Anomalous Objects observed with Night Vision Goggles
Sighting Details:
Date: 10th October 2026
Time: 21:41
Location: Barnet, Hertfordshire
Investigator: Mark Easen
Witness written account:
Caught video footage on my night vision goggles on the 10th October 2026. I have caught many things that I can't explain and things I know that do not come from us, but this one has me totally baffled, I have the original footage saved on my laptop and its a 4 min piece of footage, so I took a video to give you an idea of what I caught, The sky lit up for a second and it looked like a large planet in the sky with craters on it,
it happens twice one after the other, it was a clear night no wind, no torches of lighting anywhere near, the goggles where facing South, I also catch a flash of light towards the SW a short while later. I am totally confused into what happened, I've never had a problem with my goggles, I was advised it could be a satellite but I really don't think so. I didn't notice the 2 quick flashes and image till I put it on my laptop, but I did catch the flash after as I looked through the goggles.
Still frame images from the video:
BUFORA Evaluation:
Dear D#####,
Many thanks for quickly sending me the 3'05" video of the night sky taken with your night vision goggles. It came through OK and opened fine, and I found it very interesting to see, thank you. I viewed the video a few times to find the two seperate events you refer to, and can indeed see one where the "sky lights up" for a fraction of a second at 1min46secs and then again at 1min49secs. (plus we have the separate 'flash/streak' at 2'06" which I will address later on).
When viewed frame by frame the brightness can be seen increasing and then decreasing 'back to normal darkness' within 15 frames at 1'46" and within 7 frames at 1'49" (the frame rate seems to be 25 frames per second).
I have attached screen shots of the peak 'bright flash events' below. I can see why you describe the appearance of the images here as "The sky lit up for a second and it looked like a large planet in the sky with craters on" but we both know that in reality there was no 'large planet with craters on' taking up the entire view, so we just have to consider what else may have caused this image?
I must confess I have no direct experience myself with night vision equipment, so I found an internet definition of "Night vision goggles (NVGs) reveal a significantly denser and brighter night sky by amplifying low-level visible and infrared light that is invisible to the naked eye. Users report seeing thousands of additional stars, detailed meteor showers, and enhanced views of nebulae and the Milky Way, even in areas with moderate light pollution". Which is helpful, although we still need to consider why for the vast majority of the video we can see a mostly black sky with some stars, and only during those two 'bright flash events' at 1'46" and 1'49" can we see the 'brighter sky images'?
Those two sub-second 'bright flash' screenshots are IMHO reminiscent of looking at a ‘Hubble Telescope view’ of the milky Rather than readily available NVGs from the internet? as these are only claimed to have a range of between a few hundred meters and up to about 1km on a 'high end' set costing £thousands. So I would say there are two possible scenarios that might have caused the less than 1 second 'double flash' brightness events as seen on the video but not noticed at the time with the naked eye:-
Somehow the Infrared sensitivity button has been activated (on some NVGs there are 7 levels of sensitivity) up and then down within 1 second (twice - 3 seconds apart) and this has led to an increased brightness/sensitivity and the number of visible objects increasing, which I feel would seem difficult to have happened? Plus I'm sure you will have had the goggles on max sensitivity all the time?
The second possibility that I can think of (after noticing from google street view that the area where you live is very hilly), is that a nearby car towards the SW from you i.e. in the direction you were looking, was either turning at a junction in your road or cresting a hill (or both at the same time?) and as it slowly turned at the junction one of its headlights shone towards your direction partially illuminating the sky first, followed 3 secs later by the other headlight? I could imagine a slowly turning car causing this, and that would also account for the quick rise & fade of the each light as the car turned? Or it could have possibly been 2x cars following each other? You wouldn't have nesessarily heard a car if it/they had been electric/hybrid cars as they're almost silent, plus they usually have very bright LED headlights. The increased brightness and colours might simply be the headlights shining up illuminating the air and making all the dust/pollen/insects etc and colours more visible? Which is the version I feel is more plausible.
The other event you mention is like a 'streak' of light, only really visible in one frame at 2'06" into the video, although I think we can just get a glance of the 'top' of it in the frame before, right at the bottom of the frame on RHS. I very much doubt that this 'fast moving streak' was caused by a satellite, as I would expect satellites to move more slowly than that, plus it looks like the streak does a 90 degree left turn near the end, leaving an elongated '7' shape behind. I also doubt very much that this was a 'shooting star' for the same reason that these do not make 90 degree turns either.
What I do think it could have been though is a small insect flying very close to the goggles. If it was very close it would have only had to move a few feet to cross the entire field of vision (about 40 degrees on most NVGs), and the IR beam from the goggles would have illuminated/ reflected from the body of the insect so it appeared as a bright streak? These small insects can also make 90 degree turns at will, similar to what is shown on the video.
In conclusion: What I feel could have happened is that the 'quick light streak' at 2'06" was caused by IR light from the Night Vision Goggles illuminating a very close fast flying insect . And the 'double flashes' at 1'46"& 1'49" are most likely to have been caused by car(s) headlights turning nearby and momentarily illuminating the sky close in the direction which you were looking and filming.