Weird Phenomenon: Lake Erie Lights

Watch this video. Or zap through it if you want, it’s what I did :p

This gave me goosebumps. Freaky, right?

These lights were seen over Lake Erie, near Cleveland, Ohio (not Minnesota).

An organization called MUFON (Mutual UFO Organization) saw this video on Youtube (as millions of others did), and they sent out an investigator. He or she would have to determine whether or not these lightballs were actually UFOs or not.

They decided they were “airplanes landing at the Cleveland/Hopkins Airport”. If you’d ask me, those are some strange planes, if you see the way they hover, in that video.

According to the people that live near the lake, they see these orbs at a far distance from the airport, as well.

So, what do you think? UFOs? Optical illusion? Airplanes? Some mass deficit in our brains? Maybe a natural phenomenon? Hot air? Ghosts?

I’m personally not sure what they are… But if they were UFOs, I wonder what they’re doing. They look like they’re observing the person who filmed this video.

If it’s not a UFO or a ghost… I guess maybe it’s just some natural phenomenon. Perhaps it’s the reflection of the setting sun on the water, that makes them look like floating orbs? I’m just thinking out loud here.

What’s your philosophy? Does this give you any ideas for stories? (As a matter of fact… We could maybe make the weird phenomenon posts a flash fiction challenge? Let me know what you think!)

Before you go… Check out the giveaway for my short story ebook PERCEPTION, which ends May 14!

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Posted by on May 10, 2011 in Featured Content, Weird Phenomena | 22 comments
  • Jess Witkins

    Hmm, sounds like a case for Linda Godfrey, the author of Strange Wisconsin and Strange Minnesota. She used to be a journalist, and sort of fell into hunting the strange and collecting stories from people in the midwest. I 100% believe in ghosts. I’m still deciding on aliens. :)

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Hi @59e2aac72d04dbdcbe09cb7330d3b0f0:disqus Thanks for stopping by :D

      I hadn’t heard of Linda Godfrey before, sounds interesting and I’m going to investigate, thanks :D

  • http://twitter.com/CMStewartWrite CMStewart

    After careful examination of several key parts of the video, I’d say they’re “orbs.” lol

    I’m a bit surprised MUFON said they are planes from Earth. That alone persuades me to believe they actually are planes. But yes, it’s an odd video. Maybe a combination of the setting sun, the shallow angle of the plane, and the reflection off the water? Anyway, thanks for sharing. My uncle-in-law is convinced ETs visit Earth on a regular basis. I know some wacky ones, don’t I? Then again, maybe the nay-sayers are the ones who are deluded by the expectation of living in a “normal” world.

    p.s. Flash fiction based on these orbs sounds like fun! :)

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      @twitter-42650959:disqus An impressively sharp observation :p

      I was a little surprised MUFON said they were planes too. I’d thought they’d see UFOs in everything, honestly. But maybe that’s because I’m a little skeptical of organizations like that.

      Ah, I’m not sure if you could call me convinced, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were the case that ETs regularly visit us. But I’m aware that I have a very lively imagination and that I tend to get carried away :p.

      Well, we could definitely do the flash fiction. What about 1000 words, before Sunday? Posted on your own blog or elsewhere, doesn’t really matter to me (Maybe I could eventually do a little “contest” sort of thing where I publish the one I enjoyed best on my blog… Imo that’d be awesome, so that I could promote other people’s work as well!)

      • http://twitter.com/CMStewartWrite CMStewart

        You’ll see my orblicious flash fiction on my blog this Saturday! :)

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Yay, I’m looking forward to it!

  • http://twitter.com/AJZaethe AJ Zaethe

    The first orb I would have to say was a bit odd to be a plane. The other faster moving ones could possibly be planes. But still a strange sighting. What do you think this would actually to do people, a small community, even a large one, if they are constantly exposed to such phenomenon? Would it make them into “freaks” or would it cause them to become hardcore scientists? Or maybe the community is divided now because of it? Who believes and who doesn’t? Sorry, I couldn’t help but think in world building terms. Great post @manon_eileen:disqus

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      I totally understand what you mean. It could also make them very superstitious, like “don’t do wrong or the orbs will pass judgment” or some such. :D

      I would be really interested what you’d write, @twitter-61695920:disqus , for a flash fiction story about this :D

