Three lights maintaining triangular formation – Wolverhampton, UK – 23 Aug 2026, 22:01 BST

[Bomorse]

Three lights maintaining triangular formation – Wolverhampton, UK – 23 Aug 2026, 22:01 BST

I'm posting this in the hope that somebody can identify these lights from the footage and the time/location information.

Date: 23 August 2026
Time: Approximately 22:01 BST (21:01 UTC)
Location: Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK
Coordinates: 52.595371, -2.197843
Viewing direction: Approximately west
Direction of travel: Right to left when facing west, therefore approximately north to south
Number of witnesses: Two

My mother first noticed three lights while letting the dog outside. She started recording almost immediately after noticing them, so the beginning of the attached video is approximately when the sighting began.

I came outside shortly afterwards and also observed the lights directly with my own eyes.

There appeared to be three separate points of light arranged in a triangular formation. They moved slowly and smoothly across the western sky from right to left (approximately north to south).

What particularly caught our attention was that the three lights appeared to maintain their positions relative to one another as they moved. I couldn't see any visible structure connecting the lights, so I don't know whether this was three separate objects travelling together or simply appeared that way from our viewpoint.

There were no obvious red/green navigation lights or an obvious aircraft-style flashing pattern. We also didn't observe any sudden acceleration or unusual manoeuvres — just relatively slow, steady movement while apparently retaining the triangular arrangement.

The attached footage was recorded by my mother. Unfortunately, the copy transferred to me appears to have been compressed/transcoded by the messaging service, so useful original camera metadata such as GPS and recording timestamp is no longer present. The date, time and location above have therefore been obtained separately from the original recording and where we were standing.

I have not enhanced the attached version for this post. I also have a 4K-upscaled/edit of the footage, but I'm providing the unenhanced transferred copy because I don't want processing to introduce artefacts that could affect identification.

I'm not claiming these were a single triangular object or anything anomalous. I'm primarily interested in determining whether they can be matched to satellites, aircraft, drones, lanterns or another identifiable source given the exact time, coordinates and direction of travel.

Any identification or analysis would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Samuel

 

[flarkey]

They look just like Chinese lanterns, and that can be hard to prove because they don't transmit their location like planes do.

 

[Eburacum]

What particularly caught our attention was that the three lights appeared to maintain their positions relative to one another as they moved.

However, it is easy to demonstrate that these lights do not, in fact, maintain the same formation over time as they pass across the sky. Here are images taken from different times in your clip, and it is easy to see that they do change their position with respect to one another.

These are three separate objects, floating along at what appears to be wind speed, and are almost certainly Chinese lanterns. I've seen this apparent 'formation flying' many times- it is an illusion, and occurs because any three lights in the sky always form a triangle of some kind - even if they fall into a straight line, that is just a very acute-angled triangle, or a triangle seen edge-on.

 

[purpleivan]

Agreed that this looks like 3 Chinese lanterns. Over the course of the video, the lowest of the 3 can be seen to drift from a position slightly ahead of the one above it, to a long way behind it, so it doesn't look like a triangular object, instead, 3 separate ones.

Edit: just beaten to making that point by @Eburacum

 

[Trailspotter]

If these indeed were Chinese lanterns, whoever launched them acted very irresponsibly in the light of ongoing drought in England and Wales

 

[Eburacum]

We have had some rain in the last week or so. But I doubt that was a particular consideration in this case.

 

[jarlrmai]

They should be banned completely alongside helium balloons/releases, it's literally littering and very dangerous when half your countryside is a tinderbox

 

[FatPhil]

Agreed that this looks like 3 Chinese lanterns. Over the course of the video, the lowest of the 3 can be seen to drift from a position slightly ahead of the one above it, to a long way behind it, so it doesn't look like a triangular object, instead, 3 separate ones.

Edit: just beaten to making that point by @Eburacum

My strongest possible, yet still tragically weak, counter-arguments:

A rigid triangular craft can take on any triangular shape, so can't be ruled out, but you then need to include the necessary changes in pitch and roll into the explanation. And "moving with as much planning and motivation as the wind" isn't a strong argument for an intelligently driven craft.
There's no particularly strong case for the launching of lanterns, as Mooncake's next month ("responsible" parents doing practice launches, to check they work, so the kids aren't disappointed?), Divali's even further away. But of course, it could be seen as a fun thing to do after a picnic or at a party, so no festal reason is necessary.

So by far an away the prevailing thought pattern must be: glows like a sky lantern, floats like a sky lantern, absolutely no reason to think it's not a sky lantern ... probably aliensa sky lantern.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

A collection of Sky Lantern videos

This is a good one. Multiple lanterns launched from the neighborhood to the left and below. Bad language because the camera guy is apparently cursing a camera malfunction.



Another good one. Multiple sky lanterns drifting in formation. The best view of a single lantern, which shows exactly what it is, starts around 0:50.

