Triangular lights over the Thames near Woolwich, Tuesday 6th Feb, around 11pm

Posting this while it's still fresh because I want to get the details down properly. Tuesday the 6th of February, approximately 10:55pm. I was standing on the riverbank near Woolwich Arsenal station waiting for a mate who was coming off a late shift. Clear night, cold, maybe 3 degrees, very little cloud cover. There was a bit of ambient noise from the road but the river itself was quiet. I'd been standing there maybe ten minutes when I noticed three lights in a triangular formation moving very slowly westward over the Thames.

The lights were a pale amber colour - not quite orange, not quite white - and they were absolutely silent. That's the thing that got my attention first, the silence. A helicopter would have been audible from that distance easily, and these were low enough that a helicopter would have been deafening. The triangle was quite large, I'd estimate each side maybe the length of a bus or possibly longer, though judging scale at night is obviously difficult. The whole thing moved at a steady, unhurried pace for about forty seconds and then the lights just went out, one after another, starting from the rear-most point.

My mate arrived literally two minutes later and I described it to him straight away so he can corroborate what I said at the time. I did take my phone out to film but by the time I'd unlocked it the lights had already gone. I've reported it to the British UFO Research Association and I'd encourage anyone else who was in the Woolwich or Thamesmead area that night to post here if they saw something. Genuinely stumped.

The triangular formation is the most commonly reported UAP configuration over UK urban areas, interestingly. There were similar reports over the Thames corridor back in 2019 that BUFORA logged but never publicly released findings on. The amber colouration is slightly different from the usual white or red reports - most triangular craft sightings I've read describe white lights at the vertices. Doesn't invalidate your sighting at all, just an interesting variation.

London City Airport is just up the river from Woolwich and there's always odd flight traffic at odd hours, including cargo and private aircraft doing approaches and go-arounds. I'm not saying that's definitely what it was but it's worth looking at FlightRadar24 for that exact time window - it logs ADS-B transponder data and you might be able to cross reference. If nothing shows up for that time and location then that is genuinely interesting.

the lights just went out, one after another, starting from the rear-most point

Was there any military exercise notice for that stretch of the river? The MOD occasionally does stuff along the Thames corridor, especially near Woolwich given the historical Arsenal connection - some of the old facilities are still used for purposes that don't get much public announcement. Just worth asking the question.

I live in Thamesmead and I was walking the dog around that time on Tuesday but I was facing the other way toward the estate. Didn't see anything. However my dog went absolutely mental for no apparent reason around quarter past eleven and refused to walk further toward the river which is very unlike her. Whether that's connected I have no idea but thought it worth mentioning.

Drones mate. I know that's boring but a formation of three coordinated drones with amber lights doing a slow river traverse is entirely plausible in 2024. Not saying it was definitely that but before we get to the aliens bit we should probably rule out enthusiasts or a commercial shoot of some kind. Still worth reporting to NATS as well as BUFORA.

The Woolwich to Greenwich stretch of the Thames has an unusual number of sightings on record actually, going back well before drones were a thing. There are logs from the 1970s and 1980s of similar formations reported by river workers and dockers. Something about that particular bend in the river seems to attract reports. Whether that means anything or is just confirmation bias in the local folklore, I couldn't say.