Ufo

[Orion]

I saw my first UFO this weekend, and I would consider myself to be a skeptic. So, I want to tell my story and hopefully there is someone on here with physics knowledge or knowledge of aerospace engineering that can tell me what happened.

I went camping this weekend 5 hours away from Vancouver to a fairly remote area. There were established campgrounds but the area was isolated: no electricity, water, etc. (I had an awesome weekend by the way.) The area was a series of lake systems surrounded by glacial mountains. I went with a group of 8 people.

We were sitting around our camp fire when two locals who do grounds maintenance came by. We had met them a day earlier on the way in and they were super informative about the area and friendly. The night of the camp fire, they both told us that they didn't want to be alone that night so we naturally asked why. The woman then told us she felt crazy for wanting to share a story but she had to tell someone.

She was near the lake/river junction where people go salmon fishing, but late at night. She was making sure the dock was secure and was hauling in some canoes that people had left in the water (which they ask you not to do there). In the mountain straight ahead of there, she said she saw a bright light hovering above it and assumed it was an airplane until it started to behave very unusually. She said they moved extremely fast and sharply in different directions with ease, that they changed colours from bright blue to red. Then she said there were a bunch of little lights that came out of it and started to circle around it at close proximity before it started to move closer. It was at that point that she totally freaked out and ran back to camp because she was afraid it was coming for her. She said in her 4 years of tending the grounds she had never seen anything like it.

So we were all like... ok, it could have been anything, a helicopter, some kind of military craft doing drills at night, or whatever. Also, maybe she thought she saw something that didn't really happen. The mind plays tricks. It was my idea to have her take us out to the same spot, so all 8 of us went, plus the 2 locals, and we brought our three dogs with us.

We went to the river clearing where the mountain was visible. It was freezing and the sky was perfectly clear. (P.S. The star field was amazing.) We were all looking around for this light and kept imagining we were seeing it, but we weren't. Then finally someone spotted something. It was a red star but it was swiveling bath and forth ever so slightly. It was so slight that you would think it was just due to your body swaying slightly.

Its swaying back and forth looked like a hockey puck being shuffled back and forth with a hockey stick, but much smoother. Then, it went from centre field of vision all the way to left field of the sky to another nearby mountain. The way it moved was so bizarre. I was really analyzing it without trying to get swept up emotionally. The thing that was strange about it was that there was no acceleration time. It went from hovering on the spot, to high speed in less than a second. It also made no noise whatsoever even though it was above the mountain in front of us. It was a bright blue halo. Then it did a couple of 90 degree movements, making a square. The smoothness and speed of the motion was unfathomable. We were seriously so dismayed that we questioned the two locals to ask them if this was some kind of trick that gets played on campers. They promised us no. The guy had a ipod stereo with him and he was so freaked out by what he was seeing that he turned on his music and sort of walked off. The other thing that was creeping us out was that the dogs were growling and according to the owners they never really do that, and we encountered some wild animals on the weekend that they didn't even react to.

The light in the sky then started to do circles like from the night before, again with perfect smoothness and no acceleration. It then divided into two, and the second light was a red one. They both returned to hovering back and forth like a puck, but one was hovering in the right field of vision, the other all the way over to the left. They way they were moving reminded me of how a flashlight would look if you shone it on a wall and then swayed it back and forth. It seemed so perfect that it could almost be a projection from the ground level, but the thing is that we could see the 3rd dimension at work as the lights hovered over trees and slightly down the mountainside. It was so bizarre.

After about 20 minutes of this, they sat perfectly still. We don't know what happened next because some low lying clouds moved in, but once the clouds passed they were still hovering perfectly still. Then, to our amazement, they took off vertically so incredibly fast, like shooting-star fast, and went straight up into the sky. Then they blipped out.

We all just looked at each other like... uh... WTF.

Can someone please tell me WTF can do that? I really want to hear a logical explanation because I don't have one at all. We were out in the middle of nowhere. There weren't even plane routes or anything. We didn't even see EMT helicopters the whole time. The sky was clear. You could even see satellites in orbit, but this event was definitely not in orbit.

I want some ideas. Please share!

