UFO in Portland?

[randy_eh?]

Since I'm visting Portland, Oregon I've been taking in as much as I can in the unexplained category. I ran accross the following link on a UFO sighting:

http://www.hbccufo.org/modules.php?name ... e&sid=2277

The following link is an eye witness account:

http://www.hbccufo.org/modules.php?name ... e&sid=2282

From the photos my initial guess is ball lightning...anyone here think otherwise? Is it worth investigating while I'm here? Of course ball lightning in itself is rare and mysterious, so catching that on film is still an amazing feat by the photographer. Being an investigative reporter, I can possibly get a story out of it, but not sure if it's worth my time.


Thanks,

Randy

[Kolya]

Given everything else going on there, I think you will get a story of some sort.

[randy_eh?]

Given everything else going on there, I think you will get a story of some sort.

I agree...Hopefully I can interview a local UFOlogist whose already done some of the footwork. The ball lightning theory is feasible, but usually ball lightning distinguishes itself within a few seconds to a minute. So, this could be more supernatural in origin.

-Randy

[Xian Zhang]

Randy, [color=red]You need to be ever vigilant![/color] [color=orange]With all that has been going on (with all of the disappearances) you need to be more aggressive with your research and documentation. [/color] [color=darkred] Like it or not there is a war going on and they (the lights) are part of the enemy! Find out what you can and use the information to find their weaknesses and then share that info with EVERYONE![/color]your humble assosiate,
[color=cyan]Xian Zhang[/color]

[Sean O'Neil]

I've seen those a lot of times.

[randy_eh?]

I've seen those a lot of times.

Really? Please tell me more. What do you suppose those lights are? Where have you seen them at? At what time during the day do you see those lights? Is there always two of them? Or is there sometimes just one light or more than two?

Thanks,

Randy

[randy_eh?]

Randy, You need to be ever vigilant! With all that has been going on (with all of the disappearances) you need to be more aggressive with your research and documentation. Like it or not there is a war going on and they (the lights) are part of the enemy! Find out what you can and use the information to find their weaknesses and then share that info with EVERYONE! your humble assosiate,
Xian Zhang

Xian,

You seem quite sure that these lights are part of the enemy. Have you seen anything like this before? Please share your experience.

Thanks,

Randy

[Sean O'Neil]

I've seen those a lot of times.

Really? Please tell me more. What do you suppose those lights are? Where have you seen them at? At what time during the day do you see those lights? Is there always two of them? Or is there sometimes just one light or more than two?

Thanks,

Randy

I saw them mostly at night time and always to the north. Most of the time there would be two but sometimes there were three and four. A few times I saw what looked like a beam of light shoot back and forth between them.

True story.

[randy_eh?]

I saw them mostly at night time and always to the north. Most of the time there would be two but sometimes there were three and four. A few times I saw what looked like a beam of light shoot back and forth between them.

True story.

Cool! How long did these light displays last?

[Sean O'Neil]

An hour or so, but I would get tired of watching them and go to bed.

[randy_eh?]

An hour or so, but I would get tired of watching them and go to bed.

Did you see these lights at any particular time of the year?

[Sean O'Neil]

An hour or so, but I would get tired of watching them and go to bed.

Did you see these lights at any particular time of the year?

It seem like the summer or spring, the nights were always clear.

[alias]

Occurrence
Usually occurs during or right after a thunderstorm. Has been created without any detected electrical storm.
In most surveys about 70% occured right after a lightning strike.
Seasonal variations for the frequency of occurance are the same as for normal lightning, with the majority in the summer.
Other than being associated with normal lightning from a time perspective, ball lightning seems to be totally different than normal lightning.
In some cases, the ball was observed to descend down the path of recent lightning strike and stop near the ground at the bottom. In some cases the ball appeared at the impact point.
No current theories can convincingly explain how a such a ball could be created directly by a lightning bolt.
In a shockingly high percentage of cases the balls actually entered buildings through windows and doors.
Similar balls have been reported as eminating from tornadoes, cyclones, and hurricanes. In these cases high electric fields are present, like in a lightning strike.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Observed Properties
There are many properties of ball lightning which conflict with one another. Several surveys have been carried out in a very scientific and unbiased manner and interviewed at least 3000 eyewitnesses.
Having such a variety of types of ball lightning has made it impossible to theoretically explain them. It is very possible that there are several different phenomenon being incorrectly grouped together.
Usually spherical.
Sometimes oval, cylindrical, flame, pear, ring, or blob shaped.
Cylindrical forms can sometimes be flattened, bent, or twisted into a variety forms.
Sometimes they have halos, sparks, or radial streamers around them. Some appear to be fibrous.
Some are solid in appearance, others are hollow.
Diameter of the balls range from a few centimeters to a few meters, with the average around 20 cm.
Lifetime of up to several minutes is one of ball lightning's most intriguing characteristics.
Average lifetime is about 5 seconds, and even this amount of time destroys many theories.
Often fall at a high speed from the upper atmosphere and stop before hitting the ground, after which they either hover until termination, move randomly or erratically, or most often move horizontally at relatively low velocities.
Many have been reported to bounce when hitting walls or floors.
Also have been seen on many occasions traveling along fences or power lines.
Some appear to roll or spin.
Some vibrate, some hop, some fly in wave-like motions.
Some people believe that ball lightning's movement is guided by electric fields, which would explain its attraction to conductors.
Most seem to be independent of any wind or turbulence, which causes problems for many theories.
Can often pass through narrow cracks or holes without causing any damage. Balls have been observed to compact down in order to fit through cracks or holes, and reform to the original shape after emerging from the other side. Ball lightning has also passed through glass without damaging it at all, somehow reforming on the other side.
Other times, ball lightning has "burned" holes right through glass windows or brick walls up to 40 cm thick. Some holes in walls and other objects caused by ball lighting are perfectly spherical or oval shaped, and are smooth on the sides with no signs of burning or melting. It is unknown as to how ball lightning bores holes, which has been reported numerous times, and this property has never been replicated in a lab.
Ball lightning does not discharge when it touches a conductor, which causes serious problems for any theories involving electric charge. It has been observed to be attracted to conductors, possibly explaining the high frequency of indoor sightings.
The ball usually remains the same size and shape but has been reported to break up into smaller balls. Size and shape fluctuates during normal flight rarely.
Usually totally silent, but sometimes emmits a buzzing, hissing, or crackling sound.
In all cases, the ball either floated out of sight, exploded with a loud gunshot sounding bang, or silently disintegrated.
Sometimes a slight mist or residue is reported by witnesses, and sometimes an odor described as resmbling ozone, sulfur, or nitrogen dioxide.

[Ron Caliburn]

I've had two encounters with ball lightning. One was driving across the praries after a thunderstorm. The other was in my kitchen after the house got hit by lightning. I came within about two feet of being hit by the ball.

[Anthony]

These lights could be literally anything. We could expect them to be explained by mundane methods. They could be ball lightning, a stray weather balloon, or the various other explainations we commonly recieve. I'm always glad to learn when the explaination is true. There are other things that glow as well. It indeed could be a UFO. I have not seen them, so I refuse to say yes or no. however, due to the high Fae activity other things come to mind. Willow of the Wisp is one. Some fae are said to glow with an inner light. Not to mention several entities can glow if they so choose to. More research will have top be put into this. Perhaps Sean can give more insight on where the lights are seen more frequently? Untill hten I will continue to research and learn more about the Fae.

Anthony Sears