Orange Balls?

[Dustoff]

Sorry guys (and gals), strange topic for sure for a "vehicle" forum, but then mentioned what I had posted to my wife when I got home, and she didn't think it was ridiculous at all...she was there (and also a NAVAIR girl). She's a "Show Me State" girl, and that's not just a slogan out here. Probably a majority of people here think it's BS, and I've got a couple of friends that think that Charlie, our wives and I are feeding them a line, but it's got me curious as to what it/they could be. By definition, they're "UFO's", and I plan on having an "orange UDV" [unidentified driving object] this time next year! There may even be reports of it on MUFON! Gotta find me an alien mask to wear driving it around.

The Buck Rogers Space Vehicle in the foreground looks a bit like the Elio.

 

[zelio]

Fascinating topic. Thanks to all of you for posting. Z

 

[NSTG8R]

I sh*t you not! It's 7:40pm here and the wife just came in the back door saying, "We've got one!". I had just came in 15 minutes earlier. Okay...I gotta look. This was a superbright white-ish/orange light heading southwest to northeast towards St. Louis (no sound). Got my bad-a$$ binoc's out, and discovered it's actually more like a brilliant blue, changing to red/orange and back...Watched it for about 2 minutes, maybe less. Again, if it was an airplane of any kind, there was two visible to the west, and we live about 20 miles from Chesterfield airport, it would make SOME kind of sound. If it was at 30k feet (which we'd still hear), it would have to be doing like mach 10 to cover that much distance in that amount of time. No formation lights visible through the binoculars, just a blue/red/orange color-changing ball. Yep, I've had two beers since I got home, but two doesn't come close to getting me buzzed (not sure if that's something to brag about).

 

[Mike W]

Okay, THIS is going to sound nutty to some people, and as my "first official post" on this forum, it's going to be waaaay off topic. 'General Discussion' seemed like the right catagory....Okay, has anyone observed bright orange balls flying around? o_O I (and many witnesses with me) have about 7 times in the last 5 years.

1st time: Around mid November 2009, I got home from working a 12, and my wife was watching our grandson who was only a couple of months old. I step out the back onto the patio (back of my house points dead south) to burn a cigarette and have a Budlight and immediately notice a bright, and I mean like 5x Venus bright, orange light about 20 deg above the horizon, south southwest. I've been in aviation since I was 18, and 100% of that military jets. I know FAA rules and regs., and ORANGE is NOT a color allowed on anything flying, anywhere on the planet. It wasn't moving at all, and seemed pretty steady in it's intensity. I watched it for a full 10 minutes, went in the house and told the wife to "check this sh*t out!". Grabbed another cig, and we both watched it for another 5 - 10 minutes. It all the sudden started blinking, and fading in and out for around 15 seconds, then, poof, it was gone. We look at each other, and she was expecting me to tell her what it was....I had no idea.

2nd time: Around 2 years later on the 4th of July we (wife and I, our kids (in their 20's) and their friends) were walking to the city park a couple of blocks away to watch the fireworks display. It was dusk, not dark yet, and as we came out of the alley towards the park, the orange ball, identical in color to the one I had witnessed a couple of years ago, was head towards us from the southwest. I yelled at everyone, "Look! It's that orange ball thing!", and all of us watched travel towards us, disappear, and then show up again a half second later heading dead east...VERY bizaar!. Oh...and not a sound.

3rd and 4th time happened on one night, again sitting on our patio with some friends having a couple of beers about a year or so later. My buddy, Charlie, is facing the house, looking north. He gets a wierd look on his face and says, "What the h*ll is that!?". I stood up and turned around to see ANOTHER of these orange balls (and what's freaky, is they're not glarey like stars or planets) heading east to west. All of us observed it or about 20 -25 seconds until we lost it due to the trees. Charlie called his cousin Jim, who lives southwest-ish of us about 10 miles down I-44, and told to to step outside and look up....Jim also saw the "whatever it is". We were still standing around 45 minutes later scanning the sky, when 4 of them in a row came by, going the same direction as the first one, and at the same speed. As they passed, the third one back started blinking, and disappeared just like the first one I ever saw. Here's the freaky thing folks. You can hear a jetliner at 30k feet, it won't be in the direction you're hearing the sound coming from because obviously, light is faster than sound.....these things made ABSOLUTELY no sound at all.

