Within Friuli UFO Files
Did One Object Cross Pinzano and Pordenone?
Two reports only 25 minutes apart may describe one event, but uncertain directions and distance estimates weaken the proposed connection.
On this page
- The two reports and their timing
- Testing the proposed continuous route
- Why the reported speed may be misleading
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Introduction
Two red or red-orange objects were reported over Pinzano al Tagliamento and Pordenone on the evening of 21 May 2011, only 25 minutes apart. The timing, colour and reported height make it reasonable to ask whether witnesses saw the same object travelling across the province. However, the surviving record does not establish that connection. The stated directions do not form an obvious continuous route, while the estimated speed over Pordenone is difficult to reconcile with the time separating the reports.
The Italian Air Force could not associate either sighting with known flying or weather-balloon activity. That leaves both reports officially unidentified, but not necessarily linked and not evidence of an extraordinary craft. Without photographs, radar data, exact observation positions or measured angles, the most defensible conclusion is that these were two similar, closely timed sightings which may have shared a cause, but cannot reliably be reconstructed as one journey.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare
The two reports and their timing
The first report was logged at Pinzano at 9 pm on 21 May 2011. Private citizens described one circular object, red-orange in colour, moving rapidly in a straight line from the south-west towards the east. Its altitude was estimated at 500 metres, and the sky was recorded as clear. The Air Force archive says that checks with the relevant military bodies found no match with known flight or radiosonde activity.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare
At 9.25 pm, private citizens in Pordenone reported one spherical red object. This was also assigned an estimated altitude of 500 metres, but its course was recorded as north-west to south-west. Its speed was described more dramatically: “high”, at more than 1,000 kilometres per hour. The same official finding followed—no known flying or weather-balloon activity could be associated with the event.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare
The similarities are readily apparent:
- both sightings occurred on the same clear evening;
- only 25 minutes separated them;
- each involved one rounded red or red-orange object;
- both witnesses estimated an altitude of 500 metres;
- both were reported by civilians and remained unmatched to known flights or radiosondes.
Those parallels explain why later regional coverage presented the Pordenone observation as a continuation of the Pinzano event. One account stated directly that the object seen at Pinzano was subsequently reported over Pordenone, treating the two entries as stages of a single sighting.[Congedati Folgore]congedatifolgore.comOpen source on congedatifolgore.com.
The official table itself is more restrained. It lists two separate numbered reports and does not explicitly state that investigators demonstrated a connection between them. It also contains an evident clerical problem, giving both localities the provincial abbreviation “PD” rather than Pordenone’s “PN”. That minor error does not invalidate the reports, but it illustrates the summary nature of the published document: this is a compact administrative table, not a complete investigative file with maps, transcripts and calculations.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare
Testing the proposed continuous route
Pinzano al Tagliamento lies roughly 33 kilometres in a straight line from Pordenone. Covering that direct distance in 25 minutes would require an average ground speed of about 80 kilometres per hour.[Distanze Chilometriche]distanzechilometriche.itDistanze ChilometricheDistanza da Pinzano al Tagliamento a PordenoneLa distanza in linea retta tra Pinzano al Tagliamento (Pordenone) e P…
That figure is not implausible for an aircraft, balloon or other airborne object. The problem is that it is far below the Pordenone witness estimate of more than 1,000 kilometres per hour. At that reported speed, an object could cross 33 kilometres in approximately two minutes, not 25. A single-object theory therefore requires at least one additional assumption: the object may have slowed down, followed a much longer course, remained unseen for part of the interval, or been observed at substantially different times or distances from those estimated.
The stated directions create a further difficulty. At Pinzano, the object was said to move from the south-west towards the east. Pordenone lies broadly south-west of Pinzano, so a craft maintaining the recorded easterly course would be moving away from Pordenone rather than towards it. It would have needed to turn after leaving the first witness’s view.
