As a young man, he would tie lanterns to kites and set them aloft at
night, then he would visit the pubs the next day to hear the locals
talk about the "comet" they saw in the sky and what they might
portend.

So UFO hoaxes are nothing new and were even done by some of the
biggest names in history.

The Dog Star, Sirius, is also quite prominent in the night sky now. Being
near the horizon, the brightest star in our sky (after the Sun) often
flickers in rainbow colors. For people unfamiliar with the night sky (and
there are way too many of those), Sirius and Venus and anything else
that doesn't appear like an ordinary star is subject to uneducated
suspicion.

I once talked with a woman who swore a glowing, flicking UFO hovered
right over her driveway. It turned out to be Sirius, which she was of
course unfamiliar with and somehow assumed it was nearby rather than
8 light years away. Aurorae, bright meteors, satellites, and even
airplanes have created similar UFO reports.

This video shows nothing more than a point of light; you can't even
tell if it's moving or not.