Unexplained Flashes

[fishertail]

Hi RN3. I know it's been a long time. Been going through a lot of change and family stuff over the last several months. I didn't forget y'all.

That aside, has anyone been seeing flashes in the sky? At about 9:30 PM 2 weeks ago I was out on the porch looking up, the sky was clear as it gets and I see these two subsequent flashes of bluey-white light, pin-point in size but brilliantly bright. One happened almost at the top of the sky, slightly west biased, the second one was a little lower in the sky, also seen in the western half of the sky (but very high up). There were no following flashes or anything else nearby of note.
The curious thing was that these flashes did not fade in or out in any way. It was like a flashlight type flicker. Just On. Off. About a couple milliseconds long each, ~3 seconds apart.
My first thought was tumbling space junk but the flashes seemed too bright and instantaneous to be that, plus it only flashed twice and didn't continue down the horizon like some of the tumbling space junk I've watched go by before. The flashes were extremely bright and very small.



I looked it up and found a discussion on backyard astronomy talking about these sightings all over the world. The link has videos of iridium flare (I've seen that before too and these weren't anything like that at all, that's comparing apples to bacon ha ha), and another video of a cosmic ray which is closer to what I seen but not quite--too brief.
https://www.backyardastronomy.net/2017/0...night-sky/

If you read the comments there are people posting recent ones from this year (in fact, this week!!!) of similar sightings. What did they put up there that's making these? Is this something from a high altitude drone, or a feature of a satellite we don't know about? I don't think light cube has even launched yet so I doubt it's that, plus this article dates back to 2017. One commenter suggested positioning rocket fires, but another quickly pointed out these flashes are way too bright to be positioning rockets, which would hardly be visible if at all.

Who else is seeing these flashes, and what are your theories?

[BIAD]

From the UK, 27th January 2022.

Did you see a mysterious flash in the sky across Milton Keynes last night?

'Residents spotted a flashing light in the sky across Milton Keynes last night, leaving many confused.
Dozens of people have taken to social media to report seeing 'flashes' in the sky across Milton Keynes
yesterday at around 5:30pm. Following the flash, many residents also reported a small powercut.

Ian Burt, from the Fairfields area of Milton Keynes sent us footage that his CCTV camera captured at
around 5:36pm. One resident commented on the mysterious moment saying: "Wondered why it went
totally dark in Kingston Tesco for a brief moment.. was very strange!" 

"I saw 2 massive flashes out walking dog - the whole sky lit up, I did wonder what the heck they were!!"
One responded. Another said: "I thought I saw a flash while I was driving but thought nothing of it.
Then the street lights were flickering."

There is a mystery surrounding the flash of light and power cuts, the Independent today reported that
blasts of flashing radio waves came from a mysterious nearby object in space.
Some residents have reported that a swan flew into the power line...'

MKFM:


April 2019.

Mystery as hundreds witness 'bizarre flash of light' in night sky as TVs flicker

'Hundreds of people across Stoke-on-Trent reportedly witnessed the night sky being flooded
by a mysterious “green-turquoise flash” as their lights and TVs flickered during the strange
phenomenon.

Last night, communities across the city said they had seen the unexplained flash which resembled
sheet lightning and did not have any sound. StokeonTrent Live said it had been inundated with
messages from people in the area who claimed their electrical appliances started switching on
and off during the unexplained glow. Up to 8,000 households were reportedly hit by either a
power outage or flickers. 

Bex Skinner, 33 told the newspaper: "It was very fast, a bluish flash of light filled the sky almost
like sheet lightning without the sound. "It happened at around 9.50pm, it was very bizarre." 
Another Stoke resident described it as “a green-turquoise flash” which lasted for “a split second”
followed by “a brief squeal of an alarm”. 

Twenty miles away in Market Drayton firefighters received reports of a  “blue flash” and “sparks”.
One Twitter user with the handle @NiallConroy wrote: "Did anyone near Stoke just see a massive
blue flash fill up the entire sky?!".

Another calling themselves Honest Stokie said: "What the hell was that massive flash about 10 mins
ago in Stoke?!" The fire service in Marklet Drayton said it responded to reports of an "electrical fire"
at 9.10pm but upon arrival it found nothing. 

It said: "To confirm following last night's incident of reports of the sky lighting up blue, and a large
power outage across the Market Drayton area, we did not encounter any aliens from outer space...'

The Express:

[fishertail]

From the UK, 27th January 2022.

Did you see a mysterious flash in the sky across Milton Keynes last night?

'Residents spotted a flashing light in the sky across Milton Keynes last night, leaving many confused.
Dozens of people have taken to social media to report seeing 'flashes' in the sky across Milton Keynes
yesterday at around 5:30pm. Following the flash, many residents also reported a small powercut.

Ian Burt, from the Fairfields area of Milton Keynes sent us footage that his CCTV camera captured at
around 5:36pm. One resident commented on the mysterious moment saying: "Wondered why it went
totally dark in Kingston Tesco for a brief moment.. was very strange!" 

"I saw 2 massive flashes out walking dog - the whole sky lit up, I did wonder what the heck they were!!"
One responded. Another said: "I thought I saw a flash while I was driving but thought nothing of it.
Then the street lights were flickering."

There is a mystery surrounding the flash of light and power cuts, the Independent today reported that
blasts of flashing radio waves came from a mysterious nearby object in space.
Some residents have reported that a swan flew into the power line...'

MKFM:


April 2019.

Mystery as hundreds witness 'bizarre flash of light' in night sky as TVs flicker

'Hundreds of people across Stoke-on-Trent reportedly witnessed the night sky being flooded
by a mysterious “green-turquoise flash” as their lights and TVs flickered during the strange
phenomenon.

Last night, communities across the city said they had seen the unexplained flash which resembled
sheet lightning and did not have any sound. StokeonTrent Live said it had been inundated with
messages from people in the area who claimed their electrical appliances started switching on
and off during the unexplained glow. Up to 8,000 households were reportedly hit by either a
power outage or flickers. 

Bex Skinner, 33 told the newspaper: "It was very fast, a bluish flash of light filled the sky almost
like sheet lightning without the sound. "It happened at around 9.50pm, it was very bizarre." 
Another Stoke resident described it as “a green-turquoise flash” which lasted for “a split second”
followed by “a brief squeal of an alarm”. 

Twenty miles away in Market Drayton firefighters received reports of a  “blue flash” and “sparks”.
One Twitter user with the handle @NiallConroy wrote: "Did anyone near Stoke just see a massive
blue flash fill up the entire sky?!".

Another calling themselves Honest Stokie said: "What the hell was that massive flash about 10 mins
ago in Stoke?!" The fire service in Marklet Drayton said it responded to reports of an "electrical fire"
at 9.10pm but upon arrival it found nothing. 

It said: "To confirm following last night's incident of reports of the sky lighting up blue, and a large
power outage across the Market Drayton area, we did not encounter any aliens from outer space...'

The Express:

Woaaaaah. That is some eerie stuff, BIAD. Especially with the power outages. My flashes were a lot smaller, like brilliantly bright pinpoints of light, but they were that same blue-ish color. No power failures, but I've had several malfunctions around the house since I seen the two flashes including an electrical outlet failing upstairs as well as the dishwasher acting up. Not sure of any correlation there. My appliances are on the "ripe" side, and the outlet in question was added in as an afterthought by the previous owners, but the timing is funny nonetheless.

[BIAD]

Woaaaaah. That is some eerie stuff, BIAD. Especially with the power outages. My flashes were a lot smaller, like brilliantly bright pinpoints of light, but they were that same blue-ish color. No power failures, but I've had several malfunctions around the house since I seen the two flashes including an electrical outlet failing upstairs as well as the dishwasher acting up. Not sure of any correlation there. My appliances are on the "ripe" side, and the outlet in question was added in as an afterthought by the previous owners, but the timing is funny nonetheless.

And remember, January and April in Britain rarely have the temperatures to entertain high-atmosphere thunderstorms.
It's usually bloody freezing!

[GeauxHomeLittleD]

Haven't seen such myself but the past few months have read about a lot of these occurrences on a few other websites that I visit. Most have been in the south eastern US but have been reported in other areas as well. Also this week I started seeing reports about loud crack/boom sounds coming from the ground again in various parts of the eastern US with no readings or evidence of earthquakes. 

[Brotherman]

The other night i posted in the shout box while at work i saw a very brilliant orange light race across the sky in front of the moon and everything. It was so bright i could still clearly see it while my vantage point was cross ing the face of the moon.

[fishertail]

Haven't seen such myself but the past few months have read about a lot of these occurrences on a few other websites that I visit. Most have been in the south eastern US but have been reported in other areas as well. Also this week I started seeing reports about loud crack/boom sounds coming from the ground again in various parts of the eastern US with no readings or evidence of earthquakes. 

I am in the eastern/southeastern US area too so that is very interesting. Haven't heard the booms yet. I'll be keeping my eyes and ears peeled for any more things of note...

[NightskyeB4Dawn]

Who else is seeing these flashes, and what are your theories?

I have been riding the midnight train the last two nights.

I live in the lightening capital of the world so light flashes are very common around here, with or without the loud booms.

A few months ago we experienced some weird sounds, that can only be described as loud booms. They did not sound like thunder at all. 

They were so loud and unusual, that both my Mother and my neighbor, had to go outside to see what was going on. It was a very clear day. Few clouds and no hint of rain. It sounded like we were in the middle of an air strike.

Could not tell where the noise was coming from, or what was making it. In the country among the woods, trying to locate the direction of sound is not an easy feat, and vision is greatly limited, below the canopy.

We had never heard it before, and so far, we have not heard it again.

Now fast forward to last night. We had a small bit of rain, and the usual fireworks display, but I saw a few strange flashes that were out of sync with the regularly spaced lighting. It ran in a different direction and traveled more of a straight line.

I found it odd at the time, your post made me think of it, and made me wonder if these flashes have anything to do with outside of normal craziness we have had out here the last two nights. The behavior of so many folk, lately, made me also think of the Day, and the Night of the Triffids.

We have plenty blind folk, and plenty leading the blind, at their own benefit.