UFO over Puna

[rbakker]

At 9:05pm tonight I saw something orange in the air, heading South along the coast in HPP. I thought it was small, close and on fire but I know how easy it is to be mistaken. Maybe some sort of remembrance balloon?

Strangely it kept rising, heading off towards Hawaiian Beaches. It was flying over the water.

Any ideas?

[pahoated]

I have seen the same before at night and it appears to be a search helicopter far off to the horizon. It appears closer than it is and there is no sound. The orange-yellow light must penetrate night and rain better.

"Mahalo nui Pele, 'ae noho ia moku 'aina" - kakahiaka oli

[rbakker]

There was no sound, that matches. But there was also no rain - it's been very dry in HPP.
It also moved quickly, which could mean it wasn't too far away.
Very bright orange, it looked like it was fire.

I'll bring binoculars tonight!

[2liveque]

Headed to the UFO landing pad at Uncle Roberts.

[ElysianWort]

The military has choppers with noise cancellation technology. Devices that emit sound waves that are mathematically opposite from the sound that the propellers emit, thus rendering the chopper silent. That is kind of old technology too, who know's what else they have now. There's a possible answer to your UFO.

[Punatic007]

Last year a friend and I were enjoying a late dinner on my Lanai in Kalapana when we saw a show in the sky that was unreal. 5 craft lining up and then droppings one after another in delayed synch. They kept it up for a while, we were mesmerized. It was truly a "what the hell" moment.

Turns out the air force was practicing right off our coast with our latest stealth craft on their way to a base in Japan. The type with pilots hooked up to biofeed feedback, it drops so fast that just before they fall unconscious the craft automatically slows down. Wow. We would have sworn we saw UFO's.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I live in HPP with a good view of the landing and takeoff patterns at Hilo Intentional. At night I can see a fair number of planes and helicopters arrive and depart, I would guess I'm about 15 miles away as the bird flies. Occasionally a helicopter will make it's way down the coast, sometimes a group of choppers. When they are near the horizon and turn back towards Hilo, the light(s) will stay stationary for a minute or two. Whether this is because they are hovering, or have turned and are now headed directly toward me (so no left or right movement) I'm not sure, but the light it bright, either yellow or orange depending on how much haze is low in the sky that evening.

[Jay Bondesen]

A friend regularly brings over these flying lanterns. It's a 3 foot diameter paper bag with a 6 inch square of some flammable material suspended below it like a parachute. Anyway, you light it and as the bag fills with hot air it rises and goes where the wind takes it. You can see it from quite a ways away at night. I'm not saying it's the smartest thing to do but I have seen them on TV where in some cultures they send off hundreds at a time.

Jay

[Obie]

Saw a bunch of flying lanterns on New Years.I guess people think they are safe if they send them out over the ocean.

[rbakker]

I think it was a flying lantern. Very reckless thing to do now that it's so dry!