And the last three times were earlier this summer. Twice more with our friends Charlie and his wife Georgia at their house, and once when my cousin from Dallas and her husband came up to visit. Tony, my cousin's husband, was truly freaked out, and spent every night they were here (3) staring up at the sky with a pair of binoculars in hand.

Okay, don't give me the "Chinese lanterns" explanation. We tried that theory....they didn't even come close to the movement or color. So......?

[crickets chirpping...]

After what the Skunk Works pulled off in past years, I'm voting for a prototype of some sort of aircraft. That or someone having a whole lot of fun. Or something completely unexplainable. Somewhere between the logical and Wha?

 

[NSTG8R]

After what the Skunk Works pulled off in past years, I'm voting for a prototype of some sort of aircraft. That or someone having a whole lot of fun. Or something completely unexplainable. Somewhere between the logical and Wha?

No doubt Skunkworks or Phantomworks has some pretty "top secret" stuff going on. And the prototype stuff is disguised as something else when they haul it by train out to the desert to assemble and test. But my problem is, if what we've been seeing is a 'military prototype aircraft', why in the world would they be flying them over populated areas...with crazy bright lights. I know the military aircraft I've worked on had combat formation lights, very dim glow-stick color greenish, that would let them hold their formation when they're flying in to blow the crap out of [fill in the blank]. No way you could see it from the ground. Red, green, and white are the only FAA lights allowed (same with boats), and they on specific parts of the aircraft to let other pilots visually tell which direction you're heading. Orange and blue are a no-no for anything in the air. I've lived out here for around 27 years now, and it wasn't until about 5 years ago that we started seeing "the lights". Maybe it's because we spend just about every night, weather permitting, on the patio looking for them (actually, relaxing with a cold one and talking about the day), and just happen to have a great view of the entire sky. I surely don't know what they are, but I'm positive they're not "conventional aircraft".....Mystery!

 

[CompTrex]

No doubt Skunkworks or Phantomworks has some pretty "top secret" stuff going on. And the prototype stuff is disguised as something else when they haul it by train out to the desert to assemble and test. But my problem is, if what we've been seeing is a 'military prototype aircraft', why in the world would they be flying them over populated areas...with crazy bright lights. I know the military aircraft I've worked on had combat formation lights, very dim glow-stick color greenish, that would let them hold their formation when they're flying in to blow the crap out of [fill in the blank]. No way you could see it from the ground. Red, green, and white are the only FAA lights allowed (same with boats), and they on specific parts of the aircraft to let other pilots visually tell which direction you're heading. Orange and blue are a no-no for anything in the air. I've lived out here for around 27 years now, and it wasn't until about 5 years ago that we started seeing "the lights". Maybe it's because we spend just about every night, weather permitting, on the patio looking for them (actually, relaxing with a cold one and talking about the day), and just happen to have a great view of the entire sky. I surely don't know what they are, but I'm positive they're not "conventional aircraft".....Mystery!

That's twice that you've mentioned sitting on the porch and having a cold one. Could we have found a common denominator?

 

[Critter]

Saw something very similar back in August of 1974. The bright orange orbs slowly rose up , dimmed, then took off at incredible speed. Being 14 no one believed me. I was out in the field near midnight treating my horse that had to have meds every 6 hours.

 

[NSTG8R]

That's twice that you've mentioned sitting on the porch and having a cold one. Could we have found a common denominator?

Nothing 'common' about the amount of beer I can consume. I'm a professional, with 36 years experience over my belt....uh, I mean under my belt.

 

[Tomg3rd]

I'd say get a camera on a tripod with a good telescope/ spotting scope. Set it up and keep it ready. I'd love to see some pics and you do see these things on a regular basis. The truth is out there!

 

[NSTG8R]

I'd say get a camera on a tripod with a good telescope/ spotting scope. Set it up and keep it ready. I'd love to see some pics and you do see these things on a regular basis. The truth is out there!

Might have to do that. Wife's been wanting a telescope for a while now. Maybe I can find one with a built-in camera.