October 2009 to April 2012 - Loughborough – Lit Oval UFO & Orb Sightings
- Chairman Dave
- Jun 9
- 6 min read
Birmingham UFO Group Case Report
Author: Dave Hodrien
Release Year: 2014
Last Updated: 09/06/2025
Note: For reasons of anonymity pseudonyms have been used
Lit Orange Oval
Around 8pm on 1st October 2009 Robert was taking the bins out at his ground floor flat on Toothill Road, Loughborough. He reached the wall at the end of the front path. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a light to the North of his location. He put the bin down and looked towards it.
About 100 yards away he saw what appeared to be a glowing orange oval-shaped orb of light moving across the sky. He estimates it was only about 40 feet up and travelling about 10-20 mph. It appeared to be completely silent. It got to above the garden of the house on the opposite side of the road before abruptly coming to a halt. It was now only 50 yards away from him. He believed it to be about the size of a small caravan (approximately 15 feet).
Robert continued to watch the object. He couldn’t take his eyes off it. It sat there motionless. Underneath it appeared to be dripping molten metal. These “drips” seemed to dissipate and fade away about half way to the ground. He felt that the object was aware of his presence and this is why it had stopped moving. Unfortunately he did not have a camera on him at the time so could not photograph or video the object.
After about 10-15 minutes it started slowly moving again and headed off towards the church at the end of Rectory Road. The movement felt very deliberate like it was under intelligent control. There was one other pedestrian walking along Rectory Road but he was looking down and did not appear to notice the object. Robert did not shout out to him to get his attention.
Soon afterwards he reported the sighting to Loughborough UFO Research Society via letter. He also looked online for similar incidents. He apparently found a sighting from Inverness where the witness had also seen an object dropping molten metal-like liquid.
Red Orbs
Ever since the sighting in October 2009 Robert would regularly look at the sky out of the windows of his flat.
In September 2010 he was recovering from Laryngitis. One evening he glanced out of the back window. It was a cold but calm evening. Due to the time of year it was already fully dark. Robert cannot remember whether he could see the stars or not.
In the sky over Toothill Road just behind the flat he saw between 4-6 orbs. They were dancing erratically around one another. They were a “weird red” colour and appeared to be self-luminescent. They seemed to be between 100-120 feet up and each about the size of a car (15 feet) in diameter.
Amazed by what he was looking at, Robert exited his flat and ran out onto the road to stand directly under them. The orbs were not drifting but were moving together in different directions, erratically turning back and forth above him. It looked like they were performing some kind of dance.
Robert watched the orbs for several minutes. He did not own a camera at the time. It was quiet and there were no other pedestrians around. Several vehicles came along the road but none of them stopped. As he was feeling unwell Robert then headed back inside, leaving the orbs still present in the sky. He is unaware of how long they remained at the location for.
White Orbs
Later in the same month while he was still recovering from the illness Robert had another sighting, this time of several white coloured orbs. They were to the East near the end of Toothill Road moving towards Meadow Lane. Like before, he stepped outside onto the road to get a better look at them.
Again the orbs were moving erratically to one another, but appeared smaller in size than the red orbs he had previously seen. Intrigued by the objects Robert wanted to view one of them at closer range. He attempted to will one of them to move towards him. According to him when he did this it actually changed course and did start to come closer!
The orb got about half way along Toothill Road towards him, when he suddenly began to get frightened. At this point it stopped, seemingly aware of his sudden fear.
Like before Robert headed back inside so did not see how the orbs departed the vicinity.
Lit Orange Ovals
Soon after his sightings of the red and white orbs, Robert moved address. Between late 2010 and April 2012 he was on night shift building work at Travelodge Loughborough Central on Bridge Street. He used to ride to and from work on his bike along the edge of the canal.
One evening between 9:30-9:40pm he was on his way to work. It was a dark but clear. While riding along he happened to glance to the South West over to the far side of the canal. At roughly 60-70 feet up above the houses he saw a pair of orange orbs that looked very similar to what he saw back in 2009.
They were initially diagonal to one another, but began circling each other and moving along to the South East at the same speed as him. It felt like they were following him, although he did not try stopping to see if they also stopped.
After a short while he reached the first of two lochs. At this point he left the edge of the canal to travel along a footpath and join Belton Road West Ext to continue his journey to work via his usual route. He then turned right onto Belton Road.
At this point the orbs reappeared in the sky. Once again they seemed to follow him as he rode along Belton Road and crossed over the canal bridge. They had clearly changed course and were now heading South West just as he was.
When he reached the end of the road he had to turn left onto Derby Road. At this point he lost sight of the orbs and does not know where they went.
Analysis of Sightings
Despite the apparently unusual aspects of these sightings, it is likely that the objects which Robert saw in both 2009 and late 2010-April 2012 were sky lanterns. The colour and shape of the objects would fit with this explanation, and the movement patterns observed in these sightings could be the result of the object(s) drifting on air currents.
The “molten metal” he described in the October 2009 sighting could easily be embers falling from the base of the lantern as the wick inside it burned, which would explain why they seemed to vanish before reaching the ground.
Although in recent years lanterns are rarer due to the fire hazard, between 2009 and 2012 they were extremely popular. Even though it cannot be proved that someone in the vicinity had launched lanterns at these time, I feel quite sure that this is what was observed.
The movement patterns of the red orbs seen in September 2010 make it unlikely that these were lanterns, hence why they were not described in the same way. The sighting occurred before drones were commercially available so this cannot be what was observed. The movements mentioned seem too erratic to be distant helicopters or LED balloons caught in a breeze.
However in this incident I feel it is likely that what Robert was looking at was a small flock of birds reflecting street lights from the ground. After dark birds can sometimes reflect light making them appear like dimly lit orbs. The sudden arcing manoeuvres described would perfectly fit this explanation.
The white orbs seen later in the month is probably the most mysterious sighting of all due to the fact that one of them seemed to be able to sense his thoughts. However it is possible that these white orbs were LED balloons drifting in air currents, and it was merely a coincidence that one changed course and started to float closer to his position. Robert did not observe any manoeuvres which would clearly indicate intelligence or advanced flight capabilities.
Even though I feel that Robert’s sightings probably have mundane explanations, more unusual possibilities do still remain, and I am pleased that he has got in touch to get them on record.
Copyright Dave Hodrien 2025
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