Weather Balloons: A report on the change in shapes, sizes and technology.

We received a sighting report from a witness in the Ramsgate area of Kent, UK.

The witness gave a detailed written report and had also already queried local events and movements in the area before submitting the report to BUFORA. She conducted her own enquiries into unusual activities such as local balloon launches and activity at the former RAF and commercial flight airport at Manston.

There were no local mass or singular balloon events and no special airshows, as the planned airshow had been cancelled for this weekend.

Witness written account

If it was a car on the ground, I’d say moving about 40–50 miles an hour. The objected appeared larger than the size of the Moon. The object was observed climbing and then receding from view as its height increased and disappeared into the clouds. The higher-altitude wind speed was approximately 25 mph when crosschecked with the Met Office weather data.

The atmosphere was described as warm, dry, still wind and half cloud cover. The Sun was the only visible astronomical object reported

The incident was photographed, although there is no definitive photographic capture of the object available for examination. No other witnesses were reported.

A photograph from the rear garden indicated the general area in which the object was observed at their location a few miles south of the north Thanet coastline.

Air Balloons

There were no commercial balloon flights or shows identified. Passenger-carrying varieties would normally launch at approximately 22:00 or, ideally, between 14:00 and 15:00, and would have a more conventional upside-down lightbulb shape. Leeds Castle near Maidstone and Headcorn Aerodrome, both in Kent, were two of many sites investigated.

It is unlikely that the balloon trips would have been extended for long enough to make a landing location awkward for the team to transport back if it had needed to maintain sufficient height to cross the River Thames estuary into Essex. A long journey back on the A127 or similar route and then over the Dartford M25 to central or East Kent seems very unlikely.

At these events eccentric balloon designs are often displayed, such as orbs and other novelty shapes instead of the classic traditional shapes.

Aircraft

The airshow at Manston was scheduled to take place on the weekend but was postponed, which rules out unusual aircraft on display.

Drones

The object description does not match a drone and the height climbed would likely have resulted in loss of the operator's signal. The novelty UFO-shaped drones sold primarily for amusement aren’t capable of reaching sufficient height to disappear into the clouds as observed.

Any drone would have been exceeding CAA regulations and would therefore have been unlawful at the sort of height required to enter the clouds and be out of sight.

Weather Balloons

The increase in height observed by the witness is highly likely to be thermal-related. Weather balloons can respond to changes in temperature, sunlight, wind and local geography including other variations caused by marshland, rivers and changes in landscape and sea temperatures. The return of sunlight and warmer conditions could therefore explain the object gaining height as it moved towards the Thames Estuary in the Margate/Cliftonville direction.

Weather balloons are used for a variety of purposes including meteorological, agricultural, geographical, radio and scientific research. Launches can originate from established sites such as the Herstmonceux Met Office station, while available transit information indicates that some meteorological balloons are launched in France and travel across the Channel, potentially passing over East Kent the Thames Estuary and towards Essex. A more local launch cannot however be excluded.

The colour and material of a balloon can also vary according to its intended use and the conditions in which it is required to operate. Lighter or more reflective materials can respond differently to sunlight, while darker materials may be used where slower heating and longer-duration flight are desirable. Modern weather balloons are not necessarily the traditional silver or white appearance often associated with them and can be completely spherical or other shapes.

The absence of detailed tracking information for many balloon launches makes it difficult to establish the precise origin of the object in this case. Nevertheless, the reported steady movement,increase in altitude and eventual loss of visual contact as the object became smaller are consistent with a balloon travelling through changing atmospheric conditions.

Modern balloon equipment is also considerably smaller than that historically associated with weather balloons. Instruments may be contained within the balloon or attached as relatively small units, including equipment used for GPS, radio, temperature, audio or other scientific measurements. The traditional basket and long suspension arrangements are therefore not necessarily present, making some modern balloons considerably less recognisable from the ground.

Weather balloons are also commercially available to members of the public and are not restricted solely to specialist scientific organisations. Larger spherical balloons and novelty or celebration variants are available in a range of colours and designs. These should also be considered when assessing unusual balloon observations, although their size, altitude and flight characteristics can vary considerably.

There is no definitive photographic image of the object itself available for analysis. However, the combination of its apparent increase in altitude, steady movement and eventual disappearance from visual observation is consistent with the behaviour described above.

Source: Adobe free stock image

Conclusion

The witness was contacted by telephone, and my explanations regarding the probable sighting and the factors considered in reaching my conclusions were discussed. She was satisfied with the possible explanations concerning the different sizes and abundance of launches, from Met Office balloons to orienteering and radio ham balloons, the latter being rarer and more localised. She was not previously aware of the light sensitivity of balloon materials used for different flights, or the possible variations in height resulting from membrane colours interacting with the type and amount of sunlight experienced during the data-collection journey.

The terrain could contribute to the balloon being at a lower altitude over cooler ground. This aerial event was taking place over a significant area of cooler marshland. Once passing away from this area, the balloon would have been subjected to warmer and more consistent thermals and therefore regained height as it receded from visual contact.

It is hoped that this sighting may assist in identify these newer, completely spherical design of balloon, where either very little may be visible from the ground dependent on the size of the instruments attached. With modern, smaller instrument packages, the balloon can become difficult for an observer to see after travelling a relatively short distance.

Identification: Weather balloon

Matt Lyons

BUFORA Investigations