Right, so a few things immediately stand out to me here that I'd want to rule out before going further.
First - what time was this, and what were atmospheric conditions like? I've been out with a Zoom H6 doing EVP sessions near Epping Forest at night and you'd be amazed how disorienting low cloud layers combined with light pollution can make completely mundane objects look genuinely unsettling. Doesn't mean that's what happened, just worth considering.
The hovering detail is the interesting bit. Drones can hover obviously, but past a certain wind speed they struggle to hold position. Was it a still night? Any sound at all? That distinction matters enormously.
A few things I'd ask:
Did it show any navigational lighting patterns (alternating red/green)?, How long did it maintain the hover before it moved or disappeared?, Did it leave any trace - broken branches, flattened vegetation, anything you noticed the morning after?
That last one's important. I always do a proper site check the following day. Even a thermal anomaly on the ground can tell you something.
The treeline location is actually quite significant too. A lot of genuinely unexplained reports share that specific detail - the object appearing to use wooded areas rather than just passing over open ground. I've got several documented cases in my own files from Essex and Suffolk that follow that exact pattern.
Don't let anyone dismiss this until you've documented everything properly. Write down every detail now while it's fresh - distance estimation, angular size relative to known objects, duration, direction of travel if any.
Would genuinely like to hear more specifics from you.
