October 07th, 2018

Orange Orbs in the Sky
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Have you ever looked up at the sky and seen something you cannot quite explain away? You're sure it's not an aeroplane, nor a helicopter. It is definitely not a weather balloon nor a hot air balloon, not even one of those chinese lanterns, or a group of them. (I tried but I could not find out the collective noun for Chinese lanterns, although the word flotation would seem apt, or "drift", as that's the collective noun for hot air balloons).

You may not believe in aliens... but what if you were convinced you'd seen what can only be described as a UFO? No rational explanation can satisfy what you have seen. Would you tell anyone? Friends and family of course would think you'd finally gone crazy, if they didn't think that already of you. If you phoned the police or the local papers, would you want to draw all that attention to yourself? Probably not. Apparently, only one in a hundred of so-called UFO sightings are ever reported.

Eight years ago,  I honestly believe I saw something "other-worldly", and to this day I'm still no wiser as to what it was I saw. I was driving through Northamptonshire, near the town of Rushden. It had been a lovely summer day, and it was still quite light even at around 9.30pm. As I drove along the dual carriageway, I noticed to my right across the fields, a bright orange object floating just above the horizon. 

Obviously I needed to keep my eyes on the road ahead, even though there was not much traffic, yet I kept glancing through the window, intrigued as to what the orange object was. It looked like a small sun, or a giant belisha beacon. Soon enough, I pulled over into a lay-by - hoping to safely try and better observe whatever the object was. However, when I looked again, there were now TWO objects! Where had the other one come from I wondered?  

Meanwhile, cars were driving past me. It seemed no one else had noticed the orbs. I was amazed no one else was stopping to get a better look at these strange glowing lights. So there I was, by the side of the dual carriageway staring  up at the sky watching in fascination at these two bright orange objects. “What the hell are they” I'm wondering? 

The two orbs began slowly rising higher into the sky. Next it gets more weird. A third orb suddenly appears, as if it has just "blinked on". There are now three large orange balls/orbs, pulsating softly, hovering against the evening sky in an equilateral triangle formation. As you can imagine, I'm trying to rationalise in my mind what I'm seeing. Being an artist of science fiction and fantasy, I am well used to thinking up the strange and the wonderful, but this is real life. "Who is ever going to believe me when I try and explain this" I'm thinking, as I continue to watch the orbs.

They are not moving, and eerily, there is no sound at all coming from them, not even a faint hum. One of the orbs breaks formation, then a second orb moves off in the opposite direction. And then suddenly, they both disappear, and "blink out", gone. The remaining orb moves slowly to the right, then faster, then faster still then shoots right across the sky. "Nothing can fly that fast" I'm thinking, but it just did!  

"They're gone". I'm looking all over the sky, a little sad that the display is now over. I then notice in the distance a faint light which is getting slowly brighter and brighter, and larger. Suddenly there is another, then another... then yet another! There are now four orbs. High in the sky, on a warm summer evening, I am watching four bright orange mysterious orbs hovering above the town of Rushden. The orange lights blink on then blink off, then periodically the formation dissipates again with the orbs moving off in varying directions, before darting across the skies and vanishing... and then one by one, reappearing. 

I have never seen anything like this, ever. I observe this amazing spectacle for approximately 10 minutes, before the orbs gently glide away towards Oxfordshire and into the sunset. The question in my mind arises where're or not the orbs are anything to do with Croughton airbase, as this is roughly the direction they fly towards as they finally fade from view. Annoyingly and frustratingly, my mobile phone had no battery charge in it, having run out of juice ten minutes into my journey over an hour earlier from Oxfordshire. Of all the occasions I've ever needed a charged up phone, Grrrrrr.

Once I'd recharged my phone, I got in touch with the local police. I was doing my best to recount what I'd seen. The officer on the other end of the phone politely listened, taking in what I was trying my best to explain... that is, until he asked me what my job was. With an ironic laugh I said that I was a science fiction artist... and then came the silence. Yes, Mr Policeman had hung up on me; can't understand why :-)

No surprise, but the same thing happened the next day when I phoned the local newspaper. I tried to phone the airbase and got bureaucratic waffle about filing a report and that they are not allowed to discuss such things, national security and all that. I even went there in person when I next happened to be near the airbase, but despite my best persuasion, no one would listen to me or even see me... 

My friends naturally thought I'd finally gone totally bonkers "It had to happen sooner or later" they'd say "Danny has at last flipped - no surprise really - all the years spent creating aliens and and now he thinks he's seen their mothership, poor Mr Flynn"

Even my parents, who know I would not make something like this up, sounded skeptical. I turned to the Internet for comfort... and to hopefully find some explanations, even if they turned out to be boring and quite ordinary. “Orange Orbs in the Sky” I typed in the search engine. And yes, to my delight I was not the only one who has seen orange the lights in the sky. Better still, many people had uploaded video clips. Despite plenty of sightings and eye witness accounts similar to my own, I could not find any explanation as to what they were, other than possibly being chinese lanterns, which they definitely were not. Lanterns do not fly across the sky at alarming speed.

The next afternoon, my Dad phoned me. “Danny, me and your mum had a right good laugh last night after you telling us about your alien friends and their imminent invasion... and yet, I think we believe you”. Switch on the radio”.

It transpired that the orange orbs had also been spotted over Wales and Ireland, with many people phoning their local radio stations. I listened to eye witness accounts similar to my own... four orange orbs, blinking on and off, suddenly shooting across the sky, reappearing somewhere else. 

I even tracked down the only book on the subject of the Orange Orbs written so far, "The Complete Story of the Worldwide Invasion of the Orange Orbs", by Terry Ray. Mr Ray is a former military pilot, and believes the orbs are in fact of extra-terrestrial origin and states his case with plenty of convincing evidence. He has a map of the USA together with all the orb sightings, along with the accounts of hundreds of people who claim to have seen the orbs.

Mr Ray suggests the the creatures inside the orbs are  gently preparing us as a race for an eventual "proper" and definitive introduction at some point in the future to us all, once most of us have heard about them. Does this mean that I am a small part of the alien's plan? I don't even know if what Mr Ray says is true, or if I believe him, yet I respect that he, like myself, definitely saw the orbs and it affected Mr  enough, compelling him to properly research the orb phenomena and publish a book about out the orbs.

Mr Ray does not think the aliens are harmful or a danger to us in any way, the opposite in fact. If they really are alien, and can fly across the vast distances of space, they are obviously superior to us, at least as avionics engineers. The question is, why would they be here on Earth, and want do they want with us? I still often look up at the sky, in the hope of seeing the orange orbs again, but so far it has not happened. All I know is that back in the summer of 2010 I definitely saw something that as yet cannot be fully explained, 

So... did I really see four alien spaceships that evening? If I did, then l feel very privileged and honoured. If Mr Ray is sure the creatures are harmless, then I only wish the aliens had met me properly, especially as they must have been aware I was was watching them. I would have happily taken them to a pub for a few beers, and would have loved to discuss all my favourite novels with them, then see their expressions when I told them my profession is thinking up aliens.  

I'm not sure how I would have explained the aliens to the bar staff, other than to say some strange friends had just dropped by to see me, from far away...