Police called after flaming meteorite spotted over Gloucestershire
UNIDENTIFIED flying objects have been reported over Gloucester, re-igniting fresh theories on alien life.
Several reports have been made to police and astronomy websites flagging up the unusual sightings over Gloucester and Cheltenham on Friday, June 15, at around 11.30pm.
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John Fletcher at the Mount Tuffley Observatory
Carl Sumners, 23, who spent six years in the Royal Navy and had three tours in Afghanistan with the Commando Helicopter Force, told us what he saw over his house in Roman Road, Gloucester.
He feared the turquoise object was a meteorite heading for a populated area, so called the police.
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"It was the size of a wheelbarrow, 2,000ft in the sky and travelling faster than a fighter jet," he said.
"It seemed to be on fire as it had an orange tail behind it. There must be some kind of logical explanation, maybe it was a meteor. It definitely wasn't a Chinese lantern or weather balloon."
Rob Burgess, of Cheltenham, reported a sighting at 11.47pm on the same night. It has been logged on international astrology website, Meteorite News. He saw a bright white object moving from left to right, followed by a trail of light before moving behind a low dark cloud.
Police said they received a report from a resident in Middleton Lawn in Innsworth at the same time.
A police spokesman said: "We had a report of an object falling from the sky that was followed by a bright blue flame, the piece that fell from it was bright yellow in colour."
The sightings follow strange bright lights circling over Podsmead last month.
Experienced astronomer John Fletcher, who star-gazes from his Tuffley observatory, said: "There is a million-to-one chance this was anything other than a man-made object," he said. "It was a UFO, but that doesn't mean it was some kind of alien life-form or meteorite. It is very difficult to get any kind of perspective or idea of distance at night.
"I have seen embers from a fire in the sky at night and they can look absolutely stunning. It is easy to see why people would think it could be something else.
"The only advice I can offer is for someone to look through binoculars or a telescope first be reporting anything."
Comments
by cheltenham20
Wednesday, June 27 2012, 8:52AM
“They walk amoongst us, TIG get a story for heavens sake..”
by Chaos100
Wednesday, June 27 2012, 8:39AM
“Thats right, see an unidentified flying object ..... And call the police. What are they going to do ? Launch their space ship and follow it ? Some people are so daft.”
by interociter
Monday, June 25 2012, 9:40PM
“It was travelling too slowly to be a meteorite or space junk.
Description would fit that of a Chinese lantern if one could have been launched in the high winds of that night. And Dear Echo, no it wa snot wa meteorite!”
by Alfredo_
Monday, June 25 2012, 7:09PM
“Why has it been logged on an astrology site?”
by Barry_Pong
Monday, June 25 2012, 4:10PM
“The size of a wheelbarrow? Come on TiG, you need to be more precise than that. Are we talking a small ornamental wheelbarrow, a large metal one used by gardeners or a plastic one used by children?”
by Kay_Powell
Monday, June 25 2012, 3:22PM
“It could easily have been a bit of space debris burning up on re-entering the Earth's atmosphere: http://tinyurl.com/f7zna
It didn't have to be a meteorite.”
by Matt1006
Monday, June 25 2012, 2:49PM
“The headline says they were meteorites, and more than one person referenced in the articles says the same. So why does the first sentence of the report say they are "UNIDENTIFIED flying objects". The article shoots itself in the foot from the very start.
TiG's non-journalists strike again.”
by TIMONLINE2010
Monday, June 25 2012, 11:42AM
“Why exactly does this re-ignite theories of alien life? Meteorites are just space debris falling to earth so what does this have to do with aliens?!”
by Douglasknows
Monday, June 25 2012, 11:03AM
“Damn those flaming meteorites!”
by raggeh
Monday, June 25 2012, 10:52AM
“Bartonite = Hero.”