Why These Sightings Surge in 2025

Red orb UFO reports keep popping up on Reddit and in local groups. In 2025 the pattern is the same: a glowing red sphere hangs, slides, or “drops,” often without sound, then fades or vanishes. Here’s what the latest cases show—and how to investigate them without losing the mystery.

What Witnesses Describe

Across multiple threads, posters describe a bright, self-luminous sphere with a steady red glow. Sometimes it seems to hover; sometimes it drifts or descends and “winks out.” In a few reports, a beam or short trail appears for a moment. The objects are usually seen at night and rarely make noise.

Three recent cases making waves

• Manhattan, New York (Dec 18, 2024): A witness photographed a red orb with a downward beam from the Lower East Side. Good skyline references help triangulation, which is why this one drew attention. Source below.
• Bulgaria (spring 2025): A glowing red object appeared to fall and ignite grass. The clip spread widely and triggered on-site follow-ups by locals.
• “Red orb, help!” (2025): A classic neighborhood sighting thread in r/Paranormal: hovering red light, no sound, disappears. Posts like this are great teaching examples for methodical checks.

First, rule-outs that fool us

1) Aircraft anti-collision lights

Airplanes carry red rotating/flash beacons on the tail and fuselage. From certain angles—especially when the white strobes are shielded by wings—you can see a lone red that looks like a hovering orb. Flight paths, ADS-B tracks, and approach patterns can make a “hover” illusion when the aircraft comes straight at you.

2) Starlink and satellites

Freshly deployed satellites can flare and move in straight trains. Individual satellites can also brighten and fade. Timing a pass with a tracker often explains “silent, gliding lights.”

3) Drones and lanterns

Consumer drones often run steady red position lights and can appear fixed while actually circling. Paper lanterns drift, brighten, then extinguish—classic “glow and vanish.” Wind checks and local events matter here.

4) Rare natural lights

Ball lightning and earth-light phenomena (e.g., Norway’s Hessdalen) are still being studied. New analyses in 2025 show credible videos within 10 meters of cameras and discuss dusty-plasma or piezoelectric processes. These aren’t common—but they do happen and can look exactly like a red orb.

How to investigate a red orb UFO like a pro

1. Lock the time & bearing. Note exact local time, direction (compass or landmark), and elevation (“fist-widths” above horizon).
2. Pull the skies. Check ADS-B/FR24 for aircraft that match the time and bearing. Use a Starlink/Heavens-Above pass predictor for satellites.
3. Check the weather. Lightning, inversions, or wildfire smoke can affect color and apparent motion.
4. Ask for EXIF and reference frames. Raw files, skyline silhouettes, or a quick hand-drawn map let others test distances and speeds.
5. Look for ground truth. In “falling” cases, revisit the site in daylight for scorch marks, debris, or powerline arcing.

Why red orbs keep trending

They’re simple to see, hard to film well, and sit at the intersection of aviation, space, and atmospheric physics. And because red orb UFO videos are short and dramatic, they spread faster than long, ambiguous lights. Even after common explanations are exhausted, a fraction remain unexplained—and that’s where the story lives.

Short video primers (context)

Pentagon “orb” example (context for spherical UAP imagery):

Rare ball lightning segment (why some “orbs” may be natural):

Bottom line

Most “orbs” turn out to be aircraft lights, satellites, drones, or lanterns. Yet a stubborn remainder resists easy answers—especially those with close range, odd motion, or physical effects. Keep your camera steady, capture the scene, and document the sky. The more precise the data, the closer we get to knowing which red orb UFO reports belong in the “unknown” file.

Sources: