
Ask HN: Have you seen a UFO? - notadoc
Have you ever seen a UFO or something otherwise unidentifiable in the sky?<p>This is intended to be a fun discussion, based on recent news articles and links seen on Hacker News.<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2017&#x2F;12&#x2F;16&#x2F;us&#x2F;politics&#x2F;pentagon-program-ufo-harry-reid.html<p>https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=15990480<p>I&#x27;ll volunteer one of my experiences first:<p>A few years ago I saw what looked like a miniature brightly lit moon moving quickly in the daytime sky. It turned out to be a weather balloon reflecting the sunlight, which confirmed by news channels via National Weather Service after numerous other sightings and reports. So, for about 10 minutes many of us saw an unidentified flying object, and then it was an identified flying object.
======
mattbgates
When my sister and I were younger, before the days of cell phones and cameras,
we saw a UFO hovering over our small town in Linden, New Jersey.

We knew this was a UFO because it made no sound at all, was hovering about 200
feet above the ground, and was not moving fast at all, almost as if it was
drifting, looking and checking things out. It was turquoise in color, diamond
shaped, with a window on top of the diamond-shaped vehicle. This was nothing
that could have been created by a human being, at least not that we knew of...
no sounds coming from it, too small to be a blimp, and moving way too slow to
be a small aircraft.

I really do wish I had a camera, but there are just some things that I have
seen that can only be explained with words. At least I had my sister there and
we now share that memory together.

~~~
brians
That sounds consistent with something much larger and further away than you
thought. Is it possible there was a blimp, further, higher, larger?

~~~
mattbgates
Definitely not. It was right above our 2-story house, maybe 100 feet from the
roof. I could see it clearly but it had made no sound. I was about 12 or 13.

------
sillysaurus3
Actually, yes. My mother and I were driving late one night on a deserted road.
We saw a light in the sky, like a spotlight but very small. I remember how
strange it looked, completely unlike anything in the night sky.

The most remarkable part was next. The Spotlight was hovering in the sky
completely still. Then it started moving to the right. And finally it
accelerated and then went out. We both just looked at each other.

I've thought about it a lot over the years. There is a completely benign,
logical explanation. I just can't quite find it. It definitely didn't look
anything like a meteorite burning up.

------
blackflame7000
I quite often see objects in the sky that are unidentified to me. Whether they
are unidentified to mankind is probably doubtful. I'm still new to
ornithology.

~~~
matt_the_bass
I have nothing constructive to add. But I really loved this comment. Thanks
for making me laugh.

------
mustacheemperor
As a middle school kid, on a boy scout trip I saw a stationary "star"
gradually brighten, before a triangle of light extended beneath it in the
clouds, then faded away the same way it'd appeared, star included. I've always
assumed there was a reasonable explanation, this was near Massachusetts around
2006. I'm hoping somebody here may be able to identify my flying object.

~~~
brians
Sounds like a helicopter with a light pointed downwards.

------
staunch
My guess is that Obama disallowed of any testing of nuclear-powered aircraft
but Trump has since reversed that order. And this is a disinformation campaign
by the US gov to create a cover for new testing programs.

Now, if anyone spots the nuclear drones being tested, they'll assume it's a
UFO.

These people releasing the footage are "useful idiots" that will be
embarrassed at a later date to discredit them.

------
CyberFonic
I used to live in an apartment with good distant views. Soon after moving in
noticed small spots of light seemingly hovering in the sky and then suddenly
moving at an angle and disappearing. At that point in time they were UFOs to
me. Eventually I discovered that the lights were in fact headlights from
distant aircraft coming in to land at an airport about 20 miles away. Due to
the distance and the height of the apartment the lights didn't appear to move
up or down, nor get brighter. Of course, once the planes turned the lights
disappeared. At that distance and with the general light pollution, I couldn't
hear the planes nor see their strobe or nav lights.

------
buffaloo
Once saw a tan colored disk silently fly overhead. Maybe 200’ up, but hard to
tell scale because no frame of reference. Clear day, great view. Flew east to
west observed for the 2 minutes or so it took to get past line of sight with
trees. No lights, markings, sound. Typical flying saucer except tan colored.

------
technion
NASA have a have a page that shows you when the ISS is flying over your house.

And that's the story of how a UFO became a "known flying object" after I spent
an evening researching what I may have seen.

------
eesmith
The neatest UFO I saw turned out to be from a rocket launch a bit after
sunset. We were in Florida near the Cape.

~~~
paulcole
My dad and I were on a sailboat trip about 20 years ago. We anchored in the no
motor zone of the Banana River one night and watched a rocket launch nearby.

About 5 minutes later a helicopter hovered over us and lit us up with a
spotlight before flying away.

I always wondered what they shot off that prompted such interest in a couple
of guys in a catamaran.

~~~
jmts
Perhaps they weren't interested in you at all. Without knowing anything about
the launch - or even whether the helicopter was related - perhaps they were
doing something routine and uninteresting, but you just happened to be around
for it this time.

~~~
paulcole
No I like to think it was top secret alien stuff.

------
ohquu
No.