 

[Arcana XV]

Wow. That IS weird. I've heard similar stories before, about strange lights moving in odd ways in the sky. Some people think they're satellites reflecting the sun's rays, but the way you describe it there's no way it could be that. Looking forward to reading other comments.

 

[creativedreams]

I saw my first UFO this weekend, and I would consider myself to be a skeptic. So, I want to tell my story and hopefully there is someone on here with physics knowledge or knowledge of aerospace engineering that can tell me what happened.

I went camping this weekend 5 hours away from Vancouver to a fairly remote area. There were established campgrounds but the area was isolated: no electricity, water, etc. (I had an awesome weekend by the way.) The area was a series of lake systems surrounded by glacial mountains. I went with a group of 8 people.

We were sitting around our camp fire when two locals who do grounds maintenance came by. We had met them a day earlier on the way in and they were super informative about the area and friendly. The night of the camp fire, they both told us that they didn't want to be alone that night so we naturally asked why. The woman then told us she felt crazy for wanting to share a story but she had to tell someone.

She was near the lake/river junction where people go salmon fishing, but late at night. She was making sure the dock was secure and was hauling in some canoes that people had left in the water (which they ask you not to do there). In the mountain straight ahead of there, she said she saw a bright light hovering above it and assumed it was an airplane until it started to behave very unusually. She said they moved extremely fast and sharply in different directions with ease, that they changed colours from bright blue to red. Then she said there were a bunch of little lights that came out of it and started to circle around it at close proximity before it started to move closer. It was at that point that she totally freaked out and ran back to camp because she was afraid it was coming for her. She said in her 4 years of tending the grounds she had never seen anything like it.

So we were all like... ok, it could have been anything, a helicopter, some kind of military craft doing drills at night, or whatever. Also, maybe she thought she saw something that didn't really happen. The mind plays tricks. It was my idea to have her take us out to the same spot, so all 8 of us went, plus the 2 locals, and we brought our three dogs with us.

We went to the river clearing where the mountain was visible. It was freezing and the sky was perfectly clear. (P.S. The star field was amazing.) We were all looking around for this light and kept imagining we were seeing it, but we weren't. Then finally someone spotted something. It was a red star but it was swiveling bath and forth ever so slightly. It was so slight that you would think it was just due to your body swaying slightly.

Its swaying back and forth looked like a hockey puck being shuffled back and forth with a hockey stick, but much smoother. Then, it went from centre field of vision all the way to left field of the sky to another nearby mountain. The way it moved was so bizarre. I was really analyzing it without trying to get swept up emotionally. The thing that was strange about it was that there was no acceleration time. It went from hovering on the spot, to high speed in less than a second. It also made no noise whatsoever even though it was above the mountain in front of us. It was a bright blue halo. Then it did a couple of 90 degree movements, making a square. The smoothness and speed of the motion was unfathomable. We were seriously so dismayed that we questioned the two locals to ask them if this was some kind of trick that gets played on campers. They promised us no. The guy had a ipod stereo with him and he was so freaked out by what he was seeing that he turned on his music and sort of walked off. The other thing that was creeping us out was that the dogs were growling and according to the owners they never really do that, and we encountered some wild animals on the weekend that they didn't even react to.

The light in the sky then started to do circles like from the night before, again with perfect smoothness and no acceleration. It then divided into two, and the second light was a red one. They both returned to hovering back and forth like a puck, but one was hovering in the right field of vision, the other all the way over to the left. They way they were moving reminded me of how a flashlight would look if you shone it on a wall and then swayed it back and forth. It seemed so perfect that it could almost be a projection from the ground level, but the thing is that we could see the 3rd dimension at work as the lights hovered over trees and slightly down the mountainside. It was so bizarre.

After about 20 minutes of this, they sat perfectly still. We don't know what happened next because some low lying clouds moved in, but once the clouds passed they were still hovering perfectly still. Then, to our amazement, they took off vertically so incredibly fast, like shooting-star fast, and went straight up into the sky. Then they blipped out.

We all just looked at each other like... uh... WTF.

Can someone please tell me WTF can do that? I really want to hear a logical explanation because I don't have one at all. We were out in the middle of nowhere. There weren't even plane routes or anything. We didn't even see EMT helicopters the whole time. The sky was clear. You could even see satellites in orbit, but this event was definitely not in orbit.

