Mysterious light sparks debate

By Jonathon Howard

UKI RESIDENT Geoff McGann and his wife Pam say they are baffled by a bright object spotted in the night sky near Uki from June 14 to June 16, at about 6.30pm to 8pm.

The couple are appealing to other residents who may have seen the light hovering for almost two hours.

The Weekly posted the couple’s appeal via social media and received a flood of comments, ranging from claims it’s aliens to simpler explanations that it was the International Space Station (ISS), a planet, or the camera focus.

“International Space Station passes in that time frame over the last few nights and over the weekend,” one comment reads.

“Can be seen in the first couple of hours just after sunset or before sunrise.

“It is generally the brightest object in the sky and moves at quite a fast speed.”

But Mr McGann says he’s not convinced it’s the ISS as one of the nights was cloudy and there were no other stars in sight.

“Plus, it’s difficult to explain the rapid movements,” he said.

“I’m not saying it’s a craft or anything, but I don’t think it was the ISS.”

The couple have already verified with friends, who also spotted the object.

Mr McGann said the object moved at “incredible speeds” but remained in the same relative location until about 8pm, before moving to the left.

“I’m not trying to say it was anything, but a big light in the sky and it was easy to spot is all,” he said.

Mr McGann was able to take some video footage but admitted the camera/phone is zoomed in by up to ten times in some images, in an attempt to identify the object.

“I do not believe it was a drone, or a military aircraft such as a helicopter or a satellite,” he said.

“However, I’m open to any ideas.

“It looked like a little planet at first, but the movement came as a shock.

“I’m not trying to say it was anything, I’m just appealing to others who may have seen it.”

Mr McGann said he also saw it “eject a beam” that looked like an arrow from the object.

“It shot out of the object, extremely bright, I have a photo of it,” he said.

“I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything here. I’m not an alien conspiracy theorist or anything like that, I just want to show people the pictures I’ve taken and they can form their own opinions.”

Other residents have since come forward and said they also spotted a bright light in the night sky, but many put it down to Sirius — the brightest star, the ISS, or a satellite.

“Yes seen it and it appeared again tonight between same hours,” a resident wrote in response to The Weekly social media post.

Another comment suggested it could be the planet Venus or camera distortion.

“If it was visible for a few hours then