Ashland UFO sightings and explanation

 From the Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

September 13, 2011
Sky show

UFO view matches Seattle sighting

Tim Preston
The Independent
ASHLAND — Debbie Hassler isn’t the kind who watches UFO shows on television or spends her time wondering about life in other solar systems. But she’s re-evaluating her beliefs after she and others saw something in the skies above Ashland on Saturday evening, and then heard a report of an almost-identical sighting over Seattle a short while later.
Hassler was at Holy Family’s annual festival when she noticed her husband and their granddaughter, as well as others, looking to the sky around 9:30 p.m.
“So, I looked up, too,” she said. “When I looked up I said, ‘Oh, my God!’ I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I had never seen anything like it.”
Hassler, her husband, Tim, their granddaughter, Isabela, and others reported seeing a formation of objects they described as “orange-colored orbs” grouped to resemble an upside-down version of the Big Dipper. Hassler said she was certain the lights in the sky were not aircraft, and didn’t hesitate to follow when her husband suggested they grab their granddaughter and get out of there. Before leaving, Hassler said she talked to one other man who had also witnessed something and wondered if anyone would believe either of them if they reported it.
“I counted seven or eight of them. I couldn’t be sure ... I would say between seven and nine. I was real nervous. I don’t know exactly,” she said, adding the lights seemed to be stationary, then appeared to move toward them before they seemed to move behind some clouds. Trying to examine one of the lights for any details, Hassler said the object appeared “V-shaped, upside down ... like stealth bomber wings, but upside down,” adding the object was “just big enough for us to see.”
As they drove home, Hassler said her husband again noticed the unusual lights in the sky as they traveled along 13th Street in Ashland, appearing just above the tree line near Speedway and Donatos Pizza.
Hassler said their 7-year-old granddaughter was shaken by the experience.
“She got scared, but she heard us talking, too. But ... she knew those weren’t stars,” she said, adding the young girl also saw the lights when they were again observed above 13th Street. “She’s not wanting to talk too much about it.”
Hassler’s daughter, Amy Barker, did not see the lights, but said she took the eyewitness account seriously, stating with confidence her parents aren’t the type to imagine such things, or be easily confused about what they saw.
Barker saw no other reports of such a sighting, but mentioned it to coworkers at her office the next day. A few minutes later, one of the ladies in the office said, “Look at this,” and showed her a report from Seattle, Wash., at 9:30 that evening, stating more than 50 had also seen a “dipper” formation of orange orbs. The story had a photo attached that seemed nearly identical to the unexplained lights seen by the Hasslers and others.
Hassler offers her assurances she is not mentally unhealthy, or a UFO enthusiast, although she is confident she and her family saw something out of the ordinary Saturday evening. 
“I myself ... I just feel like it was UFOs, but who knows,” she concluded.
TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2651.
Newlyweds' 'love lanterns' cause a stir in Ashland

Tim Preston
The Independent
ASHLAND — Apparently, practically everyone who saw something unusual in the sky above Ashland on Saturday evening had planned to stay quiet about it for fear others would think them crazy.
Once the word started spreading, however, those who’d planned to keep quiet couldn’t resist sharing their sightings as well.
Ashland newlyweds Nate Whitt and Sara (Werner) Whitt, now on honeymoon in Hawaii, seem to be at the heart of the misunderstanding. Along with their wedding guests, the newlyweds ignited and released about a dozen “love lanterns” on Winchester Avenue in front of the Ashland Plaza Hotel and watched them float into the night.
The unidentified flying objects, generally described as glowing, orange orbs, were seen by dozens within a few minutes before or after 9:30 p.m. throughout Ashland and surrounding areas. People who saw the orbs said the individual units appeared to be flying in a formation that resembled the Big Dipper, only upside down. About three hours later on Saturday, more than 50 in Seattle reported seeing a similar sight in the skies above that city.
The explanation for the sightings was easy to identify, especially after guests at the wedding reception in downtown Ashland started comparing notes and thinking about when they released a dozen “love lanterns,” which are translucent and rise into the air fueled by hot air generated by a burning bundle from within. Once aloft, the lanterns travel quite high into the air, moving with the wind, before the fuel source is exhausted and the highly visible objects disappear into the dark.
Wedding photographer Meredith Dickens said she saw the UFO report and immediately knew what had happened. 
“The festivities ended with the lighting and releasing of paper lanterns outside on the sidewalk about 10 (minutes) after 9 p.m.,” she wrote. “It was a great moment. Everyone loved it!”
After reading of the UFO sightings, Matt Whitt wrote, “I know now you have heard that this wasn’t a UFO, but rather some newlyweds and their wedding party having fun. I was one of the people helping light and send these lantern-type balloons into the evening sky. I just spoke with the newlyweds and told them all the fuss they have caused.”
Later he added: “As we were letting these lanterns go, I told them we would have UFO sightings tonight … and sure enough we did.”
Contacted by friends and family after the UFO sighting story hit newsracks and home delivery boxes, the new Mrs. Whitt said they remembered Matt Whitt’s comment when they released the lanterns, and enjoyed a good giggle about the situation.
“Some of our family members back home read about it in the paper. We just started laughing. We thought it was really funny,” she said. “We felt bad for the little kid who got scared and thought it was a real UFO.”
Even those who didn’t see the mysterious lights in the sky over Ashland were reminded of similar situations.
Mike Moore read the most recent story and responded: “The story you ran on the odd-shaped orange UFO sounds like the one we saw on Sept. 12, 2001 — no fly day — I was the support manager over receiving at Walmart at the time. We had gone to lunch and were outside on the benches at the old store at the mall. It caught our attention because nothing was to be flying that day, and its shape and color. It slowly came up river then turned back over Ohio. Approximately 10 of us saw this. Although we disagreed on the shape of ‘the thing,’ we all agreed on the rest of the details. I thought it looked like an elongated Nike swash.”
In an unrelated note from Los Angeles, Associated Press sources reported a brilliant light darting across the Southwest night sky recently was most likely a piece of asteroid that entered Earth’s atmosphere, according to a NASA scientist.
Scores from Southern California to Arizona reported to local authorities and media outlets Wednesday they saw the light hurtle quickly from west to east at around 7:45 p.m. Many described the light as bluish-green and others as yellow and orange. Some captured video of the object.
Don Yeomans, who heads NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program, said he was convinced it was a fireball — a fragment of an asteroid the size of a baseball or basketball that hit the atmosphere and disintegrated before reaching the ground. This natural phenomenon tends to happen on a weekly basis, but usually occurs over the ocean where no one can see. “It’s unusual for an object of this size to be seen over populated areas,” Yeomans said.
After witnessing the bright streak of light, sky watchers took to Twitter to speculate what it could be. Yeomans said the explanation is mundane. The bluish-green color suggests the object had some magnesium or nickel in it. Orange is usually an indication it's entering the atmosphere at several miles per second, a moderate rate of speed.
“It’s one of Mother Nature's better light shows,” Yeomans said.