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26th April 2011 – Cockermouth – White Orb Photograph

Birmingham UFO Group Case Report

Author: Dave Hodrien

Originally forwarded by Richard Hall

Release Date: 17/08/2011

Last Updated: 11/11/2024

 

Sighting Details

 

Steve and Ally are the managers of the youth-orientated Evolution Centre on Highfield Road, Cockermouth, Cumbria. The centre includes a gym and various gaming and sporting equipment. On the evening of 26th April 2011 Steve and Ally had a sighting of an unexplained object in the sky.

 

It was between 9.30-10.00 pm and they had just left the centre to put some gear in the car. They were walking across to the car looking up at the sky. It was a still and clear night with the stars visible above them.

 

Aerial map showing the location of the Evolution Centre

In the distance they noticed a moving light in the sky. It was glowing a bright white. The light appeared to be very large in size and at high altitude, perhaps 15000-20000 feet. It was travelling on a straight and level course towards their location. It appeared to be completely silent.

 

Photograph of the Evolution Centre

They watched as the light passed over the centre and headed off in the direction of Lorton Valley. After about a minute of watching it they suddenly thought about trying to get a photograph of it. Ally grabbed their camera out of the car, raised it and took a photograph. A moment later the object flashed brightly then vanished.

 

When she checked the photograph she found that the UFO had been captured on it, but appeared much less bright than it did to their naked eye. Below is the photo, with the orb ringed in red:

 


The witnesses were baffled by what they had seen, and wondered if anyone else in the area had also seen it. They knew it had not been their imagination as they had both clearly seen it.

 

Sighting Analysis

 

Sightings of glowing lights after dark are quite common, and can usually be put down to one of a number of mundane explanations. The object that Steve and Ally saw was unlikely to have been a normal aircraft or helicopter, as no other navigation lights were seen and it was completely silent. It was the wrong colour for a Chinese lantern, as these are usually amber or yellow in colour and tend to flicker. It was moving much too slow to be a meteorite, and is unlikely to have been atmospheric phenomena such as ball lightning as the weather was clear.

 

However I do wonder if the object was a white coloured LED balloon. These are electronically lit inflatables that come in a variety of sizes shapes and colours. Perhaps it was one of these caught in an air current. The witnesses believe the object was at quite high altitude and large in size. However after dark it is hard to judge the distance and therefore size and speed of objects in the sky accurately. Perhaps it was smaller and closer than it appeared to be.

 

As the object did not perform any intelligent manoeuvres the possibility of it being an LED balloon cannot be ruled out. However there is also the possibility that it was something much more unusual, perhaps an advanced craft of some kind. We are unlikely to ever know for certain either way.

 

Copyright Dave Hodrien 2024

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