UAE | General

Strange lights spotted in Dubai sky

Many reported seeing the lights that came and then disappeared over Dubai.

  • By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 20:36 December 15, 2009

  • Image Credit: Sashii D'Cruz, Gulf News Reader
  • According to Nezar Mohammad Salam, Head of the Emirates Astronomical Centre, five to seven shooting stars were seen in the skies over Dubai. Here's a pictue a Gulf News Reader has sent.

Dubai: Dubai Police operations room has received a number of calls reporting red lights in the night sky over Satwa and Jafiliya, Colonel Omar Al Shamsi, director of command and control room of Dubai police said.

Some of the reports received stated that there were 'red lights' seen in the sky. Some also suggested it could be a space ship.

According to Nezar Mohammad Salam, Head of the Emirates Astronomical Centre, five to seven shooting stars were seen in the skies over Dubai.

This is an astronomical phenomenon known as a meteor shower and they could be remnants of comets, he said. He continued that the shooting stars are not dangerous as they automatically burn up in the atmosphere.

Comments (6)

  1. Added 14:10 December 16, 2009

    We saw 6 red lights on 29th Nov evening in fujairah's clear sky. Not twinkling, not moving and arranged like virgo constellation. As we wondered about the color, couple of them moved inwards forming a linear arrangement. that really shocked us. Then one by one, they disappeared.

    Rizvan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  2. Added 13:43 December 16, 2009

    At around 5:30a.m. it was still dark, me and my mom saw reddish lights moving slowly in the sky. It passed near the moon and turned from southeast to the north. We thought it was an aeroplane but the lights were different from the aeroplane lights and aeroplanes couldn't turn suddenly like what we saw. After few minutes, the lights disappeared.

    Fahad Noufal Veettil, Satwa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  3. Added 09:21 December 16, 2009

    I did watch the lights for more than 15 minutes, near satwa. It cannot be meteor shower, because, the first three lights were taking turns to go front and back and coming near to each other as if the ballons are flying, i did take a photo on my mobile. the objects were moving very very slow compared to an aircraft flying at that time in low altitude, so it couldn't have been that.

    Syed Fiyaz, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  4. Added 08:46 December 16, 2009

    I'm staying in Satwa. I experienced the same yesterday night. It was clearly visible and lasted for nearly 10 minutes. I could see 8-10 lights moving together as a group. It made the people panic.

    Bristow, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  5. Added 07:38 December 16, 2009

    I am sure, these were not meteors or meteor showers. These lights were seen moving in a pattern and very gradually. Meteors or falling stars are usually travelling at a high speed. These were something else.

    Gautam Ahuja, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

  6. Added 00:04 December 16, 2009

    I had also spotted a shooting star yesterday night from Sharjah.

    Sameer, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

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