2008-11-02 - London (UK/England) - Changing

Unknown , roughly shaped object spotted over North London

I spotted it by chance outside my window after I woke up. At first I thought it was a set of balloons, but when I looked more closely, part of it was swaying sideways(perpendicular to its direction of motion). It was difficult for me to make out because it was a bit far, but it looked like a banner with embedded balloons or something of sort. It wasn't very long. Its Length was twice its height. It was floating silently to the west, too fast for a balloon. To my estimate, it was about the speed slightly less than a helicopter at normal cruise. Later it changed direction to northwest and started ascending slowly as it became less visible, until it was too far to be seen. This all lasted less than 5 minutes. It had various colours, mainly purple and a yellow, roughly spherical part that was swaying. The background was cloudy. Almost immediately before I spotted the object I heard the sound of a helicopter which is common in my area, but the sound came from somewhere else and it stopped after a few seconds.