Strange lights in Lufkin? Blame lit lanterns

LUFKIN, TX Some residents on Saturday night reported seeing "strange orange lights" floating over a park and headed toward Nacogdoches.

Now some participants in a wedding say the ceremony included the release of several dozen lit Chinese lanterns attached to balloons.

Gail Cummings, who reported the foreign lights, told the Lufkin Daily News that she hopes this is the explanation, to "put things to rest."

Fire Marshal Lee Fran Skelton says it's a dangerous idea to send anything burning into the air because "you have no idea where the lanterns will drop."

Lufkin is 115 miles northeast of Houston.