For more than 30 minutes, nearly 20 large orange fireballs, slightly smaller than a hot air baloon could be seen travelling from west to east across Casselberry, FL from 10-10:30pm on January 20, 2016. at a high rate of speed. The objects seemed to be travelling as high as low flying planes at a steady speed on nearly the same path, They would flicker and were obviously on fire.

We launched some Chinese Lanterns in order to film them to show what they look like. Many people mistake them for UFOs, so this is posted as a references to help people determine whether what they have filmed is a Chinese Lantern or something more mysterious. I also do a bit of acting to imitate a typical UFO video. I am not quite sure what kind of accent I had in mind.

Too bad it's out of focus.


Sort of in focus. Not reported as UFO> Just recording their sky lantern launches.




Here's some MUFON members with the sky lanterns they bought at a stand.

They reportedly were later shunned by MUFON.


A single sky lantern that came drifting up out of a valley in Arizona.



This is a helicopter chasing a sky lantern. It's a clip from a TV show. That music at the beginning is familiar but I can't place it. Not Unsolved Mysteries. What show is that?




This YT video was uploaded in June of 2008 because it was similar to the case below. But it is NOT a video from this case. There was no video in this case below.



Edit:I've found a longer version. In this one it's even more clear what it is. It won't embed.

Source: https://youtu.be/nFb63xaedRs








http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7465041.stm

A police helicopter crew has spotted what is described as an unusual aircraft in the Vale of Glamorgan.



The helicopter was above St Athan, which is home to an RAF base and close to Cardiff International Airport.

But three-man crew could not capture any images before the object vanished over the Bristol Channel on 8 June.

South Wales Police said the helicopter did not give chase and described the crew as very experienced. The sighting has been reported for investigation.

The helicopter was hovering in the sky at 0040 BST above the base, waiting to land.


A police spokesperson said: "The crew are very experienced and responded in a professional manner in relation to what they saw.

"In today's skies, there are a wide variety of aircrafts which come in a range of different shapes and sizes and in all probability, this sighting has just confirmed that one of these was in the area at the relevant time," the spokesperson added.

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said it had heard nothing about the incident.

There was no video from this case, but it is interesting because this case was solved.

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

They drift in formation because they get launched at about the same time by wedding guests. They call them "Wish Lanterns."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7471724.stm

Wedding couple sparked UFO alert.

Guests at the wedding made a wish before each glow lantern was lit

Special glow lanterns set off at a wedding could have been mistaken for a UFO by police officers in a helicopter.

The three-man crew spotted an unusual object in the sky above St Athan on 8 June in the Vale of Glamorgan.

It made headlines around the world but it was only when newlyweds Lucy and Lyn Thomas saw reports on honeymoon that they realised what could have happened. The lanterns were lit in Cowbridge and floated off towards St Athan, close to an RAF base and Cardiff airport.

"There's no doubt in my mind it was our lanterns," said Mr Thomas, 30, a salesman from Llantwit Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.

"We went on the internet on our honeymoon in Turkey and saw a report about this UFO. I thought, 'oh no, it was exactly the same time and I remember they were going straight towards St Athan way'."

In 2016 another police helicopter spotted something in the same area of Wales. This case is less clear but I suspect this is a sky lantern with the fire gone out. It's not visible to the eye but there's still enough heat for the infrared camera to see it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...olice-helicopter-creates-twitter-speculation/

An Unidentified Flying Object (UFO) has been spotted over the Bristol Channel sparking online speculation about Little Green Men.

It is unlikely a crew of errant aliens were enjoying a whistle-stop tour of Great Britain but the UFO sighting has left many Twitter users speculating about what it could be.

The National Police Air Service St Athan in South Wales tweeted footage of the UFO explaining it was not spotted by local air traffic control.

@NPAS_StAthan added the object was very hot and moving against the wind, tweeting: "Any suggestion [sic]??

Moving against the wind? That's a tricky call.




Another solved case in Texas in 2013

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/all/uf...ere-just-paper-lanterns-wedding-flna2B9118584

A strange sight in the Texas night sky over the weekend had many people talking about fireballs and alien invasions. But, alas, the real culprit has been identified, a much more Earthly one.

Police in East Liberty County got a 911 emergency call at around 8:30 p.m. on Saturday from a person reporting "red fireballs in the sky." Responding police officers, along with a dozen locals, described seeing four orange lights moving slowly in a line high in the sky. Police scopes revealed that the objects looked like hot air balloons — complete with flames — but were much smaller and did not have the signature gondola at the bottom.

Even more mysteriously, the lights were estimated to only be a few thousand feet off the ground, and yet they moved silently. No known airplane or helicopter technology could fly that low and remain so quiet. Within minutes the UFOs were gone, having disappeared into the night. They didn't fly away but instead simply blinked out of existence; some eyewitnesses thought they had vanished behind a passing cloud and would reappear at any moment, but they never did.

