A few more UFO reports

I was contacted by a reporter yesterday regarding a photo of a UFO that was taken September 5, 2010, at Steep Rock Lake, Manitoba. Some nature photographers were doing some time exposure shots of the lake and landscape when a slow-moving fiery object photobombed the scene.

It's a nice shot, even with the UFO trail that extended through half the photo. The exposure was 273 seconds long and was started at 9:26 pm, facing west. The object was calculated to be visible for a considerable length of time, but less than a minute.

The photo can be seen with the accompanying article here.

The "bright orange object came into view from the east and appeared to descend as it moved westward, underneath the cloud cover. It then appeared to level off and then disappear behind the cloud."

The object appeared to "flicker" like "fire" with a "wobbly" path, and "the 'flame' burned and flickered constantly as it moved." It also made no noise.

Since the object was seen for a long time, a fireball or bolide could be ruled out. It was also under the cloud cover. This effectively ruled out a jet contrail illuminated by the setting sun, as one person suggested on the newspaper website. Nice try, though.

I suggested it could have been a Chinese lantern, as they're starting to be more popular with vacationers this year. Its appearance is also consistent with what was observed, although it would have been nice to get some wind direction data.

Sure enough, a few people commented that they had released such lanterns in the area this summer. I think there's enough evidence that this UFO photo case can be closed.

I received a second case, this one through Transport Canada. It's also old: it happened on the night of April 30, 2010, at 11:30 pm, in Montreal, Quebec, but reported today, September 7, 2010.

The report notes that a white object like a "moon" was seen low in the sky, estimated only 200 feet over trees. This object "followed" the witness three times that night over a half-hour period.

A check of star charts shows the Moon was in fact rising about that time low in the south east and might have indeed been the culprit.

Two for two.