Mystery Object: Oklahoma City Video - 1/25/2025

[anomaly]

Thought I would see what the MetaBunk brain trust can come up with from this video and news report.
I didn't find any previous threads on this one from my cursory searches.

WATCH: Oklahoma City man makes unusual sky sighting, more questions than answers remain
With so many things flying around in the sky, it's hard to tell what you're seeing sometimes as stars, satellites and aircraft take up the night sky
Updated: 10:22 PM CST Feb 14, 2025 / By Jason Burger, Reporter
https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-unusual-sky-sighting-more-questions-than-answers/63800857

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9quJ7n44ok


Possibly Noteworthy:

• Initial part of footage (taken by witness with personal cellphone?) from news report seems to show novel movement / motion of the unknown object (likely a drone)
• Trouble getting his own drone airborne with controller indicating 'unable to take off, electromagnetic interference'
• Fresh battery with alleged 35-minute flight life but controller indicated 'low battery, return to home' after taking 3 photos - but would not take video - and so he was only able to get about 4 minutes of flight time with his drone

Details from the article:

• Witness named Chris Frederick who has been an amateur "drone pilot for about 10 years"
• Video recorded "from his driveway on Jan. 25 off of Northwest 21st Street in Oklahoma City's Gatewood District"
• "...estimated [the ojbect] to have been about 1,500 feet off the ground. His drone was about 400 feet off the ground when he took the pictures."
• "...Mukremin Kilic, a professor at the university's Department of Physics and Astronomy" ... said: "From the Plaza District, it's south of them because we can see the Orion constellation in the background, so we know their point of view."

Not a lot to go on and probably another drone but thought it might interest forum members.

Any ideas?

 

[Mick West]

The still photo reminds me of a kite.

The motion could also be a kite.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

• Trouble getting his own drone airborne with controller indicating 'unable to take off, electromagnetic interference'
• Fresh battery with alleged 35-minute flight life but controller indicated 'low battery, return to home' after taking 3 photos - but would not take video - and so he was only able to get about 4 minutes of flight time with his drone

That tired old trope. My ____________ didn't work. The only possible explanation: Aliens.

Was his dog barking, inexplicably? It's well known that when dogs bark at nothing in particular: Aliens.

 

[Minus0]

Here's the approximate vantage point of the cellphone video pointing SW over the trees.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/swNh32k112YzzKU79

In line with that view is the OKC Fairgrounds. It might be too far away but alternatively there's Hawthorn School halfway which lines up well too.

At the fairgrounds in 2017 a similar video was taken with multiple similar looking objects, related? Using fairgrounds spotlights for illumination? (Some appear to 'turn on')

Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/k4tnS6AW4EE?si=vmIphi4CdnHaBJEE


The fair is bright at night which would illuminate a kite. They also have laser shows which could be related?

Source: https://youtu.be/Z5nCQMrinVc


Oklahoma City has kites that look the same as what we see in the video.

The still photo reminds me of a kite.
View attachment 77382

The red glow on the cloud even matches the colour of the kite tails.

 

[anomaly]

Thanks y'all. Interesting suggestions.

Just for clarity - the video posted about perceived UFOs at the Oklahoma State Fair has this in the video description:

"Well, we've debunked this claim. It's a total hoax. The video is actually from the Utah State Fair.
Those alleged UFOs? They are actually skydivers jumping while holding flares."

Doesn't change the possibility suggested, just noting that said video might actually be from Utah.

Looks like there was a rodeo at the fair that night:

"2025 OKC ProRodeo
Saturday, Jan 25
Join us for a night of wall-to-wall action featuring some of the best cowboys & cowgirls in the country and the toughest world class Rough Stock you'll ever see.
SATURDAY JANUARY 25, 2025
SHOWS STARTS 7:30 PM"

https://okstatefair.com/events/category/series/2025-okc-prorodeo/

 

[Minus0]

Just for clarity - the video posted about perceived UFOs at the Oklahoma State Fair has this in the video description:

"Well, we've debunked this claim. It's a total hoax. The video is actually from the Utah State Fair.
Those alleged UFOs? They are actually skydivers jumping while holding flares."

