Man baffled by mystery flying object

Wednesday 12th August 2009, 8:45AM BST.

sd32527991A Shropshire man is appealing for help in identifying a mysterious flying object. Ted Goodman, from Shrewsbury, was staying with relatives near Llangollen over the weekend.

The group say they saw a silent fast moving object in the sky at about 10pm.

Mr Goodman said he was usually sceptical, but on this occasion, he said they had “no real-world explanation to offer” and wondered whether it was a UFO they saw over Llangollen.

He said: “There were four adults in our group and as we happened to look up the valley towards the Horseshoe Pass, our attention as taken by a very bright yellow/orange light travelling from the north over the Horseshoe and down the Eglwyseg valley, almost towards us in a southerly direction.

“Our first thought was that it was an emergency services helicopter but even when nearly overhead, there was no sound whatsoever.

“Nearer to us, as the pictures show, it appeared to be spherical in shape and was “twinkling” which made us then think it might be an asteroid or other cosmic object but its path appeared to be parallel to the ground rather than falling towards it. There was no “tail”.

“As it went down the valley in a southerly direction, it appeared to change to a whitish colour before disappearing suddenly in the sky.

“Initially it appeared to us to be fairly large but of course at night we had no nearby objects for a comparison of its true size.”

He added: “Our relatives are used to seeing hot air balloons. The Llangollen balloon festival is a huge event next month. This was moving far to fast to be a balloon.

“From Shrewsbury ourselves, we see helicopters on a daily basis – this made no sound whatsoever even when near us.”


  1. 1
    j webster

    saw the same object on saturday night at approx 1025pm over shrewsbury , orange glow travelling towards the telford area…. have got a photo, this is the second time i have seen it thought i was going mad after the first time as i had never seen anything like it before, this time it was further away but definately the same thing.
    The first time i can only describe it like a orange glow that when it got nearer to me it was spinning travelling very fast , no sound , no tail like a shooting star or something simular, didnt fade travelling towards the haughmond hill area of town, then just vanished ? that was (20/07/08)

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  2. 2
    bigbeast

    The Berwyns has had previous UFO activity. Have a look at this if Andrew will permit {copy link and paste into address bar}.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northeast/guides/weird/ufos/pages/berwyn.shtml

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  3. 3
    ms

    Paper lantern again?????

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  4. 4
    j webster

    to correct my previous comment i actually saw this object on monday not saturday (10/08/09 – 1025pm over west side of shrewsbury )

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  5. 5
    j webster

    paper lanterns tend to go upwards , this was travelling at high speed horizontally spinnng, the second sighting it again travelled towards telford and then seemed to stay stationary for about 5/6 mins then just vanished

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  6. 6
    MALCOLM BOOTON

    i saw exactly the same object over clee hill
    in the 1980s it was orange circle and never made
    a sound it was not an aircraft,the sighting
    at llangollen is the same object.

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  7. 7
    Edward

    I too favour the Chinese lanterns theory. You can get them in various colours, shapes and sizes, some up to 10 foot tall. Once inflated and set off they make no noise , glow and ‘twinkle’ and can reach a height of at least a mile spinning as the wind takes them, at speed, vertically and sometimes horizontally depending on the course of the wind above. Again, depending on the way you follow them from the ground, they could appear stationary as they float away from you before being caught in a fast moving current of air and disappearing. As much as I would like to believe in solid craft from another world visiting us, only at night it seems,and with more people setting them off at parties and other occasions Chinese lanterns are without doubt the answer to these increased sightings of lights in the sky.

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  8. 8
    ms

    flying saucer then!!

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  9. 9
    Rich Summers

    Almost certainly Sky Candles or paper lanterns.
    I was at the Big Chill festival in the Malvern hills and throughout the evening they were being launched, at one point at around 10.30 there was a mass launching , from the camp site , of hundreds. Spectacular! but not extra-terrstrial.

