Why do UFO's have flashing lights ?

[Macroramphosis]

A random question - why are UFO/USO's reported with flashing lights in so many sightings ?

1) are they for alerting "our" craft to their presence ?

2) are they for alerting "their" craft to their presence ?

3) are they for alerting humans on the ground to their presence ?

4) or are they a method of communication to something else entirely ?

If the assumed improbability of UFO/USO's can be regarded as real for the purposes of this thread, don't you think it's strange that craft which we suppose to be on "secret" missions in our planet's airspace blatantly advertise their presence to us ? If we were to fly covert missions to another country, let alone another planet (especially ones with some forms of awkward armaments), wouldn't you go easy on the flashing lights ?

It's obvious from many other reports that UFO/USO's can appear without lights, so what is the difference ? Forgetfulness ? Bad training ? Poor command structure ? Electronic or other power form failures ?

Or, and this train of thought I'm following leaves me slipping on an icy path - do they leave their flashing lights on DELIBERATELY ? If so, why ? Or, are those flashing lights something ELSE ?

__________________

For the sake of this discussion, let's pretend we're only taking into consideration reports of UFO/USO's that have been submitted by military, aviation, police and coastguard personnel.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Macroramphosis

[Fluffybunny]

I personally think because they are often mistaken for fixed wing aircraft that have a standard lighting structure(Red Light on the left wing, Green light on the right wing, white blinking light on the bottom, White light on the tail, headlights that point forward that are on around the time of takeoff and landing); so many of the reports I have heard fit the description of a standard fixed wing aircraft lighting configuration...I find it hard to believe that any beings with the technology to get across the universe would need to copy such things for our benefit or ours...that is just my take on it.

[PersonFromPorlock]

They only do it to annoy

Because they know it teases.

[Macroramphosis]

FluffyBunny,

That's the sort of answer we could apply to the bored housewife, lonely farmer, spotty teenager sort of sighting, yes, but I specifically said we should consider reports for the sake of this thread to originate from trained personnel, a lot of whom should be able to correctly identify a small single-engine plane at 12,000' through thick fog quicker than I can find my specs in the morning.

For example : from http://www.nicap.org...e/section_5.htm

December 27, 1950: A TWA flight was enroute from Chicago to Kansas City. Shortly after sunset Capt. Art Shutts, at the controls, noticed a bright white light ahead of the plane, also flashing to green and red occasionally. The aircraft was on a heading of approximately 200 degrees. At first Captain Shutts thought it was a star, until it began to "wobble and swerve unsteadily." Then the UFO began to streak back and forth in a north-south line, through an arc of 10 degrees to 30 degrees, changing direction abruptly. The UFO would move at terrific speed, hover oscillating slightly, then speed up. Captain Shutts noticed that the visible horizon near the UFO appeared to vibrate as if light were being distorted, especially after the object put on a burst of speed.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Macroramphosis

[el midgetron]

I tend to agree that "flashing lights" don't seem to fit the kind of technology you would suspect an alien craft to have.

However to play devils advocate, perhaps the "lights" aren't to illuminate or be seen. Maybe they are the result of some other function, like some sort of advanced scanning or "radar" system (although on second thought maybe its unlikely such technology would utilize the visible spectrum). Still, maybe the "lights" are the result of another function.

Eh, maybe aliens just like to trick out their rides with fancy lights, chrome fittings and pinstriping? If you are gonna travel across the universe, you don't want to show up at the other side in your parent's saucer after all.

[Reptilian]

Maybe the light is always on and it's you that's coming and going in and out of existence! Think about that!

[Space Commander Travis]

Because they're safety conscious.

Actually, my deeply held personal opinion is that maybe they're associated with the propulsion system. These triangular ones, the current popular design, I think they probably use some form of anti-gravity system, and the lights might be associated with that, I reckon. Perhaps, too, they might use some form of plasma system to reduce surface friction, and that too might be interpreted as lights.

[chemical-licker]

They only do it to annoy

Because they know it teases.

[zoombie]

Because its awfully dark in outer space

[Sweetpumper]

The ones I've seen didn't have blinking lights.

