Blinking/sparkling lights?

[Maury Markowitz]

Periodically there are videos posted on Reddit and YT that show something very similar, a set of blinking lights spread across the sky. They do not have a timing, they are not aircraft or similar lights, these are brief flashing lights almost like the ones you see at the end of some fireworks after the main color is done and there's little bits of magnesium. They come up maybe once a month, and all look VERY similar.

I suppose this could be a camera issue, but I'm not sure, so I'm asking.

Here is an example of one recent post.


Source: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/afHtQ0L8LCc

 

[sigmops]

There was a thread from about a year ago posted here about a compilation video with similar sparkling lights. In the thread others pointed out that sightings and videos need to be treated on a case-by-case basis for proper investigation. I totally agree with that stance.

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/gr...hat-do-you-think-these-are.13763/#post-327619

However it does seem to be a class of sighting to me. I have also seen such videos posted here and there and made a comment in that thread with 3 such examples.

Possible explanations in that thread were LED balloons and military aircraft. In the video you just posted, I do see the various lights flashing repeatedly in their respective locations that might suggest a squadron of aircraft with uncommonly seen strobe lights. But I don't really know.

Just wanted to chime in and say I've also seen such videos posted and have been curious

 

[JMartJr]

They sure look like drones at first glance, but a fast and dirty search for news of a drone show in that area on that date didn't turn one up.
On second glance I'm not so sure...

they are not aircraft or similar lights,

How was this established?

these are brief flashing lights almost like the ones you see at the end of some fireworks after the main color is done and there's little bits of magnesium.

Sort of, but they show a lot of double-flashing that fireworks glitter-effect would not normally show. And see below.

They do not have a timing...

I disagree -- they do not have a COMMON timing, they are not synchronized to each other, but to the extent that I can keep track of individual lights while the camera moves about, at least some of them have a consistent flash timing. For example, the brighter one to the upper left seems to be a one-second single flash, others flash about every half-second (what I was taught to call a "quick-flash" light when attached to a buoy or channel marker while boating at night) and seem to be consistent double flashers.

A thought occurs -- might the brighter one-second-flasher up there be an aircraft, and some or all of the glittery quick-flashers be some sort of chaff or flare being dropped? Williamsburg is near a lot of military bases? Might the bright single flash be a helicopter or similar, practicing working with a drone "swarm?"

https://www.hrmffa.org/images/HRMFFA-facilities-2022.jpg, red "X" added where Williamsburg is.

 

[Calter]

Periodically there are videos posted on Reddit and YT that show something very similar, a set of blinking lights spread across the sky. They do not have a timing, they are not aircraft or similar lights, these are brief flashing lights almost like the ones you see at the end of some fireworks after the main color is done and there's little bits of magnesium. They come up maybe once a month, and all look VERY similar.

I suppose this could be a camera issue, but I'm not sure, so I'm asking.

Here is an example of one recent post.

They are certainly the most trippy, because it's hard to keep track of where each blinking light is (so how much are they actually moving), and spotting differences in frequencies can also get confusing. As with all sightings, they should be treated one at a time.

I've seen a few of these that turned out to be several planes flying together (either trains of C17s or other military cargo planes, or even just a bunch of small planes that all took off at the same time)

Can you share the reddit post or information about the sighting rather than just a video?

https://www.metabunk.org/threads/blinking-sparkling-lights.14523/

This just links back to this thread

 

[sigmops]

This just links back to this thread

Thanks for the heads up. I fixed the link

 

[Maury Markowitz]

the brighter one to the upper left seems to be a one-second single flash

Looking again, it is a double flash, one bright one dim. All of the bright ones seem to show this at one point or another.

How was this established?

I meant "typical aircraft lights" like the navs. I suppose it could be white beacons, but this is very non-typical in any event.

 

[JMartJr]

Looking again, it is a double flash, one bright one dim.

I see what you are seeing, but not consistently but when that second brighter flash is visible it would convert that into a half-second single flash, rather than the flash-flash (pause) flash-flash (pause) that at least some of the others seem to exhibit. I'm frankly unsure if I'm even seeing the same light, or another further away but somewhat along the same line -- the camera moving all over the place is really brutal. Sadly, I don't have the ability to try and stabilize it... anyone with software and skills wanna take a bash at it?

