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The UFO Phenomenon

'String of lights' photographed near Charlotte

By T.K. Randall
February 1, 2021 · Comment icon 14 comments

What was in the sky that night ? Image Credit: Facebook / Alisa Homewood
A peculiar aerial phenomenon has caught the attention of a local social media group in North Carolina.
The lights, which appeared recently over the state's Indian Trail community to the southeast of Charlotte, were photographed by Alisa Homewood who posted the image up on Facebook.

"Anyone know what these lights were tonight ?" she asked. "No sound at all. They flickered like lanterns, but followed the same exact path up until they disappeared which was odd."

"My initial thought when I saw the lights was it was the helicopters in the distance, but as the lights got closer there was no sound. Then they went straight up into the sky and disappeared."

"I couldn't see anything around the light to suggest they were or were not lanterns, but the light flickered like you'd imagine a lantern would look."

Compounding the mystery was the fact that a cluster of three additional lights surrounded by a blue glow had shown up in the photograph despite not being seen at the time.

"The blue light I didn't notice until after I took the pictures," she said.

"In the sky it did not look blue, it looked like a group of bright lights. I thought it was odd though, that a few people have seen and photographed that same blue-ish grouping of lights."

Indeed, several people on Facebook came forward after seeing her photograph to claim that they had also seen the same thing - sparking considerable debate over what the explanation could be.

As things stand, no definitive answer has been forthcoming.

Source: Charlotte Observer | Comments (14)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #5 Posted by ceedaisy 4 years ago
These lights went over my house in North western ky late last summer. Nothing mysterious about them. They are the star link satellites Elon Musk made or whatever.  Totally cool to see though. 
Comment icon #6 Posted by Sunspot Mike 4 years ago
Probably paper lanterns. Here's an article (full disclosure: written by my sister) where she interviews the witness and they compare the video to a similar video of paper lanterns. https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2021/01/strange-lights-spotted-over-north-carolina-a-mystery-solved/
Comment icon #7 Posted by pallidin 4 years ago
Hi, ceedaisy, welcome to UM!!! Allow me to be the first to throw you a bone...
Comment icon #8 Posted by pallidin 4 years ago
Sunspot, welcome to UM as well !!!  
Comment icon #9 Posted by esoteric_toad 4 years ago
Over 800,000 people in Charlotte. One photo. That says it all.
Comment icon #10 Posted by the13bats 4 years ago
Is this a mix of 2 alleged cases? In the pic bot posted then tigers link that is lense flare but in that circled pic in tigers link looks like a line of sky lanterns with the lense flare
Comment icon #11 Posted by ChrLzs 4 years ago
Sigh.  The larger one is, as noted above by Chaldon, a simple and very obvious lens flare. The 'string' of lights in some other pics and as described in the anecdotes, are almost certainly the Starlink satellites.  Look them up.  One of the pics may have been doctored - the Starlink satellites are generally not all that bright, but it depends on many factors.
Comment icon #12 Posted by ChrLzs 4 years ago
Update. Last Saturday evening at ~ 7:10 pm thru 7:15 pm, a string of about 10 Starlink satellites (there were others, before and after) appeared in the sky from Charlotte, NC.  They appeared initially low to the horizon in the SW but swung upwards and towards the SE,  They were at roughly magnitude 2.5-3.0, which is  a little brighter than they usually are, like a pretty average star... The recorded angle of the satellites seems to match the angle shown in the image. Information is from Heavens Above website - if you're interested Google it and become a satellite watcher..
Comment icon #13 Posted by the13bats 4 years ago
Let me get your opinion since ive never seen those starlinks, would starlink and sky lanterns look similar in a still picture? Do you believe you could tell the difference every time, im talking still shots.
Comment icon #14 Posted by ChrLzs 4 years ago
It depends on 3 things, essentially. 1. How sensitive the camera's sensor is - the better (and bigger) the sensor, the higher will be the shutter speed that the camera can use, to 'freeze the action'.  It has to be said that most phone cameras, and indeed most compact cameras, would struggle with this.  I haven't looked at what sort of camera was used - I suspect that info isn't available... 2. How fast the satellites are moving.  Lazily I haven't yet been out to catch a look at the Starlinks, but I think they move at rate that is similar to what you might see with a high flying aircraft o... [More]


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