Lanterns and Orbs

Discussion going on over at UFO Updates, started by Chris Rutkowski. Question posed concerns Chinese lanterns and orange orbs; how often are lanterns interpreted by witness as UFOs and not merely something everyday, like a man made object?

I posted my two cents. Once you've seen Chinese lanterns in the sky, there's no doubt that that's exactly what they are. For a brief moment, there's an "Oh, what IS that?!" and then, you realize, oh, just lanterns. Not a UFO or something truly mysterious.

I've seen these sky lanterns, and while at first look for about four seconds it's hard to say what they are, it soon becomes obvious they're just lanterns. Nothing close to the orange orb I saw years ago. Not similar in shape, certainly not in behavior, or effects. (missing time, dreams of ships and aliens.) Or size.

There seem to be several varieties of orange orbs:

• Small points of light in the sky that are orange. These may move about but seem to stay relatively the same size and in the same area of the sky. Sometimes more than one orange orb appears.
• Ball lighting, and or plasma. These two explanations don't really explain much -- basically a label given to a phenomena we don't fully understand yet. These orbs, which can be orange at times, can appear very close to the witness, indoors as well as out. Related post: UFOs, Orbs, and Luminosities.
• Orange Orbs -- like the one I saw -- that are very large. From a distance of approximately one mile, as I took a guess-estimate at -- the size of a beach ball. Seems to move as if controlled by something intelligent, either within the orb itself or outside. Lit from within. An object (as compared to plasma) that seems aware of the witness. Psychic communication between witness and orb. Follows witness. Missing time sometimes associated with sighting. (as with myself.)