I saw something strange in the sky!

lorie d.

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First of all my kitchen sink is right in front of a window, and sometimes I look out when I'm washing dishes...

This happened about two weeks ago at around 3 pm and lasted a couple of minutes, I was washing dishes and I happend to look up at the sky. I saw a large glowing ball of light shinning through the clouds, and at first I thought it was the sun. Then I realized that the sun was actually off on the left side of this object so I started staring at this ball of light while I was trying to figure out what it was. It seemed to be growing smaller and leaving a smokey trail and when it became tiny, I saw several really quick flashes of yellow and orange light and then it disappeared.

I have never seen anything like this before, and IMO it must have been a piece of rock or something similiar that was floating around in space and finally burned up in our atmosphere. But this thing must have been absolutely HUGE because we don't see things burning up like that all the time.

Any other thoughts on what it might have been?
 

strange_wings

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It was a meteorite or a piece of junk - the way you described it sounds exactly like something burning up and is what I've seen in the past.
 

flisssweetpea

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It could be a Sky Lantern - kind of Chinese Lanterns that float up into their air with a candle inside of them. The intensity of the glow changes as the flame flickers and they glow like yellow/orange orbs in the sky.

They give rise to many calls to the authorities when folks who see them can't identify what they have seen.

I saw one float over our house the other night, it was the weirdest thing.
 

-_aj_-

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im still not sure, i do believe theres something out there, when you think about it if each other sun in the galazxy has the same amount of planets you would think there would be at least one planet capable of having life

but i do believe it will be something burning up in our atmosphere
 

strange_wings

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I've seen some weird things in the sky before. Definitely UFOs (not saying extraterrestrial - just that I don't know what they were). They weren't falling or burning up in any way - they were definitely flying on their own power.
 

trillcat

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It does not sound like a meteor or any other space stuff falling back into our atmosphere, those events do not last minutes. At 3pm in the afternoon something atmospheric that rivals the sun is unheard of. Well it could be, but we would all be maybe dead from the impact of such a huge meteor. (and yes, I know there are documented pictures of meteors during the day, but they were not sun rivaling)
I would guess someone sent up a light, like a sky lantern as mentioned. Cool, but very terrestrial. The smoking trail after a minutes long event says to me someone sent up something on fire.
ET not so much as I think some drunk folks who though it would be cool.
 

rod

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Yes! It could be a number of common earthly things, but remember that we humans can't understand everything! It could very well be a craft of some sort full little green men.

Reminds me of an old film I saw as a kid, "The cat from outer space"

 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Trillcat

It does not sound like a meteor or any other space stuff falling back into our atmosphere, those events do not last minutes.
Human perception of time is terrible. During certain events we can't judge it at all. What could seem like minutes could really only be 30secs (ever been in a car wreck? It seems to last a lot longer than it really does). Like wise, time can seem to go by faster when we're doing something we enjoy.

Also... as for the Sky Lanterns. Have any of you ever seen a smallish fire from miles away during the day time?


Hundreds of meteorites and junks falls back to Earth daily, we just usually don't see it during the daytime. Sometimes it's easier to go with the obvious answer.

Lorie - since you were inside, you probably didn't hear anything did you?
 

merrytreecats

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Have you ever heard of Ball Lightning? I don't think it has smoke, but the smoke may have been an illusion caused by afterimage when the ball of light moved. If it was in the daytime and it was that close, might have been ball lightning.
 
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lorie d.

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Originally Posted by Trillcat

It does not sound like a meteor or any other space stuff falling back into our atmosphere, those events do not last minutes. At 3pm in the afternoon something atmospheric that rivals the sun is unheard of. Well it could be, but we would all be maybe dead from the impact of such a huge meteor. (and yes, I know there are documented pictures of meteors during the day, but they were not sun rivaling)
At the time it was happening, a couple of other things I thought it might be was an airliner suddenly exploding, or there was another horrible tragedy involving a space shuttle returning to earth. Very fortunately, it wasn't either one of these things.

I really don't think it was anything from some other planet, but you never know.
 

trillcat

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Originally Posted by Lorie D.

At the time it was happening, a couple of other things I thought it might be was an airliner suddenly exploding, or there was another horrible tragedy involving a space shuttle returning to earth. Very fortunately, it wasn't either one of these things.

I really don't think it was anything from some other planet, but you never know.
I did not mean to discount what you saw, I am a sky watcher and have seen some things I cannot explain away with rational thought. Aliens? Probably not, but I still watch the sky. there is a whole universe up dere doncha know!
 

amberthe bobcat

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There is no doubt, this was just a meteor, but still awesome to see. They can last a long time. The best one I have ever seen, was during the night. It traveled across the entire sky and lit the night up as if it were day. It left a luminescent trail in the sky that lasted close to an hour. As for alien UFO's, don't believe in them. I am sure there are other forms of life on other planets, just don't think anyone can or has visitied here
 
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lorie d.

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Lorie - since you were inside, you probably didn't hear anything did you?
No, I didn't hear anything at all. As far as what this was, I think a meteor burning up in our atmosphere is the most logical answer. And I happen to agree with AmberThe Bobcat; other planets probably do have life, but that doesn't necessarily mean these beings are capable of space travel.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Lorie D.

No, I didn't hear anything at all. As far as what this was, I think a meteor burning up in our atmosphere is the most logical answer. And I happen to agree with AmberThe Bobcat; other planets probably do have life, but that doesn't necessarily mean these beings are capable of space travel.
I asked because sometimes people will hear meteorites burning up - supposedly it's a crackling noise.


As for life and space travel, I believe it but not in the way others may be thinking. I do think that bacteria could have came in on comets and help seed this planet with life. Without comets having smashed into the planet there never would have been any sort of life, to begin with (no water).
 
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