2012-04-16 - Greenland, NH - Flash

3 erratically flashing lights, viewed for several minutes by two witnesses approx 10 miles apart.

A friend called me from Amesbury Mass describing 3 erratically flashing lights he was currently viewing. He was uncertain of direction (initially claiming they were north of him, but finally determining they were west), but I located them approx SSW of my location. From his perspective, they appeared stationary, but from mine they crossed approx. 30 degrees of horizontal arc in less than 10 minutes (a better estimation of time will be determinable once we examine his cell phone records - we were in constant contact throughout the initial portion of the event). To me, they appeared white, but I am a known deuteranope deficient with particular problems identifying colors of faint lights. From my perspective, they were very low on the horizon (less than 10 degrees) and for the most part they were clearly visible just above the silhouette of a treeline. We continued joint observation until I could no longer detect a flash for more than 30 seconds. Towards ! the end of our communication, he claimed the initial 3 were joined by from 3 to 5 more lights, but I could not see them. I then went inside to check Google maps to estimate trajectory, went back outside to confirm compass direction relative to visible landmarks, and witnessed one additional flashing object apparently following the same approx flight path, although this time the flashing had more of a pattern than previously observed (accounting for atmospheric disturbance - the "twinkle" effect). This second viewing was not made in conjunction with my friend, so position wouldbe much more difficult to determine, and may in fact have been a chase aircraft or even totally unrelated. There is an airport in the opposite direction from me (Pease), so I am very familiar with landing lights, marker lights, etc. I have no reason to believe the initial shared sighting was any kind of normal aircraft, but the same can not be said for the later single light.

The other person is a bartender with an interest in paranormalia (approx 40 yo), and I am a 49 yo male college student/small business owner who actively investigates "paranormal phenomena" as they are made available to me. I currently hold a BA in English/Journalism, am 2 semesters away from a BS in Psychology, and volunteer as a research assistant in a vision lab at University of New Hampshire (studying stereopsis).