I want some ideas. Please share!

Interesting....probably an intelligence gathering reconnaissance probe.... before they send the masses....lol

Anyways I know a few people who live in Northern Mn who saw a same event about 20yrs ago. They were driving through town to go to work about 4:30am in the dark, when all of a sudden an incomprehensibly huge object in the sky lit up the entire town as if it were daylight. It turned on like a light switch for a little while and then shut off like a switch. All the street lights were then out from it and the streets were dark....

 

[The Giant Noodle]

I welcome our new alien overloards.

Actually they are either Sontarans or Zygons. And they are taking samples of the Earths resources and inhabitants.

 

[1069]

My ex always insisted he was an alien abductee. It was his claim to fame.
He belonged to a group called MUFON (mutual UFO network?).

No idea if they're defunct by now, this was a long time ago.
But you might try googling/contacting them, if they're still around.
I'm sure they'll have some ideas.

 

[EnigmaO01]

It was my idea to have her take us out to the same spot, so all 8 of us went, plus the 2 locals, ...

At that point I thought this was going to be one of those Penthouse magazine stories.

:lamo:lamo:lamo

 

[idk]

I saw my first UFO this weekend, and I would consider myself to be a skeptic. So, I want to tell my story and hopefully there is someone on here with physics knowledge or knowledge of aerospace engineering that can tell me what happened.

I went camping this weekend 5 hours away from Vancouver to a fairly remote area. There were established campgrounds but the area was isolated: no electricity, water, etc. (I had an awesome weekend by the way.) The area was a series of lake systems surrounded by glacial mountains. I went with a group of 8 people.

We were sitting around our camp fire when two locals who do grounds maintenance came by. We had met them a day earlier on the way in and they were super informative about the area and friendly. The night of the camp fire, they both told us that they didn't want to be alone that night so we naturally asked why. The woman then told us she felt crazy for wanting to share a story but she had to tell someone.

She was near the lake/river junction where people go salmon fishing, but late at night. She was making sure the dock was secure and was hauling in some canoes that people had left in the water (which they ask you not to do there). In the mountain straight ahead of there, she said she saw a bright light hovering above it and assumed it was an airplane until it started to behave very unusually. She said they moved extremely fast and sharply in different directions with ease, that they changed colours from bright blue to red. Then she said there were a bunch of little lights that came out of it and started to circle around it at close proximity before it started to move closer. It was at that point that she totally freaked out and ran back to camp because she was afraid it was coming for her. She said in her 4 years of tending the grounds she had never seen anything like it.

So we were all like... ok, it could have been anything, a helicopter, some kind of military craft doing drills at night, or whatever. Also, maybe she thought she saw something that didn't really happen. The mind plays tricks. It was my idea to have her take us out to the same spot, so all 8 of us went, plus the 2 locals, and we brought our three dogs with us.

We went to the river clearing where the mountain was visible. It was freezing and the sky was perfectly clear. (P.S. The star field was amazing.) We were all looking around for this light and kept imagining we were seeing it, but we weren't. Then finally someone spotted something. It was a red star but it was swiveling bath and forth ever so slightly. It was so slight that you would think it was just due to your body swaying slightly.

Its swaying back and forth looked like a hockey puck being shuffled back and forth with a hockey stick, but much smoother. Then, it went from centre field of vision all the way to left field of the sky to another nearby mountain. The way it moved was so bizarre. I was really analyzing it without trying to get swept up emotionally. The thing that was strange about it was that there was no acceleration time. It went from hovering on the spot, to high speed in less than a second. It also made no noise whatsoever even though it was above the mountain in front of us. It was a bright blue halo. Then it did a couple of 90 degree movements, making a square. The smoothness and speed of the motion was unfathomable. We were seriously so dismayed that we questioned the two locals to ask them if this was some kind of trick that gets played on campers. They promised us no. The guy had a ipod stereo with him and he was so freaked out by what he was seeing that he turned on his music and sort of walked off. The other thing that was creeping us out was that the dogs were growling and according to the owners they never really do that, and we encountered some wild animals on the weekend that they didn't even react to.

