Appearance / Description of Object(s)

Though it really is a long time ago, I always remember it as a ball of fire, with actual flames encircling it. It wasn't big, probably the nearest size would be that of a beach ball. It seemed to move by rotating itself. It had the capacity to stop and hover, again silently. It had the ability to change direction and to descend.

Size of Object(s)

The size of a beach ball, maybe slightly larger

Distance to Object(s) & Altitude

Very close to us, literally just over our heads around 15 to 20 feet over us

Description of Area / Surroundings

Urban built up city area, we would have had no military bases or power plants. The one thing that struck me was how quiet the street was when this occurred. No cars, which was unusual. No people, which would not have been that unusual for early evening in my area.

Full Description & Details

Around 1973, my friend and I would both have been 11 at the time and lived in the city centre of Dublin, Ireland. It was early evening, dark, early winter. The street was v. quiet and as we turned a corner, we saw a rotating ball of fire appear just above the roof of the corner house. It briefly disappeared behind a chimney before re-appearing. It slowly rotated, travelling in a northerly direction. As I remember it, it was a rotating ball of fire, probably about the size of a beach ball. It was silent. The scary thing about it was that when we appeared to come into its line of vision, it stopped and hovered over us, It would have been around 15 to 20 feet above us. It remained hovering for what seemed to be a few seconds. We just stared at it, I remember my friend saying "what is it" and I just replied that I didn't know With that, it began moving again. However, rather than continuing on the path it had been following, it changed direction. It began descending directly down towards us. With this, we screamed and ran as fast as we could until we reached my friends house. I have no idea, what direction it went towards after that, and I honestly say I'm not sorry I didn't wait around to find out.

I have just read on your site of some other children in the 1980's who seem to have had a very similar to ours. What struck me is that it did definitely have intelligence behind it.

What I do know is that it wasn't a Chinese lantern. I would have happily accepted that it was a natural occurence if it had not have stopped and then came down directly towards us.

I have never forgotten the experience and it is great to find some affirmation that what we had seen has been experienced by others.

Can sighting be explained as any conventional man-made or natural object?

Definitely not natural, definitely not. Could it have been battery operated, or remote controlled, anything is possible. However, this was Ireland in the early 1970's. We were not known for sophisticated, automated or technical objects, Equally, how was the ball of fire achieved? What we saw were flames!

Witness Background

Public servant

Views on UFOs, before and after sighting

I honestly amn't big into UFOs. I would probably go along that the vast majority of sightings can be explained as natural occurances or in strategic areas, like near military bases, some advanced experimental flying objects. Do I believe in aliens, no I don't. What do I think we saw, truthfully it is a mystery, I would just love to know the answer!

Other Comments

Just glad of the opportunity to tell my story. I did tell my teenage son recently and this is what prompted me to try and search for similar stories. Just great to find another one that does seem to be quiet similar.

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