Let me begin with an excerpt from the NEWS section of the National UFO Reporting Center website posted by NUFORC Director, Peter Davenport July 4th, 2012:"FIREBALL" SIGHTINGS CONTINUE As is evident from the newly posted reports, the strange "fireball" sightings continue to take place. If you have been witness to a red, orange, or yellow "fireball," or cluster of the same, we would like to invite you to please submit a written report of the incident, using the Online Report Form.Posted by Peter Davenport on Wednesday evening, July 4th, 2012.As expected, Orange Orb/Fireball UFO reports are flooding the reporting sites of NUFORC and MUFON post Independence Day, not to mention numerous articles by media outlets reporting the incidents. Many folks out there enjoying the Fireworks displays witnessed Chinese Lanterns and hastily made UFO reports, adding fuel to the fire in the "Increase of Orange UFO/Fireball UFO sightings" hype that has been building since the growing popularity and availability of Chinese Lanterns began in the last 2 to 3 years. I respect Peter Davenport immensely, and appreciate the tireless work he has performed as the director of NUFORC. I must admit however that I am frustrated by his recent post on the NUFORC site. I feel he is adding to the problem. He has failed to even mention Chinese Lanterns on his site since May, and the excerpt below is what he had to say:"We have addressed this issue almost continuously over the last ten months...and it appears to us to be occurring unabated. Some people have suggested that the objects that are being seen and reported are so-called "Chinese lanterns," but we do not accept that this theory can explain any but a small fraction of the reports we have received" - Peter Davenport May 13th, 2012"I would appear that Peter is brushing off Chinese Lanterns almost entirely. I don't appreciate his wording either, using words such as "suggested" and "so-called". In my opinion this statement sounds a bit arrogant. I was one of those "people who have suggested" that these reports are Chinese Lanterns being misidentified. In fact, I emailed Peter back in July of 2010 and sent him a plethora of information on the Lanterns, including videos and photos. My emails were ignored, and not a mention was made of Chinese Lanterns for months to come on the NUFORC site. Peter Davenport is only adding to the problem, and in my eyes he is losing some credibility. But he is not the only one, many other Ufologists, reporters, and investigators are adding to the problem as well. I want to make it clear that I do respect Peter Davenport and all of his continued hard work. Few display the kind of dedication to Ufology that Peter has, and he provides a great service with NUFORC. I just feel he is way off base here. Chinese Lanterns were everywhere this Independence Day. I even witnessed many in my own neighborhood, and one even floated over my home in the daylight as well. They were a popular addition this year to the 4th of July celebrations of many Americans. Unfortunately, even with the increased popularity of these candle powered fire hazards, most Americans are unaware of their existence and report the Lanterns as UFOs. I can completely understand people misidentifying Chinese Lanterns if they have never seen them before. They are an impressive sight in the night sky. They can be quite bright, move erratically, appear to be in formation, and even vanish in midair when the candles are extinguished. They most often will appear orange in color, but they are available in a myriad of colors. At this point in the hype, the UFO reporting groups should really separate these reports from their primary reporting databases, or at least note them as being probable misidentification of Chinese Lanterns. It is painfully obvious with a majority of these orange orb/fireball reports that anyone with a little knowledge of the Lantern characteristics can beyond a reasonable doubt determine which reports are simply misidentified Chinese Lanterns. I have posted excerpts from two recent reports below:"I would estimate the object was roughly in between 1-2 miles away from me, leaving the surface or from under the surface of the Puget Sound between Three Tree Point and Vashon Island. The object itself was glowing an orange color and slightly pulsating at an irregular rate. It's tought to estimate the size, as most of it appeared to be corona, so it could have been anywhere from 20ft across to 40ft. Its speed was slow and steady, no unusual changes in course or disappearances. We were looking SSW and it was on a trajectory that was leaving away from us at a SSE direction. It continued to climb slow and steady, on an almost arc-like line, but ever so slight, until it slowly faded out against the hazy sky."""Around 10:20 pm we were outside sitting in our pool. We saw first one very bright, unflickering, orange fireball/light. It looked like it might have been a misfired firework, but it continued moving east without losing altitude. Before this object moved out of sight, another bright orange ball appeared. This one was different though- it headed north, the orange light disappeared and it was just a black object. It went over several houses and I swear it landed on someone's roof or yard. Then a few minutes later, a third orange light headed east, then disappeared."If you are familiar with Chinese Lanterns these excerpts are clear descriptions. In the second report it is evident that one of the lanterns lost its flame, and dropped out of the sky. If you perform a search on Google, or check the reporting sites you will find an overabundance of reports just like the reports posted here. The reports from the 4th of July celebrations are still trickling in. I can completely understand that UFO reporting groups do not want to make snap judgements and throw out any reports without "definitive' evidence that the report is a misidentification. However, this is becoming a hindrance for UFO investigators and Ufologists who need to sift through the piles of reports and articles generated from this grand wave of misidentification. It is clouding the waters and making it much more difficult for Ufologists to concentrate on the investigation of worthy UFO reports. I'm not claiming to have all the answers, I just feel that something needs to be done to avoid an overflow of these false reports. Without a doubt, Chinese Lanterns will soon be illegal in the United States as they are in many other areas of the world due to fire hazard, and in time more and more people will be able to identify the Lanterns for what they really are. Until then... you will need a big shovel to sift through the piles of reports the Chinese Lanterns will generate.
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aliens,
ufology,
unidentified flying object
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