At Pordenone, the recorded motion was from north-west towards south-west. This does not describe an object approaching along a straightforward line from Pinzano, which is north-east of the city. Apparent direction across one observer’s sky is not the same as a complete geographical track, so the entries are not necessarily contradictory. Nevertheless, they do not independently support the simple picture of an object flying directly from Pinzano to Pordenone.
A proper route test would require information absent from the published archive:
- each witness’s precise location and facing direction;
- the object’s elevation above the horizon;
- observation duration and angular displacement;
- accurate start and end times;
- landmarks used to estimate height or distance;
- wind information at different altitudes;
- radar, air-traffic or photographic records.
Without those details, plotting a precise track would create an appearance of accuracy unsupported by the evidence.
Why the reported speed may be misleading
The claim that the Pordenone object exceeded 1,000 kilometres per hour sounds like the strongest feature of the case, but it is probably among the least secure. To calculate an object’s actual speed, an observer needs both its angular movement and a reliable estimate of its distance. A small nearby light and a much larger distant light can appear to cross the same part of the sky at similar rates while travelling at very different physical speeds.
Night observation makes that problem worse. Aviation guidance warns that distance can be deceptive after dark because the viewer lacks intervening reference points and cannot easily compare an airborne light with objects of known size. The same limitation affects visual estimates of altitude and speed.[Federal Aviation Administration]faa.govThis also applies to the estimation of altitude and speedFederal Aviation AdministrationAirplane Flying Handbook (3C) Chapter 11September 24, 2021 — Distance may be deceptive at night due to lim…
The identical 500-metre altitude assigned to both sightings should therefore not be treated as an independently measured fact. Nothing in the published table indicates triangulation, radar measurement or observation from two surveyed positions. It appears to be a witness estimate. If the true range was different, the calculated or perceived speed could also have been very different.
This weakens one argument made in later reporting: that sky lanterns could be excluded because an object travelling faster than 1,000 kilometres per hour could not be wind-borne.[Congedati Folgore]congedatifolgore.comOpen source on congedatifolgore.com. The physical point is sound—a lantern cannot genuinely fly at such a speed—but the premise is uncertain. Red or orange lanterns can be mistaken for aerial signals or other lights, and aviation authorities have noted that lanterns may drift for considerable distances and reach heights of several thousand feet.[author-portal.tradingstandards.uk]author-portal.tradingstandards.ukIndustry Code of Practice: Sky LanternsAugust 16, 2018 — Sky lanterns should not be red or orange in colour as these may more easily be mistaken for distress flares…
That does not prove that either report was a lantern. The Pinzano entry describes rapid, straight motion, while the later report describes an apparently extreme speed; no documented lantern release has been found in the available material. It does mean that lanterns cannot be dismissed solely by relying on an unaided nighttime speed estimate.
Ordinary aircraft are another possibility, particularly because a distant aircraft seen mainly through a forward-facing or landing light may appear as a red-orange point without an obvious fuselage. Yet the Air Force states that it found no association with known flight activity. That is meaningful negative evidence, although the archive does not specify which civil and military records were consulted, the geographical radius searched or whether unidentified private flying was ruled out.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare
What the Air Force finding does—and does not—establish
Italy’s Air Force receives UFO reports as part of its responsibilities for flight safety and national security. Its published explanation says that an event is classified as an unidentified flying object when investigations cannot identify a technical or natural justification. The label therefore records the outcome of a matching process; it is not a declaration that the reported object displayed impossible technology.[Aeronautica Militare]aeronautica.difesa.itAeronautica Militare OVNIAeronautica MilitareOVNI - Aeronautica Militare…
For Pinzano and Pordenone, the documented result is narrow but worth preserving: neither event could be matched to known aviation or radiosonde activity using the information available to the authorities. This distinguishes the reports from anecdotes that never entered any official process.
The record does not show:
- radar confirmation of either object;
- photographs or video;
- physical effects or recovered material;
- communication with pilots;[faa.gov]faa.govSource details in endnotes.
- independent measurement of altitude or speed;
- a formal determination that both reports concerned the same object;
- documented elimination of astronomical lights, lanterns, flares or every form of private aviation.
