2020-06-25 - North Myrtle Beach, SC - Light

Large, bright orange lights, appearing and disappearing over the coast, accompanied by smaller white lights.

Beginning at 21:45, 3 observers (later growing to 9) were looking out to sea from a beachfront property at the extreme north end of the Cherry Grove Beach neighborhood in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The sky was mostly clear with a thunderstorm offshore to the SE, 10 miles or so out. Temp was 77 degrees F.

At that time, three very bright orange lights appeared in the sky ENE over the water, approximately 25 to 30 degrees above the horizon. They were much larger and brighter than the stars, and initially looked like military flares, but they didn't fall. The lights stayed in place for 5-10 seconds before fading out.

At that point, 6-8 tiny white lights appeared in their place. They were much smaller and dimmer than the orange lights had been and they resembled conventional aircraft when viewed at night from a great distance. However, they were blinking randomly, did not appear to use conventional navigation lights, and were moving erratically in different directions. Three of them headed NE while the others moved SW. We observed them for around 4-5 minutes before they disappeared from view.

Within about 10 minutes, the large, bright orange lights reappeared a little further down the beach toward the SW. Initially, one light would appear in place, lasting 5-10 seconds before fading out. Then another would do the same a few minutes later. They were not launched from the surface nor dropped from any aircraft.

A few minutes later, a chain of three orange lights appeared, flaring up in succession, one after the other, in a straight line in tight formation. This chain was perhaps 10 degrees above the horizon. They then faded out in the same order they appeared. After this, two appeared and then disappeared in the same manner. Then, a chain of four appeared and disappeared in the same manner. All of these “light chains” appeared in a range that was 10-15 degrees above the horizon.

After the chain of four faded out, the tiny dim lights reappeared in their place and flew away in different directions, blinking randomly. We observed these lights for 3-5 minutes before they were no longer visible. At about 22:15, after no activity for a few minutes, the group of observers dispersed.