The light in the sky then started to do circles like from the night before, again with perfect smoothness and no acceleration. It then divided into two, and the second light was a red one. They both returned to hovering back and forth like a puck, but one was hovering in the right field of vision, the other all the way over to the left. They way they were moving reminded me of how a flashlight would look if you shone it on a wall and then swayed it back and forth. It seemed so perfect that it could almost be a projection from the ground level, but the thing is that we could see the 3rd dimension at work as the lights hovered over trees and slightly down the mountainside. It was so bizarre.

After about 20 minutes of this, they sat perfectly still. We don't know what happened next because some low lying clouds moved in, but once the clouds passed they were still hovering perfectly still. Then, to our amazement, they took off vertically so incredibly fast, like shooting-star fast, and went straight up into the sky. Then they blipped out.

We all just looked at each other like... uh... WTF.

Can someone please tell me WTF can do that? I really want to hear a logical explanation because I don't have one at all. We were out in the middle of nowhere. There weren't even plane routes or anything. We didn't even see EMT helicopters the whole time. The sky was clear. You could even see satellites in orbit, but this event was definitely not in orbit.

I want some ideas. Please share!

I'm a physics major, studying to be an astronomer, who spends a lot of time outdoors at dark sky sites, and I mean dark. The last star party I went to was 30 miles from the nearest source of electricity. The people at these events are typically older men who have accumulated continuous years of their lives staring at night skies from the darkest sites in the United States. They have seen the usual, the unusual, and the incomprehensibly rare. Iridium flares, green flashes, zodiacal lights... all events have thus far had a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Now, I've asked these guys about the strangest things they've seen (because I like to gain experience from others as much as I like to gain experience on my own) and not one of these amateur/professional astronomers has ever described an event such as you've described. These are people who have dedicated their lives to the night sky. However, in asking true UFO believers in Sedona, Arizona and Roswell, NM I find people that claim to encounter experiences such as your own with a degree of regularity. Of course, these experiences are never repeated in my presence.

These accounts of UFO activity inevitably include a heavy dose of pop culture cliche (as do accounts of other paranormal or supernatural phenomena such as ghost stories or psychics) and details which are either impossible to explain (i.e., non-falsifiable) or defy our common understanding of natural science. In your account, I find such examples in the strange lady taking you to see her UFOs, dogs/other animals acting strangely as though aware of the distant UFOs, descriptions of perfect circles and instant acceleration and silent movements, etc... Notably absent from all such stories are any details which would provide a more sensible explanation to the described event. For every explanation offered, the witness counters with a particular detail which refutes the entire theory.

In my opinion, the provided cliches serve to establish credence through vague familiarity, since most listeners will agree to have heard of similar phenomena. The reason witnesses include details beyond the jurisdiction of natural science is obvious- they desire an explanation beyond the jurisdiction of natural science.

And so, with all this in mind, I'm going to attempt to help you find an answer. Just remember, if you are truly telling your story with complete accuracy, you have witnessed an event outside the boundaries of our collective human knowledge. Multiple hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid to scientists at SETI and around the world who have dedicated their entire lives actively seeking an experience such as yours. If you really did see an alien spacecraft, I would get back out there and make contact because you would immediately become the single most important being in human history.

First, you must check off the most mundane- bugs. At night, the depth perception of human vision suffers severely. I've walked up to a cluster of gargantuan, 50 ft tall trees silhouetted against the stars, looking for a place to pee, only to discover that it was a group of people my own height. With such puny night vision, it is not uncommon for a person to mistake a nearby bug with bioluminescence for spaceship towering above a mountain in the distance. Is that a possibility?

Next, you said it was clear, but how clear was it? Was there a light fog in the distance, but nothing that obstructed your vision up close? If so, laser lights would be your best bet. To me, this sounds closest to what you described- silence, instant acceleration, etc. If you were looking towards the direction of the setting sun, you would have also seen a disturbingly bright Venus accompanied by both Saturn and a red Mars just after sunset, hovering as you've described early in the evening. Close to the horizon, it is very common for bright nighttime objects to swerve and sway in the atmospheric disturbance which results from ground heat escaping into outer space. Venus is actually the most common natural phenomenon responsible for 911 emergency calls. With all of this in mind, it could have very well been a well conceived prank.

