Andrew,

This is spooky. I observed EXACTLY what you described. Even spookier, I saw
this, not in the vicinity of Birmingham airport, but over Gatwick!

I live in SW Surrey, about 30 miles from Gatwick, and regularly see air
traffic coming in and out of the airport every day. From my location
this traffic is usually not far above the horizon, but enough to see it over
the roof-tops.

I can't remember exactly when I saw the objects, but it was only two or
three weeks ago. It was evening time, not too late, the sun had set by this
time, and the sky was pretty dark. Looking out of my window in the SE
direction I saw what was clearly just another flight leaving Gatwick flying
westward. I watched it for a few seconds and then saw another fairly bright
light moving close-by it, at pretty much the same speed, in pretty much the
same direction like it was also leaving Gatwick. This sometimes happens when
(it seems) a batch of flights take off in close succession. However, this
light was distinctly red/orange, not like the bright white light of the
first
aircraft. The light looked extended too, fuzzy-like. This was odd, so I
watched it a bit longer, and also noticed there were no flashing lights on
it as
you would expect for a normal aircraft.

Then I saw two more identical lights join the first, travelling together
pretty much in the same direction, in tandem formation. This really got my
attention, so I pulled the binoculars out for a closer look. With
magnification (only x10) I could clearly see they were extended, but still
couldn't make out any defined shape. Each light was concentrated at its
centre and surrounded by an extended red/orange evelope. It seemed like they
were swaying somewhat but I can't be sure, it may have just been an effect
of holding the binoculars unsteadily. One idea that occurred to me at the
time was they were hot-air balloons, but I doubt anyone would be flying at
that time of the day and I did not see any flame burning at any time I
watched them. They moved far too quickly for ballons, anyway.

By this time the real aircraft had moved out of sight to the west, but I
could still follow the other objects for a little longer. They did not
follow the aircraft but seemed to turn back on themselves, like they were
moving on a curved path, and soon they were actually moving eastward, still
in tandem.

I can't remember now how I lost sight of them. I may have just lost them
because they disappeared below the roof-tops. In all I observed them for
about 10 minutes and afterwards I was convinced I had seen something very
unusual; you know, shivers-down-the-spine type of thing!

Later I did a quick search on the net for any other reports but didn't find
anything, althought I did not try very hard. So it's great to have heard of
your experience. All I can say is that the pilots and/or the passengers on
that real flight must have seen something very clearly; they looked to be a
lot closer to the action than I was.

John.


"Andrew Woodward" wrote in message
o.uk...
Hi,

Walsall, UK
29-09-11 23:30

I had been observing Jupiter with my son. It was clear, though there must
have been a very thin haze of cloud because the seeing wasn't brilliant.
We
stopped to watch a low-flying plane pass over the house on its way to
Birmingham airport. The plane approached from roughly SW and as it passed
overhead turned to a more easterly track in the direction of the airport.
As
it disappeared over the house I saw three yellow/orange lights out of the
corner of my eye.

The lights were not sharp, they were dim, slightly fuzzy and a thin oval
shape, with the centre brighter than the edges. Each was the same length
(about half the diameter of a full moon). All three followed a parallel
course from south to north. Two were close together, about two moon
diameters apart, and the third further away and slightly behind.

They travelled very fast. From first observing them almost overhead to
them
disappearing (fading out in unison about 20 degrees above the horizon)
took
only 3 to 4 seconds.

I shouted to my son who also saw them. When I asked him to describe what
he
saw, he described the same as I had observed.

My initial impression was that it was some kind of reflection onto a thin
cloud layer, but I can't see how it could be connected to the plane we saw
given the relative directions and the speed difference.

Pretty sure they were not Chinese lanterns, satellites or meteors (all of
which I have observed before)

I would appreciate any thoughts!

--
Andrew Woodward