The two entries are consequently unresolved reports of moderate local interest, rather than a strong multi-sensor case. Their value lies chiefly in their temporal pairing and their place within the wider concentration of recorded sightings around Pordenone in 2010–12.
One event, two events or one common stimulus?
Three interpretations remain reasonably open.
A single manoeuvring object fits the close timing, similar colour and identical estimated height. It requires the object to have changed direction, and probably speed, between observations. Because no continuous witness coverage or radar track exists, that manoeuvre is possible but unverified.
Two separate objects of the same general kind avoid the route problem. Similar red-orange lights could have appeared independently, especially if connected with a shared local activity such as lantern releases, aircraft operations or distant flares. No specific common source has been documented, however.
Two misperceptions prompted by ordinary but different stimuli are also possible. The apparent similarity may partly result from the limited vocabulary available for isolated nighttime lights: “circular” and “spherical” may describe little more than unresolved points of light, while red and orange are common colours for lamps, flames and lights seen through atmospheric haze.
Later reporting strengthened public awareness of the pairing but did not add the evidence needed to prove it. By describing the object as moving from Pinzano to Pordenone, secondary accounts turned a plausible hypothesis into a more definite narrative than the official entries support.[Congedati Folgore]congedatifolgore.comOpen source on congedatifolgore.com.
The most balanced assessment
The Pinzano and Pordenone sightings deserve to be discussed together because they occurred on the same evening, within the same part of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and involved similarly coloured rounded objects. The official inability to match them with known flights or radiosondes prevents an easy documented identification.
Their linkage nevertheless remains weak. The 25-minute interval implies an unremarkable average speed if the object travelled directly between the towns, whereas the Pordenone report claims more than 1,000 kilometres per hour. The directions fail to describe a simple continuous course, and all crucial distances, heights and speeds appear to have been visually estimated at night.
The case is therefore best classified as two possibly related but insufficiently documented sightings. It is more informative than a lone unreported light because two official entries exist, yet substantially weaker than a case supported by radar, imagery or consistent triangulated observations. Within the region’s UFO history, its main lesson is not that one extraordinary object was proved to have crossed the Pordenone area, but that close timing and visual similarity can suggest a connection that the surviving geometry does not securely confirm.
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Endnotes
1.
Source: aeronautica.difesa.it
Title: Aeronautica Militare
Link:https://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/OVNI-2011.pdf
2.
Source: author-portal.tradingstandards.uk
Title: Industry Code of Practice: Sky Lanterns
Link:https://author-portal.tradingstandards.uk/sites/default/files/Industry-Code-of-Practice-Sky-Lanterns-2014.pdf
Source snippet
August 16, 2018 — Sky lanterns should not be red or orange in colour as these may more easily be mistaken for distress flares...
Published: August 16, 2018
3.
Source: galleriabertoia.comune.pordenone.it
Title: comune.pordenone.it Dati sul territorio — Comune di Pordenone
Link:https://galleriabertoia.comune.pordenone.it/citta/scopri/territorio
4.
Source: comune.pordenone.it
Title: Piano regolatore generale comunale
Link:https://www.comune.pordenone.it/it/comune/amministrazione-trasparente/pianificazione-e-governo-del-territorio/prgc
5.
Source: aeronautica.difesa.it
Title: Aeronautica Militare OVNI
Link:https://www.aeronautica.difesa.it/ovni/
Source snippet
Aeronautica MilitareOVNI - Aeronautica Militare...
6.
Source: congedatifolgore.com
Link:https://www.congedatifolgore.com/it/laeronautica-militare-si-occuoeradi-cinque-casi-di-ufo-in-friuli/
7.
Source: distanzechilometriche.it
Link:https://distanzechilometriche.it/distanza-pinzano-al-tagliamento-a-pordenone
Source snippet
Distanze ChilometricheDistanza da Pinzano al Tagliamento a PordenoneLa distanza in linea retta tra Pinzano al Tagliamento (Pordenone) e P...
8.
