The object is quite hard to make out. Image Credit: YouTube / Northern Ireland UFO Society
A mysterious object caught on film over Annalong earlier this month has been under investigation
The unidentified object, which appeared as a grey sphere that moved from north to south against an easterly wind, was picked up on camera by a witness in County Down on July 8th.
Since then, the Northern Ireland UFO Society (NIUFOS) has been investigating the sighting.
Now the Met Office - the UK's national weather service - has spoken out on the matter by seemingly ruling out the possibility that the mysterious object was a weather balloon.
While a balloon had been launched on the same day, it would have been too far away and at too high an altitude to see at the time of the sighting.
"The weather balloons that we use at Castor Bay are almost all off-white in color and spherical, with very small white instrument packages suspended far below," the Met Office said in a statement.
"The object in the video is too unclear to identify, but we doubt a phone camera could see such a relatively small object at such a great distance and height from the reported filming location."
"As such, we doubt that the object seen could be the Castor Bay radiosonde."
According to NIUFOS founder Chris McMurray, there has also been a report of a second sighting that took place a few weeks earlier by a woman approximately five miles away from Annalong.
The group intends to visit the area in an effort to get to the bottom of the mystery.
You can view the video recording of the object below.
That footage couldn't have been less useful if it has been shot inside a coal bunker at night with all the lights out whist the mobile phone was wrapped in a blanket. No context, nothing in focus, no indication of size or distance; not even possible to determine whether it was the spot moving or the person supposedly filming it.
Id not even call the wind direction as evidence. Because the wind directoon at ground level can be very different from the wind direction even 30 meters (100 feet) up. Cant tell anything about the object. Could be just a regular balloon IMHO. Cell phone cameras are crap at any real distance. Its either huge, and far away, or basket sized and relatively close.
Just a passing comment or two on how idiotic the responses can be from those who should know better..... 1. Did the Met Office check the wind direction at all heights? Just because the prevailing winds at one level are in one direction, does not mean they are the same all the way up.. and of course the observers angle of view may affect the perception of direction. 2. Is the MO the only agency that uses balloons? Other agencies release balloons, and the Met Office doesn't speak for all.. They would be better off going to whatever is the agency in charge of all air traffic in the regio... [More]
I suspect someone just rang the MetO to ask if they had released a weather balloon in the vicinity and were told no.  But there's nothing in the video to suggest that's what it is anyway.
Please Login or Register to post a comment.