      • http://twitter.com/AJZaethe AJ Zaethe

        You know. I will do that. Just to see what would happen. @manon_eileen:disqus

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Send it to me or link me to it, I’d love to read it when you’re done :D

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Send it to me or link me to it, I’d love to read it when you’re done :D

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Send it to me or link me to it, I’d love to read it when you’re done :D

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Send it to me or link me to it, I’d love to read it when you’re done :D

  • http://twitter.com/BrianTRonk Brian Ronk

    Minnesota? Cleveland/Hopkins Airport would make this Cleveland, Ohio :)

    I would agree that it’s probably an airplane. It looks like the setting sun is reflecting off of it. It is eerie, though.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Oh gosh. What a stupid mistake. Thanks for pointing it out @twitter-191883246:disqus ! (Though I have to say America does sometimes confuse me with all the towns and places that are called the same X_X)

      And yes, eerie for sure! Thanks for stopping by!

  • http://www.pwcreighton.blogspot.com PW Creighton

    This is a little to funky for my tastes. Even as someone that actively pursues the unusual(makes great material for writing). This is a little too weird, it seems like the camera is on a tripod or mount of some kind and is edited already. You can see one sharp cut. The second weird thing is he swept the camera by once then panned back to zoom in on the area. This felt a little planned. I would be more inclined to believe this video if they were more excited and it was actually a handheld video.
    I know, I know there’s still a chance of legitimacy but the media pro in me says there’s something funky with this video. ;-

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Lol, that’s a perspective I hadn’t considered. @97be09a5cb1efc0a6ef679657685c364:disqus Thanks for your insight. That’s what’s great about blogging!

      You’re right that the video might be altered. But there are lots of videos posted on youtube by different users (i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QZxsM8xWFA, http://youtu.be/4Rx-5QsNJhQ , and this is what looks like a handheld video http://youtu.be/pMttMBqssLo) So I’m not so sure…

      What do you think? :)

      Thanks for stopping by!

      • http://www.pwcreighton.blogspot.com PW Creighton

        Good finds. Yeah the sad thing is we have to be so skeptical because so many people have faked them. :-( If it’s a legit video then it’s certainly interesting. I found the ‘orb’ videos of the England Crop Circles far more fascinating. You see a small orb go into the field and a few minutes later they find a crop circle!

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          Being skeptical is a good thing, imo!

          I’ll cover the crop circles in a later “weird phenomenon” post… I agree it’s absolutely fascinating! I love the weirdness our world has to offer us!

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  • Cernst816

    My dad saw the ‘Lake Erie Lights’ up close last summer 2011 from the shore of my parents Lake Erie waterfront cottage. His words: All my life I’ve spent each summer here wondering will I ever see a UFO. Last July 2011 he was up late watching tv, cottage completely dark, mom sleeping he looked out the big sliding glass doors towards the lake and saw 3 glowing/burning orbs hovering maybe 50 feet out from the cliff. He went outside, could not believe his eyes and said they were completely silent, or almost silent. He is hard of hearing but can hear ok with hearing aid. Said there was a sound almost like a lawnmower in the distance. The three orbs looked almost as if they were attached to something, a frame. Couldnt quite make it out as the orbs were so bright. He said it appeared as if they were burning, half fire half light, not A tradtional light. Light a fireball. They were orangish and circular and in triangle formation and fixed in relation to each other. Again think attached to frame. At most he said the were 50-75 away and they knew he was there as my parents cottage is on the shoreline in the middle of nowhere (westfield ny, 10-15 miles north of ny/pa line). There are part time neighbors rarely around so think completely dark, completely remote shoreline with a guy watching a tv in a cottage. The lights sought him out. They hovered for several minutes, 2 i think he said? And the drifted off and out down the shoreline and out further into Lake Erie. The lights were probably 50-100 feet above the water/shore as they hovered as the cottage sits on a cliff about 50-60 up from the shore. Time was about 11pm. He said dont believe me, call me crazy, whatever, this happened I saw and can hardly believe it myself.
    We speculated it was a secret military helicopter from the base Cleveland out doing night manuevers, deciding to mess with a guy out in the middle of the woods. You figure this was just after the bin laden raid where we learned there are such things as stealth copters. Makes sense the would be out patrolling the US Canadian border. My folks see military craft go up and down the shoreline during the day all the time, or frequently.

    Thoughts?