Did anyone else see the UFO near Rattlesnake Island Saturday Night???
 

Ok, first of all, this was witnessed by 4 people who were sitting with me on the deck, so I'm not crazy :)

At approximately 9:05pm this evening, a red-orange glowing object rose out of the Southern sky (South of our place, which is on the South-West side of Rattlesnake Island, almost in Young's Cove on the Peninsula) - rising fairly quickly, and then slowed dramatically, took a slow right turn (heading more or less South-East of our place), and then essentially faded out pretty quickly and disappeared.

This was fairly bright, and appeared to have what can best be described as a "soft" appearance. The light was gentle; not harsh.

One of the people who saw this is a pilot, and said this was not a plane or a helicopter. We thought of a balloon, but it rose very quickly - then stopped.

The thing was so unusual and bright that I figure someone else MUST have seen it. Much larger than a plane - about 1/3 the size of the visible moon this evening (which is about a half moon).

The object was in the air for at least a minute or so, maybe longer. At first I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and didn't pay much attention. But, as it rose higher in the sky, we all realized that this was not a plane or anything we could easily explain.

I'm making no speculation as to what this is/was or where it came from. It is simply, at this time, an "Unidentified" (we couldn't identify it)
"Flying" (it was definitely in the air) "Object".

I saw it.
 

We were sitting at the NASWA beachbar and 2 of them rose into the sky from nearby. Pretty sure they were ballons. They came from an area that was shooting off fireworks.

It could have been a homemade Hot Air Balloon made from birthday candles and a dry cleaning bag.

We used to make them and set them off at the lake.

Chinese lanterns.

Its movements most resembled a hot-air balloon type of thing, or something else lighted by a flame of sorts. This particular one did not seem to come up from the direction of the Weirs.

I'm sure some other Rattlesnakers saw it, and probably folks in the Southern part of Gilford, Diamond Island and West Alton as well.

I second the call that they're Chinese lanterns. Never seen them around here until this year, but I've spotted them several times now. They can be quite creepy looking.

Possibly made more popular by being used in a prank during an episode of Deadliest Catch.

We saw something similar-sounding a few weeks ago at The Weirs while waiting for fireworks. Couldn't figure out what the heck it was at first, then came to conclusion it was a hot air balloon or lantern.

Coincidentally, we woke up one day here at home to find a small home-made type of balloon in our back yard. Clearly a hot air type from burn marks, about 24 inches high.

Chinese Lantern
 

I live on Rattlesnake and saw it as well. It was absolutely a Chinese Lantern. We see them all the time at NH Motor Speedway.

3rd that......
 

My neighbor had a big chinese lantern and set it free from our dock on Saturday night, It went up really high and the when the flame went out....it drifted slowly back down to earth. It is like a hot air balloon. It is a bar of way that is attached by strings to a soft fabric. You light the wax and off it goes. Really cool to watch. I think they come in different sizes and colors

Not sure I want these things flying around
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTWC5pm29C0

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See how quickly things with a perfectly reasonably explanation become labeled a UFO? :rolleye2: And that's why I don't believe.

Eh? A U.F.O. is simply something that's not been or able to be Identified. In this case, the thing was Flying and was not identifiable at the time making it, by definition (and at that time) a U.F.O. :)

No one said it was a space ship or anything like that. Now that it has been more or less identified, it is not a U.F.O. any longer.

The four of us who saw the thing and could not identify what it was, sought outside sources [in this case, this forum!] to help us identify what we saw. This is a natural part of the scientific process. Most things start out as unknown, and, by seeking knowledge and information, can and do become known.

If such an "object" could *not* be identified, one would not dis-believe its presence simply on the virtue that a plausible explanation could not be found :cool:

Regards, Steve :patriot:

Yes, OK, technically I'll buy your description of what a UFO is but lets face it 99.9% of people when they hear the term "UFO" think of Dr. Smith who got lost in space...Just sayin...Believe what you will to each his own but until I have a bigfoot run in front of my car, encounter a ghost first hand or have a large flat flying saucer swoop down near me I won't believe. :D Been fifty years so far and haven't seen a thing yet, I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. :confused:

I think if you reread Steve's post you will spot that he is going way out of his way to be as non "Dr Smith" as possible. I don't find his description at all trying to create a sensational event. Based on what we all think he now saw, I think his description is pretty clinical and scientific. A reporting style we are not very accustomed to on the news anymore.

Unfortunately I am more alarmed by my neighbors launching flaming balls on the island, than the thought of little green men.:D

Next thing you know people will be launching missles with explosive payloads of toxic chemicals, just to see them explode.

I Saw Bigfoot Playing Frisbee With A Ghost
 

I guess you could consider the Frisbee a flyer saucer.

:D