UFO? Down-to-earth explanation given

Cicely Arnold was puzzled by three unidentified flying objects in the sky over Tauranga on Saturday night. Photo / John Borren

A Plummers Point woman puzzled by golden lights moving silently across the sky could have been witnessing the aftermath of a Saturday night celebration.

Cicely Arnold was standing outside just before midnight waiting for her dog to do its business when she looked up and spotted three very bright shiny lights coming from the direction of the Kaimais.

It was a full moon and she watched the lights for about 10 minutes until they seemed to disappear behind clouds, one heading in a northern direction, one in a north-easterly direction and the other towards Tauranga.

"They were moving across the sky, there was absolutely no noise."

One of the lights was trailing behind and the light heading towards Tauranga seemed to pick up speed and disappear into cloud.

Mrs Arnold said the lights had come from a westerly or south-westerly direction.

"From where I was standing, it looked like they had been travelling on the path for a while."

They were travelling steadily and she wanted to know if anyone else had spotted the mystery lights.

Inquiries by the Bay of Plenty Times found that the lights may have been sky lanterns - also called flying lanterns.

Stuart Murray, of the Tauranga Astronomical Society, consulted a colleague for an answer.

"What he did suggest, and I would go along with it, was that they were Chinese lanterns," he said.

"It would also account for her impression that they were fairly low."

Mr Murray said the lanterns were potentially dangerous during drier times of the year.

MetService meteorologist Ramon Oosterkamp said sky lanterns were the most plausible explanation.

"The most plausible explanation is usually the right one."

He said a five to 10 knot wind was blowing on Saturday night from the west/southwest, with the wind speed picking up the higher the lanterns went.

"The weather was quite settled so it was not likely to have been an optical illusion."

Mr Oosterkamp said the timing of the sighting also made sense because lanterns were usually released at the end of celebrations such as weddings.

The owner of the Wishlantern shop, David Roberts, said he would not be surprised if they were sky lanterns because of the golden glow. It was the first time that he had heard of lanterns being treated as an unidentified flying object in New Zealand.