Doesn't change the possibility suggested, just noting that said video might actually be from Utah.

Nice catch, missed that. However I'm sceptical of their debunk. The behaviour of the white lights doesn't match skydivers with flares I've seen. There are many videos online of nighttime pyro skydivers and they have a significant, long light tail.

Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/2ec2pqebY1A?feature=shared


Source: https://youtu.be/VI-OCHjXgkk?feature=shared


It doesn't appear to match the behaviour of the white objects, especially at the end of that video. Also, I couldn't find anything about nighttime skydiving at the Utah State fair (or any other).

Not much point thinking too much about that though given the poor quality and lack of provenance. I still think a kite seems most plausible for your original video.

If you are committed to investigating this further, I would suggest reaching out to the rodeo that you mentioned. Or you might try contacting the Oklahoma City Fire Department Station 10 to see if they are aware of anything. It would appear they were roughly in the same line of sight closer to the light

 

[jdog]

His drone looks like the DJI Mini 4, about $759, labeled as "advanced" but nothing super-fancy.

Was wondering if winter conditions might have limited the drone. OKC weather was around 37F at ground level that night, might have been colder at altitude, but DJI says the Mini Pro 4 is rated to fly in temps as low as 14F.

At the end of the clip they show some metadata from the pictures, but it's only basic photo information. Doesn't show any drone-related details, like altitude or coordinates, which I thought was also recorded. Anyone know if that's available?

He says he flew his drone up to 400 feet, so that's about the 120-meter altitude limit built into the Mini Pro 4. The 1,500-foot estimated height of the object seems to be a guestimate. The drone's camera can be tilted to +60 degrees, so it could look up at an angle; I wonder if gimbal position is recorded?

The reported witnessing time of 4 hours makes it sound less likely to be a kite, though the reported wind speed of 15mph for the night would support a kite. The time they saw it -- from dinnertime to bedtime -- would also be roughly when outdoor events might be happening, though, again, it was cold (for me it would be, anyway). There was also a home show going on at the fairgrounds; it was the final PRCA rodeo at the fairgrounds, so that might have merited extra attention with a balloon or aerial camera, though probably not of a covered facility. Also the weekend of a lunar festival.

One of those weird behavioral things about the report is that this man and his wife were going out to dinner and stopped to fly the drone because they and the neighbors were looking at something weird in the sky, and then they saw it in the same spot for four hours and never though to get a closer look?

 

[JMartJr]

The still photo reminds me of a kite.
View attachment 77382

There also is a hint of a string/bridal to the lower right, which are pointing in the expected direction, given your next point... However, the comet-like "tail"rising towards the upper left is hard to explain on a kite -- were it a literal kite tail it would be normally expected to trail either horizontally or lower as you move further from the kite.

The motion could also be a kite.

I agree, but that equally would work for a tethered balloon --in either case with wind coming more or less from the right.

The discussion of how it was all "plasma" looking and swirly inside matches what you'd expect from one of the old LED deltas we've seen before:

Source: https://youtu.be/OnDNo1XMWd0?t=10

but the still image does not really match this sort of kite.

On balance, it does not look enough like a kite for me to say I think it is one. Can't say definitely it is not, but I'd bet against...

 

[JMartJr]

Oklahoma City has kites that look the same as what we see in the video.
View attachment 77386
View attachment 77387
View attachment 77388


The red glow on the cloud even matches the colour of the kite tails.

The little white kites with red tails there are sled kite kits for kids' kite making. They'll come with well under 100' of string, as a rule -- you won't see those very high. Example of such a kit -- there are several sources, or an event organizer can make them up themselves with a team of volunteers:

They also tend to be "active" fliers, dancing around more in the wind than what we see in the ground-based video.
.........................
They are called "sled kites," by the way, because they have no cross stick and so flex with the wind much more than other kites -- so are "flexible fliers.

