Drone and orb over Phoenix, Arizona

Calter

Calter

Senior Member.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1henjcs/shot_down_over_phoenix_thought/


Someone shared this video on reddit a few hours ago, which is from this Tik Tok


Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@courtlesp/video/7448515679294180651?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7448638764593694213


And honestly, I'm kind of stumped on what it could be.

It shows what looks to be a drone (based on the maneuverability) approaching an "orange orb" (could be a sky lantern but it seems too static for me, could also be a bigger drone but orange is an odd color). There's also a plane (two white dots) in the video but it seems completely unrelated.

At some point the drone gets too close to the orb and it begins falling down, with the orange orb being seemingly unfazed. This is pure speculation but: if it was a collision, the orange orb seems to be sturdier. It could also be the drone got too high up and ran out of battery (I don't know if the lights would still be on if that's the case). Could also be that the drone is going down vertically on purpose (either free falling or just moving downwards, perhaps to run away after doing something to the orange orb or maybe to get a cool shot if they were making a video of some sort)

I don't know enough about drone to know if the lights on the drone make sense, it seems to have a solid white/red light as it approaches (with another light that is blinking), then it stays still and it only has the blinking green light, then it moves and it still only has the blinking light, yet the last few seconds once it's falling it again has a solid light on (and it's back to red rather than green). Maybe someone more experienced with drones can weigh in on that.

The video doesn't look like any sort of obvious CGI to me, and the Tik Tok account seems to be a regular person (could always be posting a UFO to cash out on the drone hype, but not someone that's posting 50 UFOs a day hoping one hits).

There might be more information about the sighting in the comments of the TikTok, but I don't have a TikTok account so I can't read them.
 
Interesting one. The green light is a hobbyist drone. The orange light is chinese lantern. There's an ordinary aircraft in the distance. The drone operator seems to have decided to hit the chinese lantern, which drips some flaming fuel, but is not destroyed. I wonder if the the drone operator launched the chinese lantern himself to have some fun target practice, the way kids will throw coke cans in a river to throw rocks at.
 
If it's real footage, and if the downed object is interesting, it will probably be found if any competent group of people look for it.

I have a funny feeling nothing interesting will be found.
 
(Text overlayed on the video is wrong, she says "do you know what shot down that orange orb", but its the other thing that goes down.)

Appears to be multiple aircraft/drones in the video in addition to an orange orb.
At one point it seems like the orange orb moves toward one of these aircraft/drones and grabs it and tosses it to the ground

Z.W. Wolf said:
Interesting one. The green light is a hobbyist drone. The orange light is chinese lantern. There's an ordinary aircraft in the distance. The drone operator seems to have decided to hit the chinese lantern, which drips some flaming fuel, but is not destroyed. I wonder if the the drone operator launched the chinese lantern himself to have some fun target practice, the way kids will throw coke cans in a river to throw rocks at.
Click to expand...

I have sped up the video 4x as well as made Gif that seems to show the orb actually performing a maneuver that seems to intercept the drone, move towards it in both heading and altitude, then reverse heading, then release the drone toward the ground and then maintain a level altitude hovering in spot after the drone is released. I cannot attribute this to a lantern myself, personally.

4x



Gif of the "grab and toss" for lack of better words

drone_drops_from_sky_4x_grabs.gif
 
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Z.W. Wolf said:
Interesting one. The green light is a hobbyist drone. The orange light is chinese lantern. There's an ordinary aircraft in the distance. The drone operator seems to have decided to hit the chinese lantern, which drips some flaming fuel, but is not destroyed. I wonder if the the drone operator launched the chinese lantern himself to have some fun target practice, the way kids will throw coke cans in a river to throw rocks at.
Click to expand...
My thoughts as well. Reminds me of using dry cleaning bags (blue tinted were the best), paper drinking straws, and birthday cake candles to make DIY lanterns as teenagers. We'd let them get out over the vast cornfields near us, then try to shoot them down with BB/pellet guns. They were probably 40-50 yds away when we'd begin shooting.

Usually they'd burn out before we could do enough damage to bring them down, but occasionally you'd get a flamer if the deflating clear plastic bag sagged enough to impinge one of the candle flames. And I have seen burning/glowing drippings from the ignited plastic.
 
substantials said:
View attachment 74726
Click to expand...
This sped up version is neat, but I wonder how much of the orb's movement is just the woman filming while walking to the side to get a better angle.

Z.W. Wolf said:
The drone operator seems to have decided to hit the chinese lantern, which drips some flaming fuel, but is not destroyed. I wonder if the the drone operator launched the chinese lantern himself to have some fun target practice, the way kids will throw coke cans in a river to throw rocks at
Click to expand...

I hadn't considered the thing falling down to be part of the orange object, but I do find it a bit odd that a lantern would survive getting a chunk ripped out by a drone, and that the drone would stay hidden (though maybe it went to the right when the camera was tracking the fall)

The color of the object falling does match the orange orb, but the blinking is a bit strange too
 
Calter said:
I wonder how much of the orb's movement is just the woman filming while walking to the side to get a better angle.
Click to expand...

I did too, but I stabilized it and it clearly shows the orb making a diagonal maneuver to intercept the drone, and then reversing heading after intercepting the drone. (you can see its motion against the backdrop of the clouds)

 
The orange color of the falling "object" is flame. It's flaming fuel. The orange color of the flame is what gives the lantern its orange color.

 
substantials said:
I did too, but I stabilized it and it clearly shows the orb making a diagonal maneuver to intercept the drone, and then reversing heading after intercepting the drone. (you can see its motion against the backdrop of the clouds)

View attachment 74735
Click to expand...
The drone hits the lantern on the far side and nudges it. That's the movement you see.
The "fuel cell" is often a bundle of waxy paper. I think that's what's falling - a bit of flaming paper. While the rest of the paper remains fixed to the lantern.

Or it could be softened wax dripping off the small wax block - which is another common "fuel cell."

That's often the case when we see things "dripping" from an orange orb (chinese lantern). It's small globs of flaming fuel. Like wax dripping off a candle.

The drone remains on the far side, hidden from view for the very few moments we have until the video ends. I'll bet we would see the drone emerge again... if it weren't for this suspiciously abrupt ending.

Another cut-off, suspiciously short video hiding something and creating a false impression,
 
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Z.W. Wolf said:
The orange color of the falling "object" is flame. It's flaming fuel. The orange color of the flame is what gives the lantern its orange color.
Click to expand...

The object falling is the same object that was above it a few seconds before, you can even see it still flashing between red and green as it falls

vlcsnaps.png
 
Z.W. Wolf said:
The orange color of the falling "object" is flame. It's flaming fuel. The orange color of the flame is what gives the lantern its orange color.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it looks entirely like a drone operator was curious about a glowing thing that turns out to be a Chinese lantern, then possibly gets too close. (Could also be the drone itself falling after bumping the lantern and losing a prop; some drones are pretty flimsy.)

I'd be more interested in drone POV footage, though it's probably like
 
substantials said:
I did too, but I stabilized it and it clearly shows the orb making a diagonal maneuver to intercept the drone, and then reversing heading after intercepting the drone. (you can see its motion against the backdrop of the clouds)

View attachment 74735
Click to expand...
I must admit I don't follow. I agree that stabilizing on the clouds would be good (alternately, stabilizing on the orange orb, then looking at what the clouds do), but your clip doesn't look like when Mick does his stabilized clips where the thing he stabilizes on actually stays in place, and the video frame moves around.
 
Mendel said:
I must admit I don't follow. I agree that stabilizing on the clouds would be good (alternately, stabilizing on the orange orb, then looking at what the clouds do), but your clip doesn't look like when Mick does his stabilized clips where the thing he stabilizes on actually stays in place, and the video frame moves around.
Click to expand...

Im sure better work can be done. Id be happy to see it for sure. To me it looks like the orb is doing a maneuver which is so weird I have to admit! I have been fooled before.
 
Mendel said:
illustration for post #9
Click to expand...
Oh ok. So if we ignore the fact that it flashes between red and green, and believe that the drone is now hiding behind the orb, instead of following through with its previous trajectory toward the ground, it could be concluded that its dripping wax?
 
jdog said:
Yeah, it looks entirely like a drone operator was curious about a glowing thing that turns out to be a Chinese lantern, then possibly gets too close. (Could also be the drone itself falling after bumping the lantern and losing a prop; some drones are pretty flimsy.)
Click to expand...

It looks to me like it is the drone that falls.
 
Duke said:
My thoughts as well. Reminds me of using dry cleaning bags (blue tinted were the best), paper drinking straws, and birthday cake candles to make DIY lanterns as teenagers. We'd let them get out over the vast cornfields near us, then try to shoot them down with BB/pellet guns. They were probably 40-50 yds away when we'd begin shooting.

Usually they'd burn out before we could do enough damage to bring them down, but occasionally you'd get a flamer if the deflating clear plastic bag sagged enough to impinge one of the candle flames. And I have seen burning/glowing drippings from the ignited plastic.
Click to expand...
I made a paper one and sent it aloft with a tea light to entertain my kids when they were small. Fortunately the thing caught fire and dropped before it went too far, as the normally placid Saint Bernard next door went crazy when he saw it, jumping and barking.
 
substantials said:
Oh ok. So if we ignore the fact that it flashes between red and green, and believe that the drone is now hiding behind the orb, instead of following through with its previous trajectory toward the ground, it could be concluded that its dripping wax?
Click to expand...
That's not what @Z.W. Wolf is saying.

Often, I'll look for old stuff on Metabunk because there's a new case that reminds me of something. So now, when there's a case involving a Chinese lantern in the future that has light falling from it, I can find this thread and have it both described and illustrated. Providing the picture makes Metabunk better, even if it seems to not be relevant here after all.

If you're feeling offended by it, please don't.
 
flarkey said:
It looks to me like it is the drone that falls.
Click to expand...
It metaphorically drops like a stone, so indeed looks more like densely packed consumer electronics lacking thrust than it does something that's been designed to be so light that even the warming of a pocket of air can keep it aloft and with a geometry that would make it unlikely to fall straight down even if you tried to make it .
 
FatPhil said:
It metaphorically drops like a stone, so indeed looks more like densely packed consumer electronics lacking thrust than it does something that's been designed to be so light that even the warming of a pocket of air can keep it aloft and with a geometry that would make it unlikely to fall straight down even if you tried to make it .
Click to expand...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo's_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment

Brings to mind Galileo, who after disagreeing with Aristotle, showed that objects in free fall accelerate uniformly. So if there were no warming pockets of air to provide certain specific geometries an advantage, everything would fall at the same rate. Which still seems to be a possibility.
 
substantials said:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo's_Leaning_Tower_of_Pisa_experiment

Brings to mind Galileo, who after disagreeing with Aristotle, showed that objects in free fall accelerate uniformly. So if there were no warming pockets of air to provide certain specific geometries an advantage, everything would fall at the same rate. Which still seems to be a possibility.
Click to expand...
you, sir, should drop an apple and a sheet of paper, and verify your statement
(the same rate unconditionally applies in a vacuum, not in atmosphere)
 
Mendel said:
you, sir, should drop an apple and a sheet of paper, and verify your statement
(the same rate unconditionally applies in a vacuum, not in atmosphere)
Click to expand...

I was thinking more a drone with densely packed consumer electronics vs densely packed consumer electronics.

Im unconvinced there would be a noticeable difference in a video.
 
substantials said:
I was thinking more a drone with densely packed consumer electronics vs densely packed consumer electronics.

Im unconvinced there would be a noticeable difference in a video.
Click to expand...
FatPhil is comparing consumer electronics to parts of a Chinese lantern (i.e. paper or similar)
 
Mendel said:
FatPhil is comparing consumer electronics to parts of a Chinese lantern (i.e. paper or similar)
Click to expand...

Yea, maybe hes right too. I am glad to have my opinion challenged, because to me it looks very obviously like the blinking light above the orb is the same blinking light that is falling from it after they both make contact. But if my opinion goes unchallenged, it could be wrong.
 
flarkey said:
It looks to me like it is the drone that falls.
Click to expand...

I got that vibe too. It's hard to tell exactly what we're looking at as the camera moves a lot and the focus constantly changes. I'll note here as the object plummets and the camera manages to focus, it's quite small, just a dot like the light on the water tank or whatever that is:

1734368958664.png
 
One time I saw a paper sky lantern falling from the sky after the heat source had run out of fuel; although it was no longer illuminated, the lantern was visible in the streetlights. It came down slowly, like a deflating balloon. Nothing fell rapidly, not even the lightweight metal framework at the bottom, which retained its shape.
 