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  10. 10
    ACJ

    I saw it too on Monday – in Shrewsbury town centre, it was moving in a SW direction. I thought it was a planet to start with but then I realised it was steadily moving.

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  11. 11
    David Jones

    Clearly aliens from another planet. Must be.

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  12. 12
    MALCOLM BOOTON

    WERE CHINESE LATTERNS AROUND IN THE EARLY 1980S
    AND WHAT ABOUT THE SITINGS IN DAYLIGHT HOURS
    OVER THE CHANNEL ISLANDS BY AN AIRLINE PILOT.
    WHO SAW TWO HUGE UFOS THEY CANT BE CHINESE LATTERNS.

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  13. 13
    Edward

    Malcolm, The Chinese invented floating sky lanterns along with fireworks over 2,000 years ago. I stick to my theory that this is what people see at night. Daytime ‘sightings’ are more likely to be secret experimental craft being tested by countries (in this world)whose activities in this field we know nothing about.

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  14. 14
    ms

    UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS, TRICKS OF LIGHT, TIRED EYES, OR PAPER LANTERNS!!!!!

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  15. 15
    marco

    ms: Its not one or the other, it is definitely an UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECT. If we knew what it was it wouldn’t be a UFO!

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  16. 16
    ms

    Paper lantern then?(-:

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  17. 17
    DAZ

    It def was not a paper lantern because paper lanterns move upwards. this thing moved quickly and irractically.
    so this begs the questions…. if it was’nt a lantern and it was’nt an aircraft, what was it?
    again shropshire is playing host to ufo sightings, so clearly something is going on, and clearly the MOD and RAF will not comment. hmmm….

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  18. 18
    the cothercott kid

    looks like the middle bit of a traffic light, either give way or be prepared to go!!

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  19. 19
    SF

    I saw about six of them several months flying over the West Mid Show ground area and again last week. I think it is something to do with RAF Shawbury.

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  20. 20
    Lucy W

    Is alcohol a factor here? I means it 10pm and who ever took the picture can’t hold a camera very still!

    Its paper laterns which are very dangerous and can cause fires in landing in hay or straw, dry heathland.

    They are as anti-social as the Shrewsbury Flowershow fireworks that must be endured by the unfortunate few for the mindless entertainment of some other unfortunte few.

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  21. 21
    danger dave

    look out everyone, lucy w is back with her wild ideas, i wonder if she has actually seen a paper lantern because they dont actually look like that in a picture. and just for reference lucy, it has nothing to do with RAF Shawbury.
    this thing or things are seen in this area quite alot and are currently being investigated by groups not only from the uk but from overseas aswell, one of which is a university in the USA.
    So it aint alcohol and i guess kucy wont be attending the flower show then???

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  22. 22
    spencer

    i took a picture of the moon while camping the other week and it looked just like that..

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  23. 23
    MALCOLM

    WHAT ABOUT THE RENDALSHAM FOREST INCIDENT IN
    THE 80′S BY RAF WOODFORD IN SUFFOLK WHERE US SOLDIERS SAW AN OBJECT WHICH WAS NOT A CHINESE LATERN.

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  24. 24
    Lucy W

    Danger Mouse: There have been various ‘UFO’ pictures published in the Star, and they all have one thing in common – the photographer can’t either focus the camera or hold it still.

    I am very pleased that there is ‘serious’ reseach by the groups you mention. I would love to assist but have much more important things to do like sort my CD collection into alphabetical order.

    By the way, will those American Uni’s give me a degree in UFO-ing if I send them blurred picture and $10?

    I won’t be attending the Flower Show on principle even though I like flowers. Are you expecting any UFOs there?

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  25. 25
    Patrick in Slough

    Malcolm – The Rendlesham Forest ‘object’ was Orford Ness lighthouse !!

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  26. 26
    Junker Barlow

    Sure looks like a blurred circular object to me. Irrefutable evidence of extra terrestrial life forms I’d say. Absolutely categorical. What’s there to argue about?

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