Naked Science Forum
On the Lighter Side => That CAN'T be true! => Topic started by: Airthumbs on 25/01/2013 22:40:01
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Some time ago a group of friends and I were out late at night on the Midsummer Solstice at a place called Bradgate Park overlooking the site for the Space Centre in Leicester. We had not planned to go out on the solstice but as it happened that was the case.
As we all entered the park and began to climb up a steep hill towards a monument known as Old John we could smell wood smoke coming from inside a small copse of trees. We decided to investigate to see what the source was, peering over a stone wall we observed what appeared to be hooded figures practising some kind of ritual, moving around the fire. It was quite scary so we all ran off and continued our way towards the top of Old John.
The view from up there was fantastic, the sky was very clear and as I like to sometimes observe the sky I did so. Now this is where it got a little confusing...... I am quite familiar with satellites moving across the sky and have observed many of them over the years. What I saw that night and indeed what we all saw is something at the time none of us had an explanation for. At first it was just one, a light appeared on the horizon and seemed to gain altitude moving slowly higher and higher into the sky. It moved in a non linear fashion but it was not erratic. Very quickly another light appeared on the other side of the horizon and finally a third in between the two. So one to the right, one to the left and one in front. They all moved in the same fashion climbing into the sky. They appeared to be a great distance away at first as they appeared over the Horizon and began to climb higher and higher into the sky.
After about two to three minutes, although I must admit we all seemed to have lost track of time, they got close enough so that if you put your hand out at arms length it would cover the space they were in.
At that point they all stopped moving and had formed a triangle made by three points of light almost directly above us. Seconds after they stopped moving a shooting star seemed to appear right in the centre of them. Then the lights seem to get bigger, some of my friends ran off terrified down the hill taking my car keys with them. I do not know how long I was there for or what actually happened next as I seem to have problems recollecting anything.
Does anyone have a rational explanation? Does NASA or any other space agency use satellites to track incoming meteorites and if they did would the description I give be necessary in order to pinpoint an object entering the Earth's atmosphere?
I think I might have raised this question before on this forum I am not sure.
I did report the sighting the following day and also answered a local advert in the newspaper placed by someone asking if anyone had seen strange lights around Bradgate Park. When I rang this person I discovered he was an ex policeman who had set up an investigation as unusual sighting were not uncommon in this area. He told me Old John was a sacred site and that many people had reported similar lights at that site. I'm not so sure about a spiritual explanation but I am looking for a scientific one.
Any ideas?
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Are their any military bases near where this happened?
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Yes there is one, I can only find vague information for obvious reasons but it was used by the Royal Airforce until 1947, then was owned by the Ministry Of Defence but for how long I do not know. Today it is a privately owned airfield. The airfield is less then 15km away from Bradgate Park. Studying Google maps I can see that this Airfield is in the general direction of one of the lights we saw. I cannot find any other Airfields nearby.
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Hooded figures around a campfire in rural England on the summer solstice sounds like potentially some cult reenactment, or perhaps a group of college kids having fun.
I'm not sure about your lights. Perhaps a jet? Could the perspective have changed at the meeting point, and thus appear to shop when they actually cross paths? I could imagine someone shooting off fireworks, but normally the firework rockets are only good for a few seconds. It could have been some kind of antiaircraft test, although you would think they'd do it over water.
I think NASA tracks incoming meteors using ground stations.
http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/
So, unless Europe chooses to expand and merge their web of observation stations, I think you're out of luck.
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This took place about 20yrs ago. I am wondering at that time would significant resources be used to locate the re-entry point for space craft. I know back then we didn't have mobile phones or the internet. Technology was quite different to that of today. I probably should have mentioned that earlier.
The lights seemed to come to a dead stop. I thought that three lights/objects was significant for triangulation but that is as far as I have ever got.