Posted: June 6, 2010

Location of Sighting: Canvey Island. Essex
Date of Sighting: 6th June 2010
Time: 00.15am

Witness Statement: I was getting into bed at approximately 00.15 and saw two orange orbs in the sky which immediately caught my attention. I am quite aware of the chinese lantern theory so I considered this before I did anything else. As the two were beginning to go out of sight from my window view I saw another approaching from the same origin and following exactly the same route as the first two.I went out into the garden as I texted my son who lives nearby and watched as another three came into view.

I live on the flight path for Southend airport and have been a plane spotter all my life and these were not anything I have seen or heard. There was no engine noise, no navigation lights etc but in my opinion they were powered in some way. There was no 'drift' all of them went in the same direction on exactly the same track. When I went back to my bedroom I followed another two that appeared from the same direction and when I lost them over a rooftop I went into my spare room expecting to see them emerge-they did not. In all I witnessed 11 between 00.15 and 01.15 when an electrical storm broke and sightings stopped. I tried to get them on my mobile phone video and indeed I have a record but it is very poor quality and too far away to be useful.

This is not the first time I have seen something similar in the area and, as a rational person, I am willing to be convinced that I am wrong but not that what I saw was a chinese lantern because I am convinced that it was not. I should be interested to hear if anyone else witnessed these as it was a fairly clear night and I am convinced that I cannot be the only one.