Source: faa.gov
Title: This also applies to the estimation of altitude and speed
Link:https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/airplane_handbook/12_afh_ch11.pdf
Source snippet
Federal Aviation AdministrationAirplane Flying Handbook (3C) Chapter 11September 24, 2021 — Distance may be deceptive at night due to lim...
Published: September 24, 2021
9.
Source: wikidata.org
Title: Pinzano al Tagliamento
Link:https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q53180
10.
Source: distanzechilometriche.it
Link:https://distanzechilometriche.it/distanza-pinzano-al-tagliamento-a-san-vito-al-tagliamento
11.
Source: distanzechilometriche.it
Link:https://distanzechilometriche.it/distanza-fagagna-a-pinzano-al-tagliamento
12.
Source: faa.gov
Link:https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/aim_html/chap5_section_4.html
13.
Source: norfolk.gov.uk
Link:https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/43844/Chinese-lanterns
14.
Source: mapcarta.com
Title: Pinzano al Tagliamento
Link:https://mapcarta.com/es/25421546
15.
Source: arun.gov.uk
Link:https://www.arun.gov.uk/balloon-sky-lantern-releases/
16.
Source: it.wikivoyage.org
Title: Pinzano al Tagliamento
Link:https://it.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Pinzano_al_Tagliamento
17.
Source: merseyfire.gov.uk
Link:https://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/safety-advice/community-safety/sky-lanterns/
18.
Source: atsb.gov.au
Link:https://www.atsb.gov.au/sites/default/files/2024-05/FAA-H-8083-3B%20Chapter%2010.pdf
19.
Source: hwb.gov.wales
Link:https://hwb.gov.wales/api/storage/6f1582f4-be69-40eb-99bf-99c8a799f47a/Task%2090%20Sky%20lanterns%202.pdf
20.
Source: investinitaly.gov.it
Link:https://www.investinitaly.gov.it/en/business-location/pordenone-san-vito-al-tagliamento
21.
Source: manchesterfire.gov.uk
Title: Sky Lanterns
Link:https://manchesterfire.gov.uk/your-safety/home-fire-safety/celebrating-safely/sky-lanterns/
Additional References
22.
Source: tuttitalia.it
Title: Comuni limitrofi a Pinzano al Tagliamento (PN)
Link:https://www.tuttitalia.it/friuli-venezia-giulia/51-pinzano-al-tagliamento/35-comuni-limitrofi/
Source snippet
Pinzano al Tagliamento (PN) | 0 km | 1.493... Tramonti di Sotto | 16,2 km | 336... PORDENONE | 33,3 km | 52.314...
23.
Source: exeter-airport.co.uk
Title: chinese lanterns
Link:https://exeter-airport.co.uk/chinese-lanterns/
Source snippet
Exeter AirportChinese Lanterns3 Feb 2011 — CAA has issued guidance on the release of sky lanterns. Sky lanterns could cause navigational...
24.
Source: youtube.com
Title: UFO Files #7: UFO Invasion in Italy
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhZOvhOFBuw
Source snippet
Italy's Most Incredible UFO Encounters - Real Footage and Untold Stories...
25.
Source: researchgate.net
Link:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23790877_Observers_cannot_accurately_estimate_the_speed_of_an_approaching_object_in_flight
26.
Source: bufora.org.uk
Link:https://www.bufora.org.uk/sightings/analysis-of-ufo-photographs
27.
Source: italiamappata.it
Link:https://www.italiamappata.it/friuli-venezia-giulia/123-pinzano-al-tagliamento/
28.
Source: percorsomigliore.com
Link:https://www.percorsomigliore.com/distanza/pinzano-al-tagliamento/portenau/
29.
Source: learntoflyblog.com
Link:https://learntoflyblog.com/procedures-and-airport-operations-night-flight-approaches-and-landings/
30.
Source: comuni-italiani.it
Link:https://www.comuni-italiani.it/093/030/limitrofi.html
31.
Source: jrupprechtlaw.com
Link:https://jrupprechtlaw.com/section-107-51-operating-limitations-for-small-unmanned-aircraft/