Lighting
© Wikipedia Photo
Stories of bright flashes of light in the sky continue to be reported from around the country - today again from PA. Ufologist Stan Gordon got the call and followed up with an investigation.

This report is similar to a Westmoreland County, PA, report Gordon reported on from Oct. 26, 2008, in Mysterious Sky Flashes Puzzle Pennsylvania Observers.

Stan Gordon's report follows:

Strange Light Flashes Over Chester County, Pennsylvania

On the night of February 24, 2009, two people walking a dog near West Chester, PA, observed a light phenomena in the sky which they are trying to find an explanation for. It was about 8:25 p.m. as the couple was walking south in an area which was very dark, quiet, and had no street lights, that their attention was drawn upward to the clear star filled sky.

What they observed were five, or six very bright white flashes of light which lit up the entire sky. While one flash seemed to be more off in the distance, most of the flashes seemed to come from above and illuminate the sky in all directions. One witness stated, "they were like an extremely bright spotlight shining down on a very large area." The exact location from where these flashes originated from was very difficult to determine, since each burst was very quick, and did not seem to originate from a specific direction, but just from overhead.

It was after the first bright flash that a sound unlike thunder was heard. One of the observers described the sound as a muffled, soft boom with each flash. The other said that it seemed like a metallic thud, like in a tunnel, but not a metal on metal sound. There were approximately 30 seconds to two minutes between each burst of light.

Both observers were certain that what they saw was unlike any lightning bolt or flashes of lightning that they had ever seen. Both people have seen the Northern Lights, and one witness commented when the flashes were first seen, that it looked similar, but did not have any colors.

They also feel certain that it was not fireworks, or a power transformer explosion, which both have seen. One witness did attempt to call their local power company to find out if there had been any local power transformer accidents in the area, but they were unable to obtain any information.

I contacted the Philadelphia-Mount Holly, National Weather Service forecast office, which services the Chester County area. I was told that at the observation time, the sky was clear, there was little wind, and temperature was in the 20's. There was no thunderstorm activity in the area.