Eburacum said:
One time I saw a paper sky lantern falling from the sky after the heat source had run out of fuel; although it was no longer illuminated, the lantern was visible in the streetlights. It came down slowly, like a deflating balloon. Nothing fell rapidly, not even the lightweight metal framework at the bottom, which retained its shape.
Click to expand...
Sure, but if a chunk of the heavier (or I guess "more dense") fuel block fell off, without the envelope of warm-but-cooling air your example had, it would fall fast. And be on fire, making for a falling light.
 
It seems more probable that the falling object is something that is already existing in the scene (the drone),
instead of something that must be imagined or theorized to be existing in the scene.
 
I subscribe to the drone vs lantern explanation. And that it's the drone that drops.

As explained early in the thread, the drone operator got too close to the lantern, caused the drone to drop. The lights on the drone appear to change color from blue/green to red. Some drones when put into an emergency mode (lost comm, lost aerodynamics) will do this. It also seems to tumble as it falls.

When the camera returns to the lantern, the light appears brighter/larger as if the balloon has caught fire as a result of the collision. It also seems to be drifting downward (but difficult to tell from distance and perspective.) If the video had continued, I'm guessing the flames got brighter, then faded as it fell to the ground.

Alas, the video ends too soon for some reason.
 
We hypothesize that the footage shows an encounter between a drone and a Chinese lantern, but we can't really be certain.
We do know that the left object shows a green light when it reverses. If that is a drone, then the videoclip would have to be horizontally flipped?

The camera defocuses from time to time, which enlarges all lights, giving the illusion of blinking.

I know of a case in the UK where a hot air balloon engaged in a race fell very rapidly when a hole at the top of the envelope opened and couldn't be closed. I expect a Chinese lantern could fall rapidly if damaged just right. (As could a drone with a damaged propeller.)

The observers could certainly say more, as the nature of the object(s) remaining aloft would have revealed itself to them after the clip ended. The Tiktok post is designed to be mysterious.

What we can say is that one object in the sky flew dangerously close to another object in the sky, and then something fell. Maybe we're looking at two consumer drones, or a consumer drone and a Chinese lantern.

It's not unexplainable, it's just unexplained because the objects are too far away to be recognizable.
 
enilc said:
I subscribe to the drone vs lantern explanation. And that it's the drone that drops.

As explained early in the thread, the drone operator got too close to the lantern, caused the drone to drop. The lights on the drone appear to change color from blue/green to red. Some drones when put into an emergency mode (lost comm, lost aerodynamics) will do this. It also seems to tumble as it falls.

When the camera returns to the lantern, the light appears brighter/larger as if the balloon has caught fire as a result of the collision. It also seems to be drifting downward (but difficult to tell from distance and perspective.) If the video had continued, I'm guessing the flames got brighter, then faded as it fell to the ground.

Alas, the video ends too soon for some reason.
Click to expand...
Hey I like your post. Its a convincing idea for it being a lantern, the way you explain a reason for the possible descent that can be seen, I am hesitant to call it a descent though.. because maybe its just changing distance from the camera. But yea if it is descending I like what you theorized.

Difficult to conclude that without the video being longer, but such is the case with tiktok.

I still am unsure why anyone would destroy their drone by dive bombing it into a lantern like that. But you never know.

Here is the thing I am still seeing, I see this orb not just simply rise and drift about like a lantern, I am seeing it make deliberate movements, halting, and moving, and stopping, and moving throughout the video. This could still be attributed to wind? Maybe.

(Another thing I've noticed was the speed of the movements right before and after contact with the drone were much faster than any other movements it made in the video)
 
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You know honestly we do only see this thing rise in the video. I dont think there is anything that could be called a descent until after it makes contact with the drone. And it does look different at the very end as you said, either it is falling rapidly too after being damaged, or moving away rapidly. Im more convinced of it being a lantern than I was before, but not wholly, because a plane taking off only rises - yet it is not a lantern.

Then theres the other aircraft in the sky.
 
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