Pilot Videos Lights At Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina- 10/12/2011

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On October 12, 2011, a pilot with 37 years experience, videoed unknown lights over the ocean from a North Carolina beach.
Here is that slightly edited report, which was originally submitted to MUFON.

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MUFON Case # 32941
Date:    2011-10-12
Time:   20:00
Status:    Assigned
City:    Ocean Isle Beach
State:    North Carolina
Shape:    Star-like
Duration: 00:20:00
Distance: Over one mile
Summary: Multiple Orange Lights at Ocean Isle Beach, NC

Report:
I am a 55 year old business owner from Raleigh, NC and have been an FAA licensed pilot for 37 years. I have an interest in astronomy and am always watching the skies. On Wed. night, Oct. 12 around 8 PM , I was at a beachfront house in Ocean Isle Beach, NC facing East observing the full moon and lightning flashes far out to sea. I began a 20 minute Video recording with my Sony SR11 Hi Definition camcorder to record the distant lightning which according to a weather website was over a hundred miles out to sea. During my recording, I captured over a dozen total orange glowing stationary lights at different points in the video. These lights were similar to lights I observed on three separate nights last June while on a one week vacation at the same beach. Myrtle Beach, SC is just south of Ocean Isle and I have read multiple reports of orange lights recently from that more populated tourist area.

Last June, the orange lights I observed would suddenly appear and stay on for more than 30 seconds. I first thought they were distant aircraft landing lights even though they were not the usual white color. And I quickly ruled out landing lights when I watched them rotate around each other. Also, one of the lights in June silently cruised horizontally at over 100 miles per hour before disappearing. During last week's sighting, they would light up for only a few seconds before fading out. I estimate the objects that appear in my video were between 1 and 2 miles away at between 500 and 1,000 feet altitude. And the objects were totally silent as they were in June.

I have uploaded to Youtube a 22 second hi-definition video clip showing at least 4 of the glowing orbs. The Youtube link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZXPhX9MfAw. My camera was aimed East looking down the beach. Among the recognizable items are a neighbor's white stairs to the beach, a lighted buoy which is about a mile away and a distant flashing beacon on the horizon . Old Baldy lighthouse on Bald Head Island 25 miles away is visible flashing to the right. In the sky the full moon appears as a somewhat fuzzy large orb and the planet Jupiter is constantly visible to the lower left of the moon.

The four orange lights appear as white on the video due to my camera's low light limitations.

Photo link 1

Photo link 2- map



Video link

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