Even so, the sighting wasn't over: A second batch of the strange lights soon appeared, in an identical line and in a more or less identical formation, until they too vanished in the same pattern. Baffled police contacted the National Weather Bureau, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies, though none of them could shed light on the mystery. No unusual aircraft appeared on radar, and though weather balloons had been launched earlier that day, they were not aloft in the area at that time — and in any event did not match the UFOs description. The National UFO Reporting Center was also contacted, though they had no information to offer. [UFOs & Psychic Powers: Top 10 Unexplained Phenomena]

The Unidentified Flying Objects became IFOs when members of a nearby wedding party informed police that the floating, flaming objects were paper lanterns lit just after their ceremony. Such Chinese lanterns are made of lightweight paper and a candle that provides the heat that lifts the lanterns as well as the light that makes them glow. That explains why there was no aircraft engine sound, and the flame like appearance. Each lantern represented a wish made by each of the guests for the new couple. The newlyweds apologized if their wish lanterns scared anyone, and the sheriff took it in stride but noted that the lanterns might pose a fire threat, and asked the public to notify police before lighting such lanterns in the future.

This is not the first time that paper lanterns have sparked UFO reports. In October 2011 over a dozen strange lights were seen in the night skies over northern Utah. The UFOs glowed a strange fiery red as they headed north at an estimated speed of about 70 mph (113 km/h), according to one witness. A nearby Air Force base was asked if they had any experimental aircraft, helicopters or planes in the sky. Officials claimed that they knew nothing of the UFO lights, and that no air-training exercises had been conducted at that time. The mystery was solved when students at a local high school mentioned they had launched 16 lanterns just before the sightings occurred as part of a ceremony.

And another one in Richmond Virginia in 2012



This video was uploaded by the company that sold them the lanterns. ha ha

http://www.wishlantern.com Wish Lantern were recently featured on CBS 6 news in America when the flying sky lanterns or 'wish lanterns' were released at the wedding reception of Elliot Norman and Jessica Winderweedle. Jessica, Norman and their friends and family released about 80 flying wish lanterns into the night sky to celebrate the special day and it appears that as they night sky carried them downwind they were mistaken for UFO's.

Also from Richmond, Virginia, in 2010.





Just a single in Utah. Starts out pretty close to the camera. New Years Eve.




Christmas Eve in Belgium 2103




Utah, July of 2013

My neighbors pointed out this strange orange light in the sky last night around 10:15 PM. They informed me this has been happening every couple days since July 3rd. I was only able to get video of one light, but they say they have seen multiple lights in the past few days. We will be trying to get more video and photo's of the lights tonight.

4th of July, 2105. Not very spectacular. Fire goes out at 3:12



Christmas Eve, 2018, South Carolina. Out of focus the whole time but comes with a good story.


https://www.wbtv.com/2018/12/31/im-...iful-red-sphere-off-sc-coast-says-it-was-ufo/

December 31, 2018 at 2:46 PM EST - Updated December 31 at 2:46 PM

CHARLOTTE, NC (Mark Price/Charlotte Observer) - A South Carolina woman says she filmed a possible UFO off South Carolina's Kiawah Island on Christmas Eve, and other witnesses are stepping forward on social media to report they saw the same "beautiful red sphere."

"I'm not a nut," wrote Debra Thompson in a YouTube post with the video. "...I just wanted to know if anyone has had any experiences in the last few days...It really is quite amazing when you see one that seems to 'splat' out of another dimension and change into a round shape."

Kiawah Island is just off the South Carolina coast, about 25 miles south of Charleston.

Thompson says in the video that she spotted the object about 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve as she stood on the deck of her home. One five-minute video shows "an extraordinarily bright and beautiful" red ball as it bounces, stops, fades and then grows brighter.

"What the hell is that?...It looks like fire in the sky," Thompson says in the video. "That's so weird. It just seems like it's observing....I don't think it's some kid's toy and I know it's not an airplane."

TV station WCBD posted Thompson's video on Dec. 27 and reported four days later that the station had "received several emails from people who believe they may have also seen the mysterious object" in eastern South Carolina.

Even more people posted sightings on Facebook, including some who say they saw it in Ladson, North Myrtle Beach, Summerville and Edisto Beach, where someone told WCBD a room inside their home "lit up brighter than the full moon at about 6 a.m."

Thompson says she has also heard directly from witnesses, including one who "saw something strange in the sky last night while driving on the highway."

Some social media commenters have offered more down-to-earth ideas, guessing it was a drone, a Chinese lantern or a weather balloon.

Thompson has disputed those theories on YouTube and Facebook, saying the object was flying, "not floating."

"It was dead still that night and crystal clear," Thompson wrote Sunday. "There wasn't a sound outside except for some owls. Not even a breeze. This was very high in the sky and it intelligently moved."

The web site UFO-Hunters.com says UFOs have been reported at least twice before off Kiawah Island since 2009, including a 2012 instance in which the object was described as "a very red round light."

 

[Z.W. Wolf]

We identified these as probably coming from a nearby church.

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1ouu9je/red_orbs_in_denver_sky/


More lanterns drifting in formation. But a lateral view rather than an overhead view.



This one is of the more chaotic variety. Two groups of lanterns are moving away from each other. Wind is tricky.