If not, and you truly did see a sizeable craft floating above the mountain, I would check the local news. Despite your distance from civilization, you are never very far from another group of people. A craft as you've described would have been visible farther even than the mountain it hovered above. Witnesses should have seen what you've described for hundreds of miles. In a nation gripped by sensationalized reports of alien abductions and visitations, such a story would have legs. Everyone's dogs would have been going crazy.

 

[Orion]

First of all thanks a lot for your thoughtful reply, I appreciate it!

I'm a physics major, studying to be an astronomer, who spends a lot of time outdoors at dark sky sites, and I mean dark. The last star party I went to was 30 miles from the nearest source of electricity. The people at these events are typically older men who have accumulated continuous years of their lives staring at night skies from the darkest sites in the United States. They have seen the usual, the unusual, and the incomprehensibly rare. Iridium flares, green flashes, zodiacal lights... all events have thus far had a perfectly reasonable explanation.

Now, I've asked these guys about the strangest things they've seen (because I like to gain experience from others as much as I like to gain experience on my own) and not one of these amateur/professional astronomers has ever described an event such as you've described. These are people who have dedicated their lives to the night sky. However, in asking true UFO believers in Sedona, Arizona and Roswell, NM I find people that claim to encounter experiences such as your own with a degree of regularity. Of course, these experiences are never repeated in my presence.

I am not someone who really buys into UFO conspiracy theories or anything like that, and as I've said this is the first time I've ever seen anything like this. Not that that means much... I am generally a city dweller and so I don't get the opportunity to see perfectly clear skies that often. Having said that, I am familiar with the basic celestial objects such as satellites, the auroro borealis, most of the planets (especially the 5 closest), etc.

In your account, I find such examples in the strange lady taking you to see her UFOs, dogs/other animals acting strangely as though aware of the distant UFOs, descriptions of perfect circles and instant acceleration and silent movements, etc... Notably absent from all such stories are any details which would provide a more sensible explanation to the described event. For every explanation offered, the witness counters with a particular detail which refutes the entire theory.

She wasn't a strange lady, but just one of the campground workers. We saw her coming in. Also, it wasn't her suggestion to take us UFO watching. In fact, she was quite scared about it (which admittedly could be a reverse psychology tactic). It was myself and one other who suggested going, just for the fun of it. Also, I've come up with some theories since then... one is the laser phenomenon. But I am still perplexed as to the 3D plane happening where the light was moving down the mountain and inside of the tree line. And yes, the motions were perfect, like the circle and square... they were so perfect that if they are not some kind of well placed projection, then I don't know what they are.

The reason witnesses include details beyond the jurisdiction of natural science is obvious- they desire an explanation beyond the jurisdiction of natural science.

I don't, honest. I'm not saying I don't believe in supernatural things, but I still try to approach things with a logical mind. I have ruled out most of the things I can think of, which is why I brought my story here for an outside opinion.

And so, with all this in mind, I'm going to attempt to help you find an answer. Just remember, if you are truly telling your story with complete accuracy, you have witnessed an event outside the boundaries of our collective human knowledge. Multiple hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid to scientists at SETI and around the world who have dedicated their entire lives actively seeking an experience such as yours. If you really did see an alien spacecraft, I would get back out there and make contact because you would immediately become the single most important being in human history.

Well, I'm not saying it's an alien spacecraft. I place the emphasis on the U in UFO. The object seemed to move with intelligence though, and rather systematically. But again, that doesn't mean an alien. It could be humans in there for all I know. Or maybe it's not a craft at all but something entirely different.

But to play devil's advocate for a moment (and please don't take this as wishful thinking), but maybe SETI is a waste of time. SETI listens for deep space signals. If intelligent life is already here on earth and they don't want us knowing about them, then they'd have no reason to give SETI any indication of their presence, or other humans for that matter. I mean, our own military is able to have bases, do secret engineering projects as well as conduct test flights, and civilians never see those.

Also, why would you say the event is outside of collective human knowledge? There is at least enough anecdotal evidence collected through the masses to indicate that something is going on; and there are enough de-classified military documents to demonstrate that there are definitely UFOs in our skies. Again, not claiming alien origins here, but just saying there are things beyond our understanding.

