A weird night?

by Feòrag

England and Norway: Last night saw two separate aerial phenomena leading to UFO reports. The first was seen over Shropshire at around 9pm:

Two mystery UFOs were seen racing silently across the sky by amazed onlookers in Shropshire. The unusual bright lights were seen at about 9pm last night by people in two areas of the county.

Policeman Richard Emery saw the lights from Bayston Hill at 8.55pm. They appeared to be flying over the A49 in the Dorrington or Leebotwood area.

Security guard Robert Picken saw what he believes were the same lights above a wood just north of Craven Arms at 9pm.

Two hours later, a more dramatic phenomenon was seen over Norway (which is an hour ahead of UK time).

Observations were reported from Finnsnes to Trondheim. The main search and rescue station in northern Norway (Hovedredningssentralen Nord-Norge) reported that calls also came from crews on board ships off the northern coast, according to Dagbladet.

It was colored white, green and gold, and lights seemed to blow off it like it was a sparkler, said one observer, Andre Grønmo. It looked like it was a comet, and it was around four- to five times larger than a plane, and it flew much faster.

Slettli said others described a green, lighted ball with a tail that flew low. He said neither the Defense Department's radar station or its rocket facility at Andøya, nor the tower at Evenes airport, which serves Harstad and Narvik, had picked up the object. Slettli said calls came from people in Narvik, Vesterålen and Lofoten among other places, just before midnight on Monday.

A flurry of reports also came over the Coast Guard radio, and from an SAS flight and a Hurtigruten (Coastal Voyage) passenger ship.

Astronomers believe this sighting to have been of a meteorite, at least two of which have hit Norway recently. Knut Jørge Røed Ødegaard explained:

When they enter the earth's atmosphere and meet the air, they warm up and can light up in a second. This one's contents, the astronomer said, could explain why it seemed to change color as it flew through the night sky, which only recently has started getting dark again after the summer's midnight sun.

'UFO' frenzy over mystery lights—Shropshire Star, 22nd August 2006; UFO lit up northern skies—Aftenposten, 22nd August 2006.