Well.. I entirely agree that a more Earth bound origin for these objects is the most likely, and assuming there isn't a more simple explanation.e.g birds, although I'm far from convinced on the bird theory.
Well.. I was standing facing the moon and it was roughly NW from where I was standing. The moon was just about at full eclipse and light levels were at their lowest point. When the objects first appeared, they seemed to become visible suddenly having descended from a greater height, there were 10-12 of them I'd say and they were descending rapidly in a rapidly widening very shallow V formation, but coming towards us at the same time.
On reflection, I'd put the fact that they appeared so suddenly down to the fact that they would have been roughly over Junction 9 M6 which is throwing massive amounts of sodium light upwards into an unusually dark sky (because of the eclipse). No doubt for the same reason, the objects seemed to glow with their own light- being lit from underneath.
As we watched, the formation swung to our right and disappeared behind surrounding trees., heading roughly North. The whole thing was visible for probably ten seconds - tops.
It's difficult to ascertain scale, but assuming they were lit by sodium light, they probably wouldn't be that large which adds weight to the bird theory.
Geese and Duck will fly in those sort of formations, but geese certainly never fly that fast. Duck will fly in the dark and will remain very active on more moonlit nights as the reflection from the moon on water enables them to find the water where they intend to overnight. Mallard are just about the fastest flying birds on the planet, (in level flight) so they're the obvious choice, although I have to say I've never seen them behave quite like that and I didn't see any evidence of wing movement. :shrug:
That's as accurate as I can be, the whole thing was so quick.
I believe there's a few round here
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