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Q: Is that thing on a tether?
Saw some strange lights in the sky. It stayed in one spot as I watched for about a half hour. Two planes passed very close to it. The lights went out for about five minutes then when they came back on, it seemed to go even higher. Looked like it was definitely high enough to be in airplane airspace. It was over north Shenzhen. I watched it for about an hour total but it was getting late so I went inside. Is it for advertising? Is it on a tether? Battery operated?
maybe....its a UFO
xinyuren:
as Scandi said, aliens usually don't waste their time in China. They go straight to the USA. Less culture shock there.
DBowman:
It could have been but I doubt it would have sat above this town for so long. Seems pretty unlikely.
Was it during the night ? It can be sky lanterns, which are popular in Asia (yes, it's a fire hazard)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_lantern
Our sense of perspective (our capacity to deduce 3d geometry from two 2d images, one per eye) cease to work beyond 100 meters. It's simply due to the distance between our two eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereopsis). Beyond 100 meters, you have no sense of scale for an object floating in the sky. It can be something small being fairly close, or something really huge far away... our senses are too weak to remove the ambiguity. Movement does not help to distinguish between the two cases. So, a sky lantern can look like something as big as a plane moving fast, under the right point of view.
DBowman:
When I first arrived in China, I was helping a friend who owns a sky lantern factory. I know everything there is to know about sky lanterns. This was definitely no sky lantern.
DBowman:
I also know our perception can be off with things in the distance. But from what I could see, the second plane that buzzed by this thing was just above it and then it appeared to go higher than what the aircraft was.
i took pictures and video with the iPad, but that sucked and did not turn out well.
hunny797:
hey OP you confirmed my point of view...
UFOs.. definitely them..
you can try all you can but you can't have them recorded.. see? it proves...
DrMonkey:
@dbowman In Asia, it's my favorite explanation for errand light, but you are right, it does not have to be that :) If I wanted to make funny lights in the sky, I would use one of those toy quadcopters and fit some powerful led lights and lasers. For 3d perception, it can really be very confusing, a lot of optical illusions exploit this, most famously the "forced perspective" tricks.
@hunny797 if you mean "Unidentified Flying Object", yes, by definition, it's one. If you mean "OMG ALIENS", sure, it sounds like the simplest most likely explanation for something in the sky.
Here in town there are lots of Batman lights, just without the logo. Maybe one of those onto a cloud, and then just not moving around as Batman lights usually do.
UFO's mainly visit the US.
DBowman:
Sorry, no Batman light. This was definitely an object in the sky. When the lights went out for several minutes I could still see it.
hunny797:
no UFO
no sky lantern
no Bat man light..
then what the hell was that?
you're creeping me out
or maybe a subway train malfunction...
Plenty of Illegal aliens in Guangzhou.
Maybe its a new drone to hunt foreigners down with expired passports.
Definitely an alien craft. Now you can write a book and promote it on late night radio talk shows. Coast to Coast.
I will confirm that it was a UFO. It was unidentified and flying and an object. Very unlikely that it was an alien craft though. I say that because it was Sunday night in my town. The busiest night for people on the street. There were literally thousands of people out. In this town, I often go a week or two and not see another foreigner. I was walking through the crowds looking up at this thing. Nobody else even glanced although as I am sure you are aware, a lot of people looked at me. Maybe it is meant to attract people to the town?? Back home, everyone on the street would have stopped to look at this thing.
i was just wondering if anyone else had seen anything like this. It was at or near commercial aircraft height, lots of lights and colors, and sat there for over an hour without moving.
Nessquick:
this are kites, with LED lights flashing. first experiences was similar, but than I found out whats going on ...
Watchiong it over an hour and do not shoot any photo or movie ? while everyone take photos of killing in McD or so, why not this ? 
DBowman:
I did shoot photos and video but with an iPad, which just looked like a small white light in the sky. This thing actually had lots of lights and colors and kept changing patterns. I will have a video camera charging up for next time.
Nessquick:
trust me, this are kites, normal flying kites, with LED lights in it. it is very fashionable here in china.
