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optical illusion
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 01:11 | Message # 16 |
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| Quote (SpaceEngineer) Venus? I saw it last night - it is extremely bright, I even couldn't resolve its shape in the 25x binoculars. You may easily see it in a daytime.
anonymousgamer's object can not be Venus; Venus is visible in the morning currently, and his object was seen in the afternoon.
lexrazor's object is also very unlikely to be Venus, as it was twinkling, which large planets like Venus and Jupiter almost never do.
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Edited by HarbingerDawn - Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 01:12 |
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| lexrazor | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 01:18 | Message # 17 |
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| Quote (HarbingerDawn) Figuring out the exact direction isn't very difficult... just remember what direction it was and use Google Earth to find the azimuth (heading). And you can estimate the height in the sky by using your hands and fingers.
As for the star chart thing, download the planetarium software "Stellarium". Best free planetarium software available, in my opinion.
ill try everything i can out
Quote (HarbingerDawn) This is common for bright stars relatively near to the horizon. What was the exact time of day (what was the hour)?
it was around 11pm i think. i didnt really pay much attention to the time but it was bout the same time the previous day.
Quote (SpaceEngineer) Venus? I saw it last night - it is extremely bright, I even couldn't resolve its shape in the 25x binoculars.
maybe but why would it disapear and reappear over and over and not move at all?
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| anonymousgamer | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 01:22 | Message # 18 |
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| Ok, so the "altitude" of the object was about 30 degrees, i.e. this photo
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| Antza2 | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 07:29 | Message # 19 |
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| Could it have been a weather balloon?
Go to antza2.deviantart.com for cool photos!
Edited by Antza2 - Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 07:32 |
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 10:38 | Message # 20 |
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| Quote (lexrazor) it was around 11pm i think
At that time the bright star Capella would have been rising in that direction. It would probably have looked very much like what you described. As for why it would disappear and reappear, I can't say. It is a close-orbiting binary, but they're not eclipsing, and the timescale doesn't match up anyway.
I assume you live in a place with a fair amount of light pollution?
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| pebble | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 12:18 | Message # 21 |
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| Quote (lexrazor) Tonight i was sitting outside and its a pretty clear night and i was looking at this star/planet im not really sure which one it is. Im not really good at recognising the bodies.
Perhaps you could use this virtual planetarium to help illustrate where you saw the object. You'll need to set it for your location with the map pin icon, and then the time and date of your observation. Then just take a screenshot of the part of the sky you were observing, and post it here.
Edited by pebble - Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 12:19 |
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| lexrazor | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 12:23 | Message # 22 |
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| It could be. no its a pretty small town and there wasnt a lot of light coming from around the houses or street lights around my place. Ill try to observe it again tonight and see if it will be at the same place. and ill also try to compare it with any star charts i can find. and ill figure out a way to give a better description of the location
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| pebble | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 12:27 | Message # 23 |
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| Quote (anonymousgamer) I saw something similar during the day... I was at the beach, and this white dot was in the sky. Unmoving, unblinking.
On several occasions I've seen brilliant daytime objects that appeared to be unmoving, or moving very slowly, that turned out to be lost mylar party balloons. Until they got close enough to resolve, they looked for all the world like some metallic object. I've also seen more than one tangled together, and those can tumble and move about each other in the most enigmatic, erratic fashion.
What are the prevailing winds around the area? Could it be something released from the ground, and which floated downwind?
Not saying that's what it is, just offering that possibility.
Edited by pebble - Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 13:20 |
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| lexrazor | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 12:39 | Message # 24 |
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| Quote (pebble) Perhaps you could use this virtual planetarium to help illustrate where you saw the object. You'll need to set it for your location with the map pin icon, and then the time and date of your observation. Then just take a screenshot of the part of the sky you were observing, and post it here.
thanks for the link pebble i looked up the time and the rough location and i came up with 3 possible objects. Either Capella as HarbingerDawn suggested or Jupiter or Aldebaran. Thought the timing and angle for Jupiter and Aldebaran is a bit off for my POV i suspect it could actually be Aldebaran. But it still doesnt explain the way the object twinkled and disappeared.
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| pebble | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 13:19 | Message # 25 |
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| Perhaps you could look in the same area at night and see if the object is there again?
And usually planets and stars don't disappear like that. So that's curious.
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 13:23 | Message # 26 |
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| Quote (lexrazor) Thought the timing and angle for Jupiter and Aldebaran is a bit off for my POV i suspect it could actually be Aldebaran. But it still doesnt explain the way the object twinkled and disappeared.
Jupiter would not be twinkling, and Aldebaran would be noticeably red and not very forgettable, so I think Capella might be your best bet.
As for the disappearing, the only thing that makes sense would be a cloud passing in front of it or something, but in an area with any light pollution that would be immediately obvious, and in an area with dark skies you should still be able to tell. So it remains a mystery.
I suggest that if you have any friends with good cameras that you ask one to try to take a picture of the object and post it here, that would help to solve the mystery.
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| lexrazor | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 14:29 | Message # 27 |
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| @HarbingerDawn
i guess im one of the unlucky ones who dont own a home telescope or a pair of binoculars or even a good cam. But i would definitely keep track of that object as best as i can.
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| HarbingerDawn | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 15:29 | Message # 28 |
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| Why the object has been twinkling has never been the mystery, only why it disappears...
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| anonymousgamer | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 21:28 | Message # 29 |
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| Quote (pebble) What are the prevailing winds around the area?
It was a very calm day. I did think it could be a weather balloon, but the thing was like a stuck pixel on a TV. It did not move at all.
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| Flynn | Date: Tuesday, 11.09.2012, 23:57 | Message # 30 |
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| Ive seen this at least three times, i didn't expect to see this posted here.. though it sort of makes sense. I posted on Facebook but no one replied or reported anything about it there =/. Maybe you guys will be more interested..
I live in Denver, Colorado, USA and fly aircraft privately with a few friends of mine somewhat regularly from Colorado to the Mid-West around Nebraska and Iowa. (I myself have almost attained my license! Just my Cross Country Solo, a few lessons, the test, and bam! but not quite....).
And I know this is the internet and anyone can say anything without concequence, but I completely and whole-heartedly swear and affirm to what I post here in this post. So take that for what it's worth.
The most recent, A few nights ago (Sept. 8th, 2012), I was traveling in the car with a friend of mine headed to her place. I recall looking out the window (to the North i believe, traveling West) and looking up at the stars on the fairly clear night. One star in particular which was center in view and caught my attention slowly faded out of view and into nothing. I stared for a few minutes but it didn't come back. I was estatic lol. It was blue/white just like any other star. Didn't really stand out, but i was looking straight at it when it started to disappear. I'd say there were probably less than maybe 50 stars visible at the time?
Edit: It was a relatively clear night, maybe a thin band of cirrus up above but i remember being able to see a vast majority of the night sky unobstructed.
The second event I can remember is when I was flying back through Nebraska to Colorado in July (this year) with a friend of mine. It was late at night, probably 2200-2300 Local time (GMT-6) and i remember we were facing a nasty headwind passing over Omaha, something like 35kts, so we were dragging slow headed West in our DA-20. We were tuned into Omaha's departure and arrival frequencies so we could listen for incoming and outbound traffic. My friend (the Pilot in Command) noticed the object first and pointed it out. It was a little yellow but otherwise looked like a very bright sphere/star. As a pilot, there is a concern with head-on collisions. So we flipped our Garmin1000 (a fancy glass cockpit for aircraft) and turned to the