Strange lights discovered over India

Late one night some lucky Indians caught a startling sight over Chennai, India on their phones. TheBeginning IsNear says it was taken in October. Judging by the moon phase, it must’ve been around the first.

This footage isn’t awesome because the amateur videographers remembered the cardinal rule of taking video while keeping their phone horizontal.¹

Watch it for yourself. The video gets interesting around the two minute mark, so feel free to skip ahead.

In case you’re stuck on dialup and can’t wait for the video, (psst, it’s 2014 grandpaw) there’s an establishing shot before the camera zooms onto the object. The fireball flares twice, giving the impression it could be an otherworldly craft.

Or an extant vimana.

A vimana, for the uninitiated, are flying palaces featured in Sanskrit epics like the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Here’s a description from the former legend.

The Pushpaka Vimana that resembles the Sun and belongs to my brother was brought by the powerful Ravana; that aerial and excellent Vimana going everywhere at will … that chariot resembling a bright cloud in the sky … and the King [Rama] got in, and the excellent chariot at the command of the Raghira, rose up into the higher atmosphere.²

Let’s not completely dismiss this as extraordinary when something prosaic, like a meteor, is equally awesome. It’s clear the object flares twice before winking out, showing no signs of any ‘engines’ kicking in for one final blaze before exiting Earth’s gravity well.

What’s your best guess? Tell us on our Facebook page, at Twitter, or in the comments below!

MORE GREAT STORIES FROM WEEK IN WEIRD:

1. Truth http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2014/07/shooting_video_with_your_phone_dont_hold_it_vertically.html ↩

2. Dutt, Manatha Nath (translator), Ramayana, Elysium Press, Calcutta, 1892 and New York, 1910. ↩