This may be considered a typical example of the sophisticated sense of humor found in the kite community...

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

Just throwing this out. The object seems brightly lit. Could these streaks be something like light pillars? Or maybe just light scattered in a more ordinary way by water droplets/ice crystals. Therefore a large and dish shaped kite.

The light source would have to be directional. The kite is at a slant, because of the wind, so the source shines at a slant. A flood light at the center of the kite? Or more like a powerful LED flashlight, adapted for the job.

There are streaks of red. That would have to be explained. More then one light source? Or is part of the kite red, and this is reflected light. Or light passing through?

 

[Minus0]

There also is a hint of a string/bridal to the lower right, which are pointing in the expected direction, given your next point... However, the comet-like "tail"rising towards the upper left is hard to explain on a kite -- were it a literal kite tail it would be normally expected to trail either horizontally or lower as you move further from the kite.

My hypothesis is that it is a kite lit up with a spotlight/torch of some kind from the ground. In the video clip, we see it go dark temporarily which would suggest perhaps the person with the light lost track temporarily.

What you're saying as the tail I was interpreting as the discolouration of the light shining through the kite cloth and projected onto some light clouds above it.

Thoughts?

In India, it appears to be a common cultural tradition, flying kites at night. They don't appear to have LEDs on them, but instead are lit up by the city lights below. I watched a number of videos and some of them show kite string rolls for their simple kites that are massive. A couple examples of the flying:


Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/MRho56S4dNI?si=wAYvhi1PGuBCYFwC


Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/wtAwQ4NpUeo?si=zU_bd2N6-DbUqFiD

Source: https://youtube.com/shorts/dc14-7IHkdM?si=eUOKV2FyNdyUCI9f


It seems in the above videos making the kite dance is a big part of the show. How much would you expect the flicking about movement if the air was laminar flow at night and it was tied off? I suppose that would depend upon the length of the tails?

 

[jdog]

Some poster is trying to make a meal out of this on /reddit:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1is20ib/oklahoma_coverage_part_2/


There's additional night footage shot from the drone flyer's house looking over the neighbors houses showing a bright spot swooping through the sky while the camera is pointed generally at Rigel. It doesn't particularly resemble the first image; it's just a few bright pixels moving diagonally, occasionally dropping out of focus.

As some observers on /reddit noted, it looks like the additional footage is shot through a window, which raises the possibility that it's a reflection of a light behind the person or some artifact of the bright lights across the street. There's also some extra zoomed-in footage posted on X showing a sort of luminous trail curling erratically right and left above the light spot as it moves back and forth in the image.

 

[JMartJr]

My hypothesis is that it is a kite lit up with a spotlight/torch of some kind from the ground. In the video clip, we see it go dark temporarily which would suggest perhaps the person with the light lost track temporarily.

What you're saying as the tail I was interpreting as the discolouration of the light shining through the kite cloth and projected onto some light clouds above it.

Thoughts?

Possible. IF it is a kite it looks, in the closer stills taken by the drone, like one of the hexagonal kites popular in Latin America or the Caribbean.

...but those need fairly long tails, absent in the video and pics.

A spotlight on a kite would not be surprising, it happens at night flies at events, for the kites that don't have lights. But I'd expect there to be multiple kites and the light switching from one to another. Of course it is possible that somebody had a kite up over a not-kite event, and a spotlight/follow-spot operator had fun pointing on it.

There are streaks of red. That would have to be explained. More then one light source? Or is part of the kite red, and this is reflected light. Or light passing through?

I'd expect to see red on the illuminated face of the kite, though, if that were the case.

 

[Minus0]

There's also some extra zoomed-in footage posted on X showing a sort of luminous trail curling erratically right and left above the light spot as it moves back and forth in the image.

