Sky Lanterns Generating Many UFO Reports in Pennsylvania-Fourth of July Week and Weekend (2013)

Last week with the approach of the Fourth of July weekend, I had anticipated that there would be an increase in reports of bright glowing orange or reddish-orange objects in the night sky. The reports generally describe one or multiple such lights that are observed for several minutes. They sometimes move separately, and other times in groups or even in various formations. They make no sound, then after a few minutes seem to just disappear from sight. This occurs when the candle or fuel cell expires.

Many of these reports can be attributed to what are known as Sky lanterns or Chinese lanterns. These devices are commonly sold as a kit in stores, while some people make their own version to launch skyward. During the last few years, reports of these devices have increased around holidays, specially the Fourth of July. These silent objects move with the wind currents, and always cause a lot of attention.

During local dry conditions, there is the possibility that these objects could produce a fire hazard. I have been receiving many similar sighting reports from across the state during this time period. After talking with many witnesses, it appears that many of these observations can be attributed to these manmade devices. Some of the reports originated from around  Pittsburgh, and other locations such as Greensburg, Jeannette, Irwin, and Latrobe.

There have been other previous cases reported that while similar in appearance those objects may not fall under this explanation.

Anomalous Aerial Objects-June 21, 2013

This report was received from Researcher: Keith Bastianini, who has given me permission to post it.

Date: Friday, June 21, 2013

Location: Mars, Butler County, Pennsylvania

Time: Approximately 9:45-10:00 pm

The following report was received from a resident of Butler County concerning an anomalous sighting of threes aerial objects on the night of Friday, June 21, 2013.  The time was approximately 9:45-10 PM.  The witness, an environmental consultant, and seven of his neighbors were together in the yard area between their homes in a suburban development situated between the town of Mars and Cranberry Township at the time of the sighting.

The witnesses observed 3 roundish, red-orange glowing objects traveling from south-southeast to north-northwest.  Two objects were relatively close to each other, trailed farther back by the third.  It appeared that they followed the same or similar flight line/path.  Objects emitted no noise or were too far away to hear.  Objects faded away as they reached the same location in the sky.  Objects were not going slow, nor were they going fast.  However, they all appeared to be traveling at the same rate of speed right up to the point of disappearance.

No estimate on the actual size of the objects, or distance from the witnesses, was possible although the lead witness thought they would appear smaller than a dime held at arms’ length.   The witness thought the most prosaic explanation was that they were Chinese lanterns however the steady rate of movement, maintained distance between the objects, and the way they all winked out at the same spot in the sky seemed odd.  Said that even if the fire went out he would have expected to still see the object dark against the sky.

Because of the professional nature of the witness’ career, he requested that he remain anonymous.

Huge Rectangular Object Hovers Low over Pennsylvania Highway-June 1, 2013

(Electronic dashboard displays, cell phone service and camera failure reported in the vicinity of the object)

From Researcher: Stan Gordon

www.stangordon.info

Sketch of the object provided by the witness
Sketch used with permission of the witness

June 1, 2013-10:05 PM

(Irwin) North Huntingdon Township

Westmoreland County, PA

At approximately 10:05 PM, the witness and her three year old child had just pulled out of the Sheetz convenience store on Route 30 in North Huntingdon Township. At the red light, the driver made a left on U.S. Route 30 and proceeded East toward Greensburg. The woman had a window down and the car radio was playing at the time. As she moved along the highway just a short distance away her attention was drawn to a large object hovering over Route 30.

As she slowed down and approached closer, she recalled saying out loud, “what in the world is that?” Her young child who was in the backseat responded by saying, “Look mommy, a flying I-pad in the sky”. The woman looked around and noticed that there were no other cars at the time on that stretch of the road. She was quite concerned over what the object was, and initially stopped on the highway, about 150 feet away from the hovering object. She was trying to figure out in her mind a logical explanation for what she was seeing.

The object, which was completely silent, was hovering approximately 60 feet above that section of the roadway. The witness described the object as looking, “mostly rectangular,” and told me that it “looked like the gondola of a blimp without the blimp.” The length of the solid object appeared to extend over the east and westbound lanes of the highway. The object was estimated to be about 55 feet in length, and approximately 35-40 feet tall.

The witness described the object as being two tiered. The top section was made up of five sets of green lights. There were three individual rectangular lights in each set. The five sets of lights were all evenly spaced in a vertical position, and the lights were all steady with no blinking. The witness said the green color was brighter than the green of a traffic light. The bottom section, which was smaller in size, contained within it two long solid red lights that were placed side by side. The two lights were steady and never blinked. They gave the witness the impression of looking like brake lights, but they were huge.

The woman quickly called her mother using the blue tooth cell phone hookup in her car.  She asked her mother if she knew of any explanation for the object that was hovering ahead of her over the road. As the car passed underneath the object, the woman noticed that the digital display on her car dashboard for the clock, temperature, air bag status, radio, and Bluetooth sync suddenly blacked out. The FM radio station she was listening to lost signal. She also lost her cell phone signal. The witness attempted to take a picture of the object with her iPhone, but the camera function wouldn’t load up.

She accelerated down the road to get away from the object. About a ½ mile away she looked back towards where the object had been and could no longer see it. The digital displays all returned to normal, her radio came back on and she was able to make cell phone contact again with her mother as she approached the Adamsburg exit. When she got home and discussed what happened with her family, they asked her to draw a sketch of the object while it was still clear in her memory.

I conducted both telephone and face to face interviews with the witness and her family and also went to the location of the incident. The witness works out of the area, but travels that road daily to go back and forth to work. A part of the investigation included examining the vehicle driven that day.  Due to the woman’s work schedule, it was several days after the incident before the car could be tested. No magnetic anomalies or abnormal radiation levels were found.

The witness said that she drove down that same section of road several days after the incident trying to make sense of what she saw. She was looking for a tower or even a balloon from a car dealership to explain what she saw, but could find nothing to explain the object. She also was upset that her young child continues to look skyward for the, “floating I-pad.”

The witness tells me that this was an experience she will never forget. She told me how she is the kind of person who must have an explanation for nearly everything in life and now there remains the question of, “what did I see?”

Historical Fact

One of the first UFO cases I investigated occurred in August of 1966, just down the road from where this encounter took place. That incident occurred at the Adamsburg exit and involved an object hovering over the 500-kilovolt high tension power line. As two people in a car on Route 30 approached the power line, the object dropped below the power line and came at the car so close that the occupants ducked their heads. The case is mentioned in my first book, “Really Mysterious Pennsylvania.”

Stretch of Route 30 where UFO incident took place.
photo copyright 2013 Stan Gordon