When you think of surfing, you usually think of surfers riding ocean waves breaking on the shore. However yesterday, the hot surf spot was the River Severn in the UK. The surfers lined up to catch the Severn Bore, a large wave caused by rising tides funneled into the river from the Severn estuary (which has the second largest tidal range in the world). According to the British surfing association, surfers have been riding the Bore since the 60’s trying to see who can take the longest ride. In 2006 a British surfer named Steve King set the world record for the longest surf ride when he rode the Severn Bore for 7.6 miles (besting the previous world record of 6.3 miles set on a river in Brazil). Surfers who came out yesterday were treated to a “once-in-a-decade” five star rated tidal event.

Severn surfers ride once-a-decade tidal wave [via Phantoms & Monsters]

According to the poster on YouTube, this video was sent to their website sometime last year. Taken by campers in Somerset, it shows a cigar-shaped object at what appears to be a high altitude above the camp.

Could this be footage of an actual UFO flying over Great Britain? The object appears to be hovering rather still, and from the amount of zooming to bring the object into frame, it appears to be at a high altitude (though a small object at a lower altitude is also possible). What do you think the campers saw over Somerset? Let us know in the comments.

UFO – filmed above Somerset coastline by holidaymakers – cigar type

photo by cowbite

With sales of paper Chinese lanterns (or sky lanterns) soaring over the last two years in the UK, the National Farmers Union have expressed grave concern over the risk the lanterns pose to livestock. The simple lanterns, constructed of paper, wire and a candle, are often launched to mark special occasions and can fly many miles from where they are launched. This poses a risk to grazing animals that inadvertently ingest pieces of wire from lanterns that land in their fields. The House of Lords have taken up the cause and are moving to join several other nations, including Malta, Germany and Australia, that have already banned sky lanterns.

Since Chinese lanterns can fly very high, can move around erratically, and are silent, they are often confused for UFOs. The potential ban would eliminate these false sightings, a major boon for ufologists working in the UK. With the sheer number of UFO sightings reported every year (well over 4,000 sightings were reported to the National UFO Reporting Center in the US last year), any reduction in the possible number of sightings is a welcome relief to any serious researcher investigating the UFO phenomenon.

Call To Ban Chinese Lanterns To Protect Cows [via Real UFOs]