When I watch the video of that, I can't un-see the behaviour of a kite with the tail moving in the expected serpentine manner behind it. There might be some faint LED lights on the tail as well? Perhaps like this

Or it's lit up by the light-source on the main body of the kite. Assuming the kite hypothesis.

...but those need fairly long tails, absent in the video and pics.

I think the tail is visible in the video, just not as brightly illuminated. Perhaps the tail is black with a bit of dark red, so it reflects a little light compared to the white body of a kite.

Upon further thought, I suspect it they tied a light to the line directly rather than a spotlight on the ground. It could also explain why "disappeared" after a few hours, the battery died. Roughly:

After looking through a bunch of pictures, there seems to be almost an infinite number of designs and tails available. A power sled like the following one could be an interesting candidate? In this video the tail is 50 feet long and the sled is 5 feet across. This video gives a few different orientations showing the tail below, to the side, and above the kite, relative to the viewers vantage point.

Incidentally, Oklahoma State University has a program for high altitude kites.

It's incredibly unlikely they would fly it anywhere near the city, though, even during lower altitude tests. I doubt the FAA would approve such activity within an I doubt the FAA would approve such activity within a few miles of an airport. Also their kites don't have tails, they have drogues.

But I'd expect there to be multiple kites and the light switching from one to another. Of course it is possible that somebody had a kite up over a not-kite event, and a spotlight/follow-spot operator had fun pointing on it.

This would be my assumption. A hobbyist kiter playing around with it, perhaps with the explicit intention of creating the buzz that it has.

 

[JMartJr]

When I watch the video of that, I can't un-see the behaviour of a kite with the tail moving in the expected serpentine manner behind it. There might be some faint LED lights on the tail as well? Perhaps like this
View attachment 77509
Or it's lit up by the light-source on the main body of the kite. Assuming the kite hypothesis.

I think the tail is visible in the video, just not as brightly illuminated. Perhaps the tail is black with a bit of dark red, so it reflects a little light compared to the white body of a kite.

Looking at it, I don't see the possible tail you're seeing, sorry. Maybe it's just me, or my computer?

View attachment 77510

Upon further thought, I suspect it they tied a light to the line directly rather than a spotlight on the ground. It could also explain why "disappeared" after a few hours, the battery died. Roughly:

View attachment 77512
After looking through a bunch of pictures, there seems to be almost an infinite number of designs and tails available. A power sled like the following one could be an interesting candidate? In this video the tail is 50 feet long and the sled is 5 feet across. This video gives a few different orientations showing the tail below, to the side, and above the kite, relative to the viewers vantage point.

I've seen that done. I've also seen a light mounted on a mast above the kite, illuminating it from above, but you get sort of a soft glow that way, this looks very bright. You CAN put refelctive tape or the like on the fron surface of the kite to make it brighter when a light hits it...

Amusingly, the tail on the kite in the video you posted (attachment 77514, the long orange one) is a design I did for large inflatable parafoils. It became very popular, and became known as the "California Tail," which irked me slightly as I am not from California! But it's all good...

View attachment 77514
View attachment 77515
It's incredibly unlikely they would fly it anywhere near the city, though, even during lower altitude tests. I doubt the FAA would approve such activity within an I doubt the FAA would approve such activity within a few miles of an airport. Also their kites don't have tails, they have drogues.

Technically, drogues are tails, but I understand what you mean! ^_^

This would be my assumption. A hobbyist kiter playing around with it, perhaps with the explicit intention of creating the buzz that it has.

It would not be the first time!

 

[Minus0]

Looking at it, I don't see the possible tail you're seeing, sorry. Maybe it's just me, or my computer?

It is very faint in the video, tried increasing contrast but it didn't help much

Amusingly, the tail on the kite in the video you posted (attachment 77514, the long orange one) is a design I did for large inflatable parafoils. It became very popular, and became known as the "California Tail," which irked me slightly as I am not from California! But it's all good...

Very cool!

 

[anomaly]

Thanks again to all of you for jumping on this and posting your ideas and research.
I too am leaning towards the probable kite explanation. Which after it was suggested reminded me of this NJ-Drone hunt video I'd seen:

New Jersey mystery drone RECOVERED after crash on beach (FULL Investigation) Ken Heron
[ night-kite "hoax" experiment starts at about the 3:35 minute mark ]

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijQyTKZ61eA&t=212s


Host of the show mentions laws governing flying kites at night ("FAA Part 100 regulations" https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/chapter-I/subchapter-F/part-101 ) including:

• Under 500 feet
• Not within 5 miles of an active airport
• Markers (lights) every 50 feet on the string

 

[anomaly]

Some poster is trying to make a meal out of this on /reddit:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1is20ib/oklahoma_coverage_part_2/

There's additional night footage shot from the drone flyer's house looking over the neighbors houses showing a bright spot swooping through the sky while the camera is pointed generally at Rigel. It doesn't particularly resemble the first image; it's just a few bright pixels moving diagonally, occasionally dropping out of focus.

As some observers on /reddit noted, it looks like the additional footage is shot through a window, which raises the possibility that it's a reflection of a light behind the person or some artifact of the bright lights across the street. There's also some extra zoomed-in footage posted on X showing a sort of luminous trail curling erratically right and left above the light spot as it moves back and forth in the image.

I was just about to note the same poster but a different reddit forum:

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/HighStrangeness/comments/1is2zyf/uap_oklahoma/


With this description that is also posted by him at other websites:

Friday, January 24, 2025

Chris Frederick, whom I am in touch with, an Oklahoma educator and licensed drone pilot, was stepping outside with his wife, Christi, around 8:00 PM when he noticed a strange object hovering in the night sky.

"I happened to look up—and there it was: a UFO," Frederick recounted. "It looked like a jellybean with plasma moving around inside it."

What started as a private sighting quickly turned into a neighborhood event. Within minutes, 15 to 20 people had gathered, taking videos and pictures of the object.

Frederick, an experienced drone operator, attempted to launch one of his drones to get a closer look. However, he encountered an unusual technical failure.

"When I tried to take off, I got a 'Can't take off due to electromagnetic interference' message," he explained. Despite recalibrating the drone three times, he could only get it to fly briefly before a premature battery warning forced him to land.

The object remained visible for nearly four hours before disappearing. It showed no aviation lights or transponder signals, raising concerns about airspace safety, especially given the proximity to Will Rogers World Airport.

Less than 24 hours later, another unexplained event was recorded in Oklahoma City's Plaza District, a popular nightlife and entertainment hub.

At 10:30 PM CST, a drone operating at 1,000 feet altitude captured a peculiar object. The zoomed-in image appears to show what looks like a parachute or balloon-like structure with red smoke trailing beneath it. However, upon closer inspection, there seems to be an unidentified object attached below the parachute.

The person analyzing the image, who was not present at the time, speculated that it could be a flare or a balloon, but questioned the presence of red smoke trails. "What strikes me as very interesting is this was taken at the Plaza District, which is pretty busy during the weekend," the source noted. "There were bars, music events, and lots of people around. I checked all the events on the Plaza District website, and nothing seemed to explain why that would be in the air."

The witness also pointed out that if this were a military or private contractor launch, it would be unusual to conduct such an operation in the middle of a crowded urban area. Another puzzling detail: an eyewitness who saw the object at 10:30 PM went back outside at 1:30 AM, and it was still there.

"I take that with a grain of salt, but if anyone can help me identify it, I'd love more opinions," the witness said, while maintaining that they believe the object likely has a prosaic explanation.

He also posted in this other place on redddit:

Oklahoma Witness to UAP w/ trail

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOB/comments/1is2ysn/oklahoma_witness_to_uap_w_trail/


The poster is "Seph" / "Jehoseph" / "Seph Devine" of Enigma Labs:
https://www.reddit.com/user/Jehoseph/

"Developing the Enigma Labs Collective. An ambassador core team to help push disclosure forward. If you want to get involved or check out what Enigma Labs is doing: Look us up in the app store."


Source: https://x.com/Jehoseph/status/1891588375657971777

"amp.xyz Enigma Labs is pioneering UAP research. Leveraging advanced technology, data analysis, and community-driven insights. See link below."

"Direct video footage of the sighting in Oklahoma courtesy of Chris Frederick."

Source: https://x.com/Jehoseph/status/1891675847473479777


https://www.facebook.com/jehoseph/
lists these websites there: thesolfoundation.org [so he also works for the SOL Foundation?] / Jehoseph.com
and posted about this sighting there as well:

Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/552059654373970/posts/612934101619858

At the bottom of his post he says "He has already submitted a report to Enigma Labs."
So it would appear that Seph works for Enigma Labs and the witness Frederick reported the sighting there.
Suzanne Barral wrote in reply: "Could it be a kite with LED lights? Looks like it seems to be anchored to something and moving with the wind."

https://www.youtube.com/@SephSol [so he also works for the SOL Foundation?]

Another view of Oklahoma UAP seen in January 2025.

Seph Divine

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d9k6hVw718


Is there a way to search for the sighting through the website or iPhone app? It seems like you can only reload the Oklahoma page and hope the footage pops up:
https://enigmalabs.io/explore/united_states/oklahoma

 

[JMartJr]

I agree, but that equally would work for a tethered balloon --in either case with wind coming more or less from the right.

I need to update this, having noticed that in the video the object move somewhat like a kite or tethered balloon in somewhat variable wind, but the wind would be coming from the LEFT. In the best still image, if it is a kite or anything tethered, what seems to be a bridle and the tilt of the object would indicate wind from the RIGHT. If it is a kite, the angle of attack (how it is leaning) looks one way in one pic, and the other way in the other.

It is possible that the wind changed enough to move the kite from one side of a line between the viewer and the flier to another, and it is possible that the drone got off to one side or the other enough to be looking at a different angle relative to the wind (or that one still has been reversed.)

Edit: Substituted a slightly clearer diagram...

 

[Minus0]

I need to update this, having noticed that in the video the object move somewhat like a kite or tethered balloon in somewhat variable wind, but the wind would be coming from the LEFT. In the best still image, if it is a kite or anything tethered, what seems to be a bridle and the tilt of the object would indicate wind from the RIGHT. If it is a kite, the angle of attack (how it is leaning) looks one way in one pic, and the other way in the other.

Yes, this is an important observation and confusing. Since we don't know the location of the drone for the pictures, nor how far he flew it, or if he went around/beneath the object, I was mostly focusing on the behaviour of the object in the video. At least with the video we can see exactly where the known trees are and precisely which direction we are looking (SW).

The wind that night was from the North which means in the video it would be blowing roughly right to left (and away) from the camera.

This is even more confusing because the behaviour of the kite and what I thought to be the tail doesn't match in the video. It does perfectly match for the high res drone picture though.

It is possible that the wind changed enough to move the kite from one side of a line between the viewer and the flier to another, and it is possible that the drone got off to one side or the other enough to be looking at a different angle relative to the wind (or that one still has been reversed.)

View attachment 77550

Edit: Substituted a slightly clearer diagram...

This could be a possible explanation, especially if the drone was close to the kite. But I still can't wrap my head around how it would explain the tail appearing to be on the Windward side in the video. Granted it doesn't look like a tail in the still shots (but that could just be due to a long exposure)

It's annoying the metadata from the drone pics didn't include the date and time. The night before the wind was blowing from the south and would line up more with the video.

Also btw, what do you use for making those diagrams?

 

[jdog]

Could the drone from the second night really have been flying at 1,000 feet?

This report is very vague -- was it looking up, down, or level, and why wouldn't the operator have gotten a closer look? (Also, the first event was on a Saturday night, so this would have been Sunday night.)