[Fluffybunny]

FluffyBunny,

That's the sort of answer we could apply to the bored housewife, lonely farmer, spotty teenager sort of sighting, yes, but I specifically said we should consider reports for the sake of this thread to originate from trained personnel, a lot of whom should be able to correctly identify a small single-engine plane at 12,000' through thick fog quicker than I can find my specs in the morning.

For example : from http://www.nicap.org...e/section_5.htm

December 27, 1950: A TWA flight was enroute from Chicago to Kansas City. Shortly after sunset Capt. Art Shutts, at the controls, noticed a bright white light ahead of the plane, also flashing to green and red occasionally. The aircraft was on a heading of approximately 200 degrees. At first Captain Shutts thought it was a star, until it began to "wobble and swerve unsteadily." Then the UFO began to streak back and forth in a north-south line, through an arc of 10 degrees to 30 degrees, changing direction abruptly. The UFO would move at terrific speed, hover oscillating slightly, then speed up. Captain Shutts noticed that the visible horizon near the UFO appeared to vibrate as if light were being distorted, especially after the object put on a burst of speed.

And you dont find it odd/convenient that the lighting configuration in the above story is exactly the same as the standard FAA required lighting configuration (White/Green/Red)?...Depending on the relation of one plane to another, certain lights will be obscured for a time by a wing or a tail as they pass over each other, causing perspective flashing...considering the pilot felt the other plane was "a star" it can be assumed it was a small dot, and very far away, so what details could be seen would be limited. The details in this report are extremely limited; what is the weather? range? Was the craft on radar? Did other planes see the craft? What did they see? It would be impossible to make a decision on what they saw based on a paragraph of a statement...

As to what they saw, I don't know, what the perspective was I don't know- without photos, it is just speculation...was it some kind of optical illusion causing the perspective direction changes...who knows. Not enough info. but the overwhelming amount of evidence that I have read is simply more of the same guessing. In regards to flashing colored lights, it is a worldwide standard for aircraft, so for me, that comes down to occams razor; every aircraft in the sky has a red/green/white configuration.

[Space Commander Travis]

And you dont find it odd/convenient that the lighting configuration in the above story is exactly the same as the standard FAA required lighting configuration (White/Green/Red)?...Depending on the relation of one plane to another, certain lights will be obscured for a time by a wing or a tail as they pass over each other, causing perspective flashing...considering the pilot felt the other plane was "a star" it can be assumed it was a small dot, and very far away, so what details could be seen would be limited. The details in this report are extremely limited; what is the weather? range? Was the craft on radar? Did other planes see the craft? What did they see? It would be impossible to make a decision on what they saw based on a paragraph of a statement...

As to what they saw, I don't know, what the perspective was I don't know- without photos, it is just speculation...was it some kind of optical illusion causing the perspective direction changes...who knows. Not enough info. but the overwhelming amount of evidence that I have read is simply more of the same guessing. In regards to flashing colored lights, it is a worldwide standard for aircraft, so for me, that comes down to occams razor; every aircraft in the sky has a red/green/white configuration.

yes; I think that's a good rule of thumb to sift out if something's probably a plane. If there are red & green lights, and/or flashing red lights, involved, then I'd look for the terrestrial hypothesis first.

Of course, with a plane approaching an airport from some distance with its landing lights on, the wingtip lights and/or the strobe might not always be visible, and if you're looking at it head-on it can look as if they're not moving at all; so even if red & green lights aren't mentioned, it doesn't necessarily mean that it must be an extraterrestrial.

[blinx]

so they can see in the dark

[Odds]

Because they're safety conscious.

Actually, my deeply held personal opinion is that maybe they're associated with the propulsion system. These triangular ones, the current popular design, I think they probably use some form of anti-gravity system, and the lights might be associated with that, I reckon. Perhaps, too, they might use some form of plasma system to reduce surface friction, and that too might be interpreted as lights.

That's a pretty decent answer.

Also, it could also be that some of them are of the thinking that instead of going stealth, why not try blending in as best as possible... The average Joe wouldn't think twice at a high flying object with flashing lights, it could just as easily be confused with any other high flying airliner. Just a thought.

[glyndowers heir]

The simple answer is that they have to, to comply with CAA/FAA regulations

Otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to operate in our airspace! - (Think about it!)

[Tastes like chicken]

Ah yes, but so many also have no such lights. Many you cannot see. The ones you can sometimes use Kaufman Ion drive propulsion systems, where photonic discharge is because of Ionic disassociation of the propulsion gas, heavy inert ions for propulsion are purple, O2 is blueish, N2 Pinkish, UFO's will be always this color range for propulsion drive. Nasa also use Kaufman Ion drives on restricted kraft.

[Fluffybunny]

The simple answer is that they have to, to comply with CAA/FAA regulations

Otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to operate in our airspace! - (Think about it!)

My dad worked for an aerospace company for 40 years and worked on some secret stuff. In the late 60's early 70's there was a rash of lawn dart shaped UFO's(with blinking lights of course) spotted all over the southwest US. At this time my dad had clearance enough to know what was going on, and had worked on an aircraft that had not been seen publicly; the SR-71; which at the time was the fastest thing in the skies. IIRC it started to be designed back in the late fifties and was actually functional in the mid 60's.

I can remember asking my dad to take me to the hobby store in order to buy a model airplane to build; I wandered around and chose a model of a (then unknown) SR-71, but at the time it was unknown to the general public and the model itself was just called something like "the top secret spycraft"...my dad flipped out as this was his baby that he was working on, and it was supposed to be so secret, and here are models floating around. He told me years later that he wanted more than anything to be able to say that he was working on that plane, just to be able to be the "cool dad" in the neighborhood, but he know that he would land himself in trouble if he did, so he kept his mouth shut.

[Macroramphosis]

Hello Fluffybunny,

The story I quoted is but one of many, and although I admire your defense of the flashing lights question, I would like to simply point out that there are thousands of reports of UFO/USO's with lights from across the world over the years, and there are too many reports made by people who know EXACTLY what aviation lights in the sky look like, even allowing for the factors you have eloquently argued for.

Notwithstanding this, what do you think about sightings from the years BEFORE aircraft were in our skies ?

From www.socyberty.com :

For decades...... UFO sightings have been explained away as meteors or other things. But what is interesting that before the Wright brothers launched an airplane, flying crafts were already visible in the skies. None of these crafts could really be explained away as weather balloons or meteorites, to witnesses of the 1800s the crafts were not from this earth. April of 1897, people in five Midwestern states reported various accounts of an oblong shape in the sky. The accounts were reported from April 5th to April 19th. The first recorded sighting was in Omaha Nebraska where more than 100 people witnessed the appearance of a flying object more than 12 feet long. It was shiny and made of steel. The object became so luminous that the brightness awoke people from their sleep. People in Sioux City, Iowa saw another cigar-shaped craft just a few days later. It was also seen in Cedar Rapids and Burlington and described as a mysterious object with a glaring headlight of some kind and a shiny steel haul, gliding with a hissing sound. Eyewitnesses in Chicago and Mount Carroll Illinois reported seeing an elongated object with flashing or rotating red and green lights on April 10. Hundreds of people throughout Illinois saw an aircraft hovering about 500 ft in the air and leaving at tremendous speeds. The craft had one bright light in addition to the red and green flashing lights. A Chicago newsstand dealer, Walter McCann was said to have taken two photos of the object at the time, but copies of these photos have not been made public in a very long time. They may still be in a file tucked away in Washington, or so the conspiracy theorists believe. Later, that same night the people in Wausau Wisconsin looked up to see and egg-shaped craft hovering over city hall in Milwaukee. Thousands of awestruck spectators stood watching the craft as its lights moved back and forth. On the next night, the same craft or one similar in description was seen in Minnesota and later in Indiana. By April 19, the craft appeared in Cochranville, Ohio and later traveled on to other areas, unknown. All accounts were similar throughout all five states with thousands of witnesses.

odds022's answer is provoking, not because it may be the right one, but because it raises yet another - if some UFO's follow this trait, why do not all of them ? Is that because we truly are the destination of a smorgasbord of different species, each with their own variation of craft and flight protocol ?

Indeed, if lights are part and parcel of the UFO/USO game, why do the lights themselves differ ? There seem to be different colours, patterns, rhythms, and strengths of light - some so bright that professional observers have recourse to use astronomical terms such as magnitudes to describe the intensity of light.

Someone mentioned propulsion systems, and while I understand this might be a reason for the various "glowings" and "luminescence" reported in cases, flashing strobe-like lights normally indicate a system designed for signalling. Are they signalling us, or something else ?

The fact that we, the human part of the equation, see specific colours in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum, raises even further questions. Are we meant to see the colours that these lights appear as ? If these craft come from another "world", what colour are these lights there ? Are these lights a method of communication ? Through perhaps a combination of both colours and flash rates, have some craft been trying to say something to us for years ?

I wonder, sometimes, if further study of unexplainable footage of craft with flashing lights would reveal any sort of pattern.

Lots of questions, for which I apologise. I just think "flashing lights in the sky" could be a very poor interpretation of something far more meaningful.

Edited January 19, 2010 by Macroramphosis

[Macroramphosis]

Ah yes, but so many also have no such lights. Many you cannot see. The ones you can sometimes use Kaufman Ion drive propulsion systems, where photonic discharge is because of Ionic disassociation of the propulsion gas, heavy inert ions for propulsion are purple, O2 is blueish, N2 Pinkish, UFO's will be always this color range for propulsion drive. Nasa also use Kaufman Ion drives on restricted kraft.

Hello Tastes like chicken (may I take this opportunity to introduce you to DONTEATUS ?),

I would have thought that if a craft was powered by Ion thrusters it would have very little chance of successfully maneuvering in the earth's atmosphere.

Additionally, if the Ion thruster was specifically a Kaufman one, would that not indicate a craft of terrestrial origin, with Kaufman's patent number on its block ?

[granitesquare]

Many of the reports I have read describe the lights as glowing or pulsating. From a distance a pulsating light may appear to be blinking or flashing. It would seem the varying amount of lumens may be related to power level changes and not the result to an on/off controller. And yes they may well be running lights of sorts used for the same reasons moving vehicles on this planet have them. Foo Fighters in WWII were reported as being glowing orange balls that followed aircraft. I do not believe they flashed but rather they did glow brightly.

[PersonFromPorlock]

Let me suggest something: the reason aircraft have flashing lights is because they catch the eye better than steady ones. So there could be lots of UFO's out there with steady lights that just don't get noticed as much as their flashing cousins because they're not flashing.

A more interesting question is howcome lights in the distance seldom seem to translate to lights close-up? You'd think that if they're far away from Smith they ought to be near to Jones fairly often.

Edited January 20, 2010 by PersonFromPorlock

[el midgetron]

I can remember asking my dad to take me to the hobby store in order to buy a model airplane to build; I wandered around and chose a model of a (then unknown) SR-71, but at the time it was unknown to the general public and the model itself was just called something like "the top secret spycraft"...my dad flipped out as this was his baby that he was working on, and it was supposed to be so secret, and here are models floating around. He told me years later that he wanted more than anything to be able to say that he was working on that plane, just to be able to be the "cool dad" in the neighborhood, but he know that he would land himself in trouble if he did, so he kept his mouth shut.

Thats an awesome story. Thanks for sharing

[Teslasparkgap]

I'll say because the UFO has to.

Flash lights that is.

Electricity is part of the propulsion system.

What better way to explain the ship as to say Tesla made gas in a gas tube light rigid.

Think out side the bulb.

The UFO is making the air, and ether, rigid so it can propel against the air and ether.

We see the gas in the atmosphere light up and the crew inside think we are in a gas bulb.

The craft works against the ultimate force of the universe, the ether, that why the

ether does not exist for us, we will not be told.

[DONTEATUS]

My sighting didnt have blinking Lights either,But it did Fly close enough to See that the Safty Inspection Sticker was out!

[MID]

A random question - why are UFO/USO's reported with flashing lights in so many sightings ?

Mostly because they are actually unidentified flying objects...which are actually aircraft of one sort of another:

with red and green NAV lights, port and starboard, red rotating beacons, and strobes blinking on belly, etc...

Edited January 21, 2010 by MID