Strange orange orb more likely to be Chinese lantern than a fireball
Wednesday September 21 2011
A STRANGE orange orb travelling at speed across the night sky over Wicklow may have been nothing more than a Chinese lantern whipped along by the breeze.
Ceaneacht O Hoctun was out in the garden at his mother's house in Crinnion Park last Tuesday, September 13, when he spotted something very strange in the sky, shortly after 9 p.m.
At first glance, it looked like an aeroplane on fire but when he looked again, he could see a glowing circular object moving at huge speed across the sky, coming from the direction of the Wicklow Mountains and heading out to sea.
Despite the speed, Ceaneacht had time to run inside, grab his camera and capture a few snaps of the strange object before it disappeared after a minute or two.
Having previously seen a meteor with its tell-tale tail, Ceaneacht was curious to discover what the object was, however, David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland, believes it was more than likely just a Chinese lantern.
' When it lasts a couple of minutes and it's orange, it sounds to me like it was a Chinese lantern. Caught by the wind they can travel at massive speed,' said Mr. Moore. ' If it was visible for one or two seconds, chances are it was a fireball, a rock burning up as it entered the atmosphere. Those zip across the sky and can travel from Galway to Dublin in a couple of seconds. When someone says minutes, you start to think Chinese lantern,' said Mr. Moore, who added that the lack of national reports indicated a local incident - again pointing the finger towards a lantern rather than a meteor.