Check me here. if you would -- are you also seeing individual lights with a fixed interval of flashing, though not synched to each other, within the limits of keeping track of the lights as the camera moves?


PS -- for comparison, here is a good video of the glitter effect in a firework...


Source: https://youtu.be/epzyLNuBuF0

 

[Kyle Ferriter]

Periodically there are videos posted on Reddit and YT that show something very similar, a set of blinking lights spread across the sky. They do not have a timing, they are not aircraft or similar lights, these are brief flashing lights almost like the ones you see at the end of some fireworks after the main color is done and there's little bits of magnesium. They come up maybe once a month, and all look VERY similar.

I suppose this could be a camera issue, but I'm not sure, so I'm asking.

Here is an example of one recent post.

Reddit comment link:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/aliens/comments/1o2k5ki/comment/niorrw6/

I disagree -- they do not have a COMMON timing, they are not synchronized to each other, but to the extent that I can keep track of individual lights while the camera moves about, at least some of them have a consistent flash timing.

Each light source appears to be blinking on a consistent pattern. A set of different aircraft which have differing strobe timings for their wing lights would be my top guess, unless that could be ruled out somehow. For example a few small, slow-moving GA aircraft. The video is short but even in this you can use the tree as a reference point and see the ones down there are moving relative to the tree, not stationary (assuming the person filming isn't walking around).

In some areas there is a very high density of GA aircraft either from private individuals, or associated with flight schools. The person who posted this video says Virginia last winter (anything more specific?), but just for example, in the Los Angeles/Riverside/Huntington Beach area there is often simultaneously dozens of small (and relatively slow) GA aircraft flying around in back and forth or loop patterns, doing short hops between airports, etc. The screenshot below is last Friday afternoon and is filtered to GA aircraft <=10k ft.

 

[Maury Markowitz]

A set of different aircraft which have differing strobe timings for their wing lights would be my top guess

very high density of GA

This is not that simple. For one, the patterns are not simple flashes, in this particular video you can see a bright-dim-bright pattern which is much more in keeping with a rotating light than a strobe. It could be white rotating beacons, but in my all too many decades I've not seen this. Moreover, we should see at least the navs at this range, and GA aircraft would normally have their landing lights on under 10k. Neither is visible here.

 

[jarlrmai]

If it helps I am fairly sure it was from filmed here

37.240307789455876, -76.76496258934387

I found other videos from the Reddit account linked in the YT channel

Annoyingly there is not streetview and a lack of good images from google but some other data from the Reddit history seems to correlate.

 

[Calter]

I just saw an example of one of these "blinking lights" sightings, and I felt like sharing it for posterity.

This was taken just south of Phoenix at around 18:15 on the 6th of November, 2025.

In this instance, the sighting was caused by a LOT of small planes.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2025-11-07-01:15&lat=33.160&lon=-111.578&zoom=10.6

Sidenote: If anyone knows why there were so many small planes, I'm curious to know.

 

[jarlrmai]

Most often it's group training like pilots getting their night certifications

 

[jarlrmai]

I just saw an example of one of these "blinking lights" sightings, and I felt like sharing it for posterity.

This was taken just south of Phoenix at around 18:15 on the 6th of November, 2025. View attachment 85646
View attachment 85644

In this instance, the sighting was caused by a LOT of small planes.

View attachment 85643

View attachment 85645

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?replay=2025-11-07-01:15&lat=33.160&lon=-111.578&zoom=10.6

Sidenote: If anyone knows why there were so many small planes, I'm curious to know.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/s/aeRNodl3jS

 

[FatPhil]

https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/s/aeRNodl3jS

What a refreshing reddit thread. A well-posed query (plenty of deets, not jumping to any conclusions, mentioning the mundane as a possibility right from the outset), swift and precise response, and appreciation from the OP. So - which one of you guys is R2Robot?

 

[Calter]

https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/s/aeRNodl3jS

I replied in their original post, but I'm guessing my reply didn't go through since it had been deleted by then (I'm not sure how notifications work on deleted posts)

 

[Mick West]

What a refreshing reddit thread. A well-posed query (plenty of deets, not jumping to any conclusions, mentioning the mundane as a possibility right from the outset), swift and precise response, and appreciation from the OP. So - which one of you guys is R2Robot

I suspect that would be @R2robot