TIL that weird light I saw over the lake last month might actually be a weather balloon... or not

I was out on Lake Michigan near Muskegon around 2 AM on a Tuesday, fishing for salmon. This orange orb appeared, hovered for maybe 4 minutes, then zipped straight up and vanished. I just shrugged it off until my buddy sent me a link to a NOAA page about high-altitude research balloons, which match the color and behavior. But the speed it moved? That's what's bugging me still. Has anyone else seen one of these things and had a solid explanation that didn't totally hold up?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.angela1mo ago

Used to be a total skeptic about stuff like this, honestly. Would've told you it was just a drone or maybe a plane at a weird angle. But then I saw something similar over Lake Erie a few years back, orange and moving way faster than any balloon should, and it really changed my mind on what could be out there. The NOAA info matches a lot of what I saw, but the speed part is still the one thing that doesn't add up for me either. Makes you wonder how many of these reports are actually being swept under the rug.

paige_owens51mo ago

Respect that, @nguyen.angela. Used to be a doubter too till I saw one.

alicemurphy1mo ago

The "speed part is still the one thing that doesn't add up" - man, that hit home. I saw something real similar over Lake Michigan back in 2021 and the speed was the part that wrecked the whole balloon theory for me too. What finally helped was finding other local reports on a forum for Great Lakes fishermen. Turns out like 6 other guys saw the same thing that week. The FAA actually had a notice out about some military exercise that used flares dropped from choppers. Bright orange, hovered weird, then shot up because they were on parachutes catching wind. Still not 100% sure that's what I saw, but it's the closest explanation I've found.