IT was the night Close Encounters of the Third Kind came to Bexley.
People living in parts of the borough began to panic as strange formations of lights could be seen moving across the night sky.
Some tried to follow the UFOs in their cars, others alerted neighbours and many called Bexley police to report a potential alien invasion.
As the story hit News Shopper's website, dozens of people emailed with their own theories about the origins of the lights which appeared in the skies above Sidcup, Welling and Blackfen and could be seen from as far away as Eltham and Orpington just after 9.30pm last Friday.
But there were no little green men demanding "Take me to your leader," just a group of college students celebrating the end of their degree course.
As part of a week of celebrations and showcasing their talents, students at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Burnt Oak Lane, Sidcup, the students sent 100 Chinese lanterns into the night sky.
advertisement
Lighting design students Richard Stirzaker, 21, and Alan Watson, 20, orchestrated the lantern launching.
Called The Great Gig in the Sky, the lanterns were launched to a track of the same name by Pink Floyd, from their album The Dark Side of the Moon.
Students launch one of the lanterns into the night
Mr Stirzaker said: "It was a magical end to the week. But we were really surprised at the reaction.
"We let the lanterns off in formation, in time to the music. But it had far more of an effect than we had anticipated."
He described people's reaction to the event as "Brilliant. Absolutely wicked."
Visiting stage management lecturer Rachel Candler, who helped to to organise and manage the event, had obtained permissions from Bexley Council, the fire brigade and London City Airport to launch the lanterns.
PC Michael Wearing, who was there with youth film club Pointless Taxi, based at Welling School, which filmed the event, said: "I left before the end and I have no doubts that all that the lights people reported seeing were the lanterns."
But he added: "However, if I had just been walking down the street and seen them, I would have been a bit concerned."
Julie Hill from Albany Park, was one of several people who tried to follow the lights in her car, after being alerted by her mother.
She maintained: "They were definitely not Chinese lanterns."
Roland from Sidcup emailed to say "I saw three very bright white lights travelling in a triangle formation for several minutes."
Gaynor Muskett from Sidcup was alerted by her dog barking and stepped out of her back door.
She got her husband and son out of bed to watch.
She said: "I was amazed to see a complete straight line of white individual lights. There were literally hundreds."
I was walking past the Oval in Blackfen at around 10pm when I noticed the UFO's. I could see they were flames as they flickered and gradually faded out. Interesting to find out that they were from college students in the end!
tollerton.blogspot.com
I was walking past the Oval in Blackfen at around 10pm when I noticed the UFO's. I could see they were flames as they flickered and gradually faded out. Interesting to find out that they were from college students in the end!
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
Print
Email this
Comment
