the night of the fourth, about half past eleven, after all the major fireworks were over but a dozen backyard gatherings were launching intermittently projectiles, while i was out hunting fireflies, i looked up above the canopy to see a bizarre sight: a glowing red amorphous object floating across the sky, by all appearances much closer than an airplane or satellite would be, and moving at so slow a speed it couldn't possibly be a pyrotechnic. i snapped a handful of quick pics, but it's difficult to photograph light sources at night, and although it was slow moving, it drifted behind the cover of trees in short order. then a second one drifted into view, following the first, but it disappeared behind cover before i could even get a pic. it was an interesting sight on that interesting night. so i was a little disappointed when later days' research indicated they were most likely sky lanterns, disappointed to have the mystery have such a simple solution. although the ones in the wiki article don't look like they'd look red. it is kind of interesting that someone in eastern michigan reported a similar observation at the same approximate time.


it's too bad the current models are fire hazards because it is a neat idea. i still like the way the photos turned out, as haloed orbs, though it would be nice to have gotten a detail photo.