In all seriousness, How can I tell the difference between a UFO and a plane at night?

Question

Early this morning, at around 2am I spotted 2 flashing lights in the sky, as it was dark obviously I have no idea whether it was a plane, a helicopter or something else. I did manage to film it, the film lasts about 45 seconds before it disappears. My question is, how can I tell whether this is a UFO sighting or just merely a helicopter?

Help much appreciated, and this is a serious question.

(Im in the UK).

Answer 1

all aircraft are required to have a flashing red beacon....larger commercial aircraft have 2, one on top and bottom.

they also have a white light on the tail and/or rear of the wingtips, and some have flashing strobes on the edges of the wings. in addition there are position lights, red on left and green on the right at the wingtip.

it was an aircraft. there is no such thing as a UFO.

appreciate that thumbs down....i've spent more time in the air behind the controls of an aircraft than you have and i can tell you in all that time i've seen some wierd sh*it, but no little green men....grow up

Answer 2

aircraft (including helicopters) have beacons on them that flash red and/or white.  i'd be concerned if they were close but there was no noise (if it was hovering) or if it traveled at insanely fast speed or had irregular flight patterns.

Answer 3

Like boats and ships, aircraft have navigation lights, green and red, located at the wing tips. They also carry a white strobe light. Normally you will see either the red, or green light and the white strobe.

Aircraft, landing and taking off after dark, now have the cabin lights switched off. This reduces the incidence of UFO reports!

Answer 4

Technically, it was a UFO as you were unable to identify it.   A UFO is an unidentified object.    

The U.S. blew up a defective spy satellite I believe late last week.  I doubt that was it.     Many people have mistaken Venus  for a UFO.   Also, passing satellites are sometimes mistaken for a UFO.  

If it were a plane, it should have been on radar and recorded.  But, you'd have to contact someone in the Air Force to find out more.

Answer 5

i dont know

Answer 6

Technically if you cannot decyfer between the two it is a UFO - unidentified flying object.

Answer 7

besides the strobe lights, if it was a plane, you would see the landing lights on, if the plane is under 10,000 feet

Answer 8

If you can see it, then it is a plane or aircraft. There is no thing as UFO, they are not real

Answer 9

Chances are it was a plane or helicopter. Having said that, there are regulations that stipulate what kind of lights an aircraft must have. If those lights did not correspond to a regulation aircraft, you might be on to something.

I couldn't tell you what those regulations are, you'd have to ask an aviation expert.

Answer 10

first of all, what you need to know is, does your residential area always have ufo sightings? if not, its possibly be an areoplane.

ufo darts all over in an area and then vanishes whereas planes fly at a consistent speed and just flew in one straight line and doesn;t fly back & forth like ufo does.

Answer 11

lights in the shy can be airplanes which is more likely but not necessarily passenger airplanes . they can be military aircrafts or as you said helicopters . they can be falling objects from the sky . possibly what you saw was some of the remnants of the spy sat shot down few days ago and the lights are what happens when they burn down while descending . anything can be the reason but assuming a UFO is far away. we live in a real world and nothing so far proved to be different from what we already know .

Answer 12

Can you put the film on youtube so that we can see.......then i can answer your question!!!

Answer 13

Look for those without lights, or with lighting that doesn't comply with our regulations.

Answer 14

Unidentified objects in the sky are very common.  I flew professionally for 35 years, and we were constantly saying "what the &*^%$ was that?"

That's the definition of a UFO: something that flew by that you couldn't identify.

If you are asking about Alien Space Ships, the answer is easy:  they do not exist.  You can ask about them under "myths and legends" or "entertainment."

Answer 15

all civil aircraft / helicopters at must show a standard light configuration at night anything else must lead to other thoughts, blue, orange is not used, so you have white,green,red and flashing strobes (bright white tending to silver )

Answer 16

Bottom line is no matter what you see in the sky, if you know what it is it is identified.  If you don't know what it is it is unidentified there for it's a UFO(unidentified flying object)

Answer 17

It could be a uFo but no one will belive you,they will say you edit the tape, good luck

Answer 18

Can a Mod please block this joker's account. The only thing I know that flies is a human-engineered flying machine. Commonly know as an Aircraft. UFOs do not exist, why is everyone so obsessed with them?

They're isn't time for questions like this, especially not under the 'Aircraft Section'. (Try the Health > Mental Health section next time.)

Answer 19

unless you are able to IDENTIFY that flying object it might be cfonsidered the UFO. However it does not say anything about extraterrestrials, since the UFO is simply an UNidentified flying object.