so maybe.

I remember thinking a shooting star does not change direction and also the frequency was just unreal. The details and the fact it appeared and disappeared so quickly just made me think it was something that wasn't easily explainable.

I'm watching some YT stuff at the moment which is what prompted me to decide to report it.

Posted 2024-02-15