The ongoing Lunar New Year celebrations in the city that week, starting on Jan. 25th, also open the possibility of some sort of, dare I say it, Chinese lantern, though they are illegal in Oklahoma.

Less than 24 hours later, another unexplained event was recorded in Oklahoma City's Plaza District, a popular nightlife and entertainment hub.

At 10:30 PM CST, a drone operating at 1,000 feet altitude captured a peculiar object. The zoomed-in image appears to show what looks like a parachute or balloon-like structure with red smoke trailing beneath it. However, upon closer inspection, there seems to be an unidentified object attached below the parachute.

The person analyzing the image, who was not present at the time, speculated that it could be a flare or a balloon, but questioned the presence of red smoke trails. "What strikes me as very interesting is this was taken at the Plaza District, which is pretty busy during the weekend," the source noted. "There were bars, music events, and lots of people around. I checked all the events on the Plaza District website, and nothing seemed to explain why that would be in the air."

 

[Minus0]

Could the drone from the second night really have been flying at 1,000 feet?

This report is very vague -- was it looking up, down, or level, and why wouldn't the operator have gotten a closer look? (Also, the first event was on a Saturday night, so this would have been Sunday night.)

That does seem rather high. I wonder if any of those images were separately posted online. Was that second drone able to get any video footage i wonder?

The ongoing Lunar New Year celebrations in the city that week, starting on Jan. 25th, also open the possibility of some sort of, dare I say it, Chinese lantern, though they are illegal in Oklahoma.

That's a nice idea. Or even a tethered Chinese kite. Chinatown is less than 1 km north and slightly east of the Plaza district. The wind direction at 10 PM on Sunday night was blowing south and slightly west.

Given the proximity and wind direction it's plausible a high flying kite from Chinatown, perhaps even one that has a flare on it creating the smoky signature would be visible from the Plaza district.

The north end of this yellow line is a very large parking lot behind a Chinese restaurant. The other end is the Plaza district.

Edit: perhaps a tethered Chinese lantern. It could produce a light smoke trail.

 

[JMartJr]

But I still can't wrap my head around how it would explain the tail appearing to be on the Windward side in the video. Granted it doesn't look like a tail in the still shots (but that could just be due to a long exposure)

I suppose that, if the kite (if it is a kite, I'm unconvinced) darted suddenly off to one side, the tail streaming behind might for an instant APPEAR to be upwind. But that illusion would not last. Since I'm still not seeing what you are seeing as a tail, I can't be more helpful! ^_^

 

[JMartJr]

Just had an "AHA!" moment, I think I see how it can be a kite, the stuff that appears to be above the kite may in fact be tails, and how the movement is not up and down as much as lateral, with the lateral movement causing the kite to fly lower to on side rather than up and down while straight downwind -- in other words, the movement is not the kite going up and down in variable wind as much as it is going side to side due to instability if the kite.

Here is a fast-and-dirty video illustrating, with notes below (apologies for jittery camera work during the "kite moving laterally" bit):

SO...

If it is a kite, as I am now inclined to believe, the tail is long, possibly several strands of tail material, and is badly blurred in the video and the stills. We see it as the "smokey" blur that appears to be above the kite because we are below looking up at a tail that is streaming towards us. The kite is an active flier, dipping to the side (I now note that I have it dipping to the wrong side, compared to the "UFO" video, but since I've dismantled my model I'm going to let it stand) and note that as it moves to one side, what with the string staying the same length it moves lower along an arc.

Note also this model is not to any likely scale, so the arc the kite moves in will not be the same as the one in the video. Note also that if there is a decent breeze, the tail will be closer to horizontal than the one in my model, which is sagging due to gravity. The observer on the ground and the drone would both see the tail streaming "up" from the kite as long as they were lower than the kite and behind it. If the drone got higher than the kite, it would need to get in front of it to make the tail seem to stream upwards across the frame of the image -- this may be the case in the drone's still image featured in post #2 above, where we see what may be hints of the three sticks forming the frame of a hexagonal kite, which would be on the back of the kite.