It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's parachute jumpers lighting up the nighttime sky at Lake Elsinore

Skydivers taking a nighttime jump over Lake Elsinore prompted nearby residents to call authorities about fireballs falling from the sky, authorities said Friday.

Emergency dispatchers were “inundated with calls” Thursday night, reporting something in the sky around the lake area, said Cheri Patterson, spokeswoman with the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

“There were varying reports of what people thought they were seeing and an increased number of 911 calls,” she said.

It turned out to be skydivers making their jumps while holding flares, said Melissa Nieburger, a spokeswoman with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Sheriff's deputies heard the skydivers were members of the U.S. Army Parachute Team, more commonly known as the Golden Knights, she said.

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Comments

[Beth Stern]

Sounds like a lot of fun to jump at night. Too bad they didn't tell the community in advance so they could watch them come down!

[Sandy Castor]

WOW, I bet that did look a bit scary.

[Kayleigh Roa]

If this is accurate, where are the pictures of the supposed "parachute jumpers"?? Over 100 people at the grocery store in Murrieta saw this last night and it was nowhere near the Lake? Also the red ball of fire split into three, after coming through the earth's atmosphere then circled around itself. I didnt know parachuters could do that. If these were parachuters I would like to see a photo proving it. Just as a side note, I DO NOT believe in aliens of any kind. But I do believe in the Goverment coming up with crazy experiments that they want to cover up with articles such as this one.

[Kayleigh Roa]

ALSO the lights, after splitting into three stayed still in the air for 5 minutes, never came closer to the ground then disappeared. Are parachuters now able to defy gravity?

[kindlady1]

In this day and age of suspected terrorism, thousands of dead birds, fish washing up on shores, etc. You would think that the famed Golden Knights, U.S. Army parachuting team would have notified authorities and/or posted notices in the area to alert residents. Even if it was a top secret army drill, they should have at least alerted local law enforcement authorities as well. Shame on them, most inconsiderate!

[Ace]

I used to love jumping at night. It was the most fun I ever had being scared to death. Also, it really helps if you have a fear of hights, because sometimes you can't see the ground.

[niki]

These happy and reckless guys need to warn the population of the locality so they may jump in peace. They were lucky no one was hurt. People are nervous about surprises in the sky these days...as well as anywhere else.

[Steve M.]

Must be the "Axis Powers," coming to invade Lake Elsinore.

[Steve]

Hi
I witnessed this event last night and posted one of the only videos on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=oJBhfDu8dvA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I have also went on YouTube to find examples of night jumps by the Golden Knights, for compairison. (and encourage others who are interested, to do the same)

What I saw was 3 solid circular objects in a triangle pattern. They never appeared to move while I watched.
I only noticed them because of the other people in the parking lot watching it.
I may have watched them for a minute or a minute and a half before I went back to the car to grab my iPhone. I don't know how they arrived to that location or how long they were there before I noticed them.
I never really saw when they disappeared, I was trying to watch through the iPhone. They were just gone. I never saw them zip off to space like some witnesses. There was light pollution from the parking lot lights so I'm sure others had a better view.

I grew up in Lake Elsinore, and I know that a lot of air sports take place here.
Skydivers do seem like a great way to explain this... Except....

-How could they have stayed stationary for so long?
-If these are flares, where are the tails of sparks like in all the Golden Kinghts videos? My video shows solid light sources, and in the time I watched I never saw flare like, light, sparks, or smoke.
-If these are lights or light suits, how big are these lights? Could it draw peoples attention from so far away (I was at the Central onramp abot 2 miles away from airport)
-If this was just a night jump, and Elsinore is an air sport destination, then I would assume night jumps are fairly common? Then why didn't those previous night jumps get this same reaction? I would think someone would have filmed it and posted it to youtube as a UFO.
-With all the media attenion and public intrest, why doesn't a reporter go to the Golden Knights and ask to see the lights they use.. And I'm sure someone from this "Army Parachuting Team" must have been rolling film... Why can't they post it for comparison?

I just don't believe what I saw were flares or parachutes..

[R S Hausen]

funny how it's not mentioned on The Golden Knights website.