The part about making contact is funny. If they WERE aliens, I'm not sure I'd want to run through the woods (which is dangerous in of itself at night, what with bears and what not), and after succeeding, position myself under a space craft to maybe be abducted and never heard from again.

First, you must check off the most mundane- bugs. At night, the depth perception of human vision suffers severely. I've walked up to a cluster of gargantuan, 50 ft tall trees silhouetted against the stars, looking for a place to pee, only to discover that it was a group of people my own height. With such puny night vision, it is not uncommon for a person to mistake a nearby bug with bioluminescence for spaceship towering above a mountain in the distance. Is that a possibility?

That one is distinctly impossible, given the distance it was away and the fact that we had all or lights turned off. Unless of course it was one big fire fly.

Next, you said it was clear, but how clear was it?

For the first 15 minutes of the observation, the sky in our frontal field was completely clear, but there were clouds on the periphery. As I said in my story, toward the end there was an obstruction for a few minutes and the lights disappeared. Someone said, "Wow the lights just vanished!" But I spoke up and said that it was just a cloud. (I am telling you this to demonstrate my earnestness in trying to deduce what it could have been, and to avoid hysterics.)

Was there a light fog in the distance, but nothing that obstructed your vision up close?

In the distance, yes, just for the moment the cloud moved in; up close, completely clear.

If so, laser lights would be your best bet. To me, this sounds closest to what you described- silence, instant acceleration, etc.

This is still my running theory, except the 3D plane still has me baffled.

If you were looking towards the direction of the setting sun, you would have also seen a disturbingly bright Venus accompanied by both Saturn and a red Mars just after sunset, hovering as you've described early in the evening.

It was after 10pm, and Venus was behind us. People suggested at first that maybe that was the UFO, but I knew for sure it was a planet. To my knowledge, Saturn and Mars were not out that night, though I usually locate Saturn based on its position relative to the moon, and the moon was not out either.

Close to the horizon, it is very common for bright nighttime objects to swerve and sway in the atmospheric disturbance which results
from ground heat escaping into outer space.

Again, this is a good theory, and I would have gone with it if it weren't for the singular light (in the beginning before it divided) moving straight across the sky to an adjacent mountain, then standing still.

If not, and you truly did see a sizeable craft floating above the mountain, I would check the local news. Despite your distance from civilization, you are never very far from another group of people. A craft as you've described would have been visible farther even than the mountain it hovered above. Witnesses should have seen what you've described for hundreds of miles. In a nation gripped by sensationalized reports of alien abductions and visitations, such a story would have legs. Everyone's dogs would have been going crazy.

I did some checking yesterday evening and there have been almost 10 different reports of the same phenomenon this summer in BC, almost all of them taking place at Cultus Lake or in Chilliwack, both of which are in the interior. But where I was camping was far from either of those places.

 

[rhinefire]

The more we learn of the universe or universes the more outrageous the truth becomes. So who is to say one way or the other? 50 years ago we had an espisode witnessed by many homeowners in my town. I will never know what is was and I'm OK with that. If they are here then fine if not, then fine also. I object to anyone saying you saw nothing because they did in fact see "something". To me it is insane to believe in all of creation it all boils down to this one hideoulsy flawed planet.

 

[Councilman]

Over the years I have interviewed a number of believers who have had close encounters and even more people like Michael Horn who wrote a book about a person I personally believe to be a major HOAXER Billy Meier's, the one armed Swiss man who comes up with fake pictures all the time.

Oh yes that looks real. NOT EVEN CLOSE. This is a typical example and some buy it.

I believe the people like Orion who have a story to tell rather than a book or video to sell.

I have spent hundreds of days and nights in the north west forests all alone over many years including Oregon and the high Sierras and I have never seen anything I could not explain.

But my Father saw something that he could not explain when I was 11 and got me interested in the topic.

There are a couple of things I like to have people keep in mind at all times.

1. UFO does not automatically mean extraterrestrial.

2. "Absence of evidence is not evidence of Absence" when it comes to UFOs.

Most people who have something to sell become overly defensive when asked hard questions and that's a red flag to me.

I believe Orion's story and I have seen unexplained things change people in profound and lasting ways.

I personally have had an OBE in connection with and NDE and it changed me.

Good story and post Orion.