A series of mysterious lights seen flying over a Shropshire army barracks may be nothing more than a set of Chinese wedding lanterns, a hotel manager has claimed.Three soldiers at Clive Barracks, Tern Hill, near Market Drayton, spotted the 13 lights zig-zagging across the sky above the barracks earlier this month. Corporal Mark Proctor reported the sighting to the Ministry of Defence, which is now investigating.
But staff from the Tern Hill Hall Hotel, which is located a short distance from the barracks, say it is likely the lights the soldiers saw were Chinese wedding lanterns, which had been let off at the hotel by wedding guests the same night.
Hotel manager Stuart Willatt said the lanterns were let off on June 7 at about 11pm, just minutes before the soldiers claimed to have seen the lights.
He said the lanterns are about a metre wide, and are a balloon with a wax wick at the bottom, which burns.
On the night about 40 or 50 were released by guests at the wedding, and he claims some of the must have drifted over towards Newport and over the barracks.
Mr Willatt said: “They get to a certain height and they just burn and disintegrate.
“We’ve used them about five or six times now, but this is the first time anyone has mistaken them for a UFO.
“Normally they drift off towards Market Drayton and Shrewsbury; this is the first time they’ve gone over towards Newport.
“Both the hotel staff and the bridal party are very amused by it now.
“They are becoming more popular because they are cheaper than fireworks and better for the environment. Next time we let them off we will be warning the guardroom.”
At the time, Corporal Proctor recorded the lights he saw on his phone.
The three soldiers said the lights, which were bright red, passed over the barracks at high altitude, but not at a great speed.
They reported the incident to the MoD, which said it was investigating the sighting to ensure there was no threat to the army barracks.
About two hours later, a couple of cabaret singers travelling down the A5 claimed they were followed by a large bright light.
Katy Cunnion and Russell Quinn said they were pursued for about an hour from 1am as they drove along the road.
Several other Shropshire residents have also claimed to have seen unusual lights in the sky recently.
By Abigail Bates
13 Comments
But does that explain the lanterns following a car on the A5 later the same night?
I don’t think that lanterns at weddings have a homing device fitted to follow cars on the A5
What a surprise and I really thought we were on the verge of an alien invasion.
Lets be honest if there is other life out there I would seriously have to question its intelligence if the most interesting place it has to visit was Shropshire.
Enough of the UFO stories - Please!
Scully - I can assure you that if Aliens did visit Shropshire it would not be to visit the charming locals or take in the local historical places of interest.
The only reason aliens from another planet would visit earth would be to plunder our nature resources, water, energy, etc.
Its exactly why we’re so interested in the middle east - not to enhance the quality of life for people in the middle east but to plunder the middle east of it nature resources
I would have thought all of the above would have been obvious
Phil
I dont suppose you have thought that the wind might have been blowing in roughly the same direction that they were travelling?
Like many others I too watch the X files, cloverfield, lost, da vinci code etc. But unlike the conspiracy theorists I know that they are fiction!
The imagination is a wonderful thing!
As somebody much more intelligent than me one said. “If aliens come to earth and see humans walking behind dogs picking up their excrement as we go who do you think they will assume is in charge?”
Phil to quote you
‘The only reason aliens from another planet would visit earth would be to plunder our nature resources, water, energy, etc.’
So why exactly would they come to Shropshire?
Our water comes mostly from Wales and our oil mostly from the middle east..
The wind blowing along the A5 in the same direction they were travelling maybe you never know.
However in “The sun” today 2 ladies from Shropshire have been interviewed and claim they were abducted by aliens while traveling along the A5 in the early 80’s.
I just feel people need to keep a open mind about fines and should’nt try to be so negative towards other people’s experiences.
What i saw were not lanterns they were about half the size of a house and flashing different colours. Others saw them too- where are you Shropshire?
Phil - any race capable of mastering intergalactic travel who have developed way beyond the need for our privative resources. Plus with earths petrol prices at the moment there’s no way they could afford the journey home!
Get back to work Scully
Phil says:
“The only reason aliens from another planet would visit earth would be to plunder our nature resources, water, energy, etc.”
Do you really think that a space ship capable of interstellar, or even intergalactic travel at any reasonable speed is going to be fuelled with *petrol*? Or made from materials our science is currently aware of?
More to the point, do you really believe that there IS such a space ship, anywhere?!
the lanterns are a great way to keep the army on the ball,thanks a lot, we need someone to poke fun at good deal.
Everyone knows spaceships don’t exist…Aliens ride bicycles with whicker baskets on the front!