SIGHTING: BATHGATE, SCOTLAND, SCOTLAND (UNITED KINGDOM)

Witness Testimony

"A bit of a weird one. i have always prided myself in my ability to spot an aircraft type at extreme distances. as a kid in the cadets, i used to enter and win most the aircraft recognition competitions, and have managed to keep updated in the latest types, and though i may have a colour perception problem, my eyesight, specially at distances is excellent, as some pilot friends would testify. and, through my gliding, i also have a good handle on weather and atmospheric events. the reason for the aforesaid info is due to a wee aerial sighting i had on sunday afternoon. i was sitting in mum's back garden enjoying the weather, and watching the planes climbing out of edinburgh, when i caught a flash of reflected light way out over the capital, well above the departing aircraft's altitude. i thought it was another plane flying quite high, but using an upright on the fence and the corner of next door's roof as a reference, i noticed it was not moving. clouds passed in the wind, but this did not move or climb, or drift away. it just stayed there. i watched for about half an hour, and then decided to go out to the car for my camera. it has a very long telephoto, x63, so was going to try and get a picture. i honestly expected it to be gone when i returned, but it was still there. anyway, my camera having autofocus only made it a bit of a problem zooming in and focusing due to the distance and some heat shimmer, but managed to get a couple of shots at maximum zoom. it appears to be two separate objects close to each other. and they still had not moved position from my first sight of them. lining up for another shot, i had it in the reticle, but during focusing it just suddenly vanished. though i looked all over, it had gone. weird! i have no idea what it was, and did not look or behave like anything i know of, and that in itself is unusual. to be honest, it could be a couple of large silver balloons stuck in a patch of still air (very doubtful), or as the say, "swamp gas". what i can say without any doubts is that it was not an airplane or a helicopter. a bit of a mystery."