Clovis Thanksgiving UFO sighting Update. Possible identification of object.

Two months ago I had posted how my sister and I had seen an orange, glowing light in Clovis at our family's Thanksgiving dinner. At the time I had no explanation for the object. But I think I solved the mystery. And unfortunately it doesn't have anything to do with little green men or secret government projects.

I was watching an episode of UFO Hunters on the History Channel. One of the sightings they were investigating was being debunked by the local authorities as nothing more than a Chinese Paper Lantern. The team team then launched a lattern for the witness to compare (the witness said what they saw was different). But what interested me is that the flight pattern of the lattern was almost exactly what I saw on Thanksgiving.

Basically what the lantern is, is a translucent paper bag (think minature hot air balloon) with a candle suspended inside. The candle heats the air up, ala a hot air balloon) and causes it to rise. Since the material is translucent, the light from the candle can be seen from the inside giving the object it's glow.

Below are two videos I found on YouTube of paper lanterns. You can see their construction before they are launched and as they fly, their flight charastics. Which is exactly the same thing I saw.






Even though I said before the object couldn't have been a balloon, I'm recanting my statement. I had no knowledge of a Chinese Paper Lantern. I though the only way it could have been a balloon was if someone had filled up a helieum balloon and hung a light from below. Given the fact that the night was Thanksgiving, and the lanterns are typically flown on holidays, most likely this was nothing more than someone launching a Chinese Paper Lantern. I'm not upset by this, as I am glad that I know what it was exactly and can now focus on other mysteries in the area.

Large black triangular shaped craft spotted in Fresno.

One of my favorite sites for getting UFO information is the National UFO Reporting Center. It's an on-line database of UFO sightings that people can contact and fill out a report. One of the great things about it is that the sightings are listed by locations, including states. Going through California the other day I came across a sighting that happened in Fresno on December 17, 2008. Here's what it said:

I saw a black triangle shaped object about 300 ft in length with a dim red light at each point traveling slowly past over me.

I saw a black triangle shaped object with 1 dim red flashing light at each point of the triangle. the size was 100 yards to 150 yards in length hovering above me about 250-350 yards above me.the object was completely silent and was traveling south very slowly when it passed over me it turned slightly to travel southeast and continued on that path until it was no longer in my sight. I got a very good look of what the object look like from under it it was all solid black with uneven surface almost half dome shaped around were the lights were.

Unfortunately no pictures or video were taken, but given the information I was able to create what I believe is an accurate reenactment of what happened. Note I don't know the location of the sighting, I was out in Fresno the other night with my camera and took these two shots. For the craft I modeled it based upon the description in a program called SketchUP.

My theory on the black triangles, is that it is some sort of military project, akin to to the stealth fighter and bomber projects from the 1980's. Some have speculated that given the large size of the craft and the slow speed they move, that they are some sort of blimp or airship that the military is creating. Conspiracy theorist on the other hand believe this is some sort of craft that the US government is using to spy on it's own citizens. And of course there is the extra terrestrial theory, that this was some sort of mother ship.

Here's the link to the National UFO Reporting Center, if anyone is interested. And here's the link to the actual report.

California's first mass UFO sighting - in Fresno

In 1896, California had it's first mass UFO sighting, and Fresno was part of it.  On the night of November 22, 1896 a massive "airship" was seen in San Francisco, San Jose, & Fresno. 

Hundreds of witnesses described the craft as some sort of airship, moving slowly through the night sky.  Some of the witnesses said they even saw figures through the windows of the craft.  Accounts became wilder as the month passed. A Colonel Shaw of Stockton claimed to have encountered inhuman beings with the airship on a country road. A man in Indio claimed to have gone aboard the craft for a flight.  

No one knows what the craft was.  Balloon flight was still in it's infancy and Germany wouldn't have the zeppelin until around 1899.  Could this have been some sort of secret government project, mirroring the ones of today?  Perhaps it was some sort of private aircraft, but this seems doubtful as if the government didn't have this sort of technology, then a private group or individual couldn't have been behind this.  Maybe, just maybe, this was some sort of E.T. encounter.  Fifty years before the Kenneth Arnold sighting up in Washington in 1947 that started the modern UFO craze.

Reports of chupacabra in Calfornia farm town cancels high school prom.

I have no idea what year this was, but it made me chuckle.

From the Chupacabra Tracker.

On May 10, a rooster fell victim in Mendota, California, and the Fresno County Department of Agriculture subsequently logged ten complaints of goatsucker activity, prompting worried parents to cancel their childrens prom outings.


I'm going to have to look into this some more. I'm not sure of the truthfulness of the prom being canceled due to a few complaints of chupacabra activity. But if this is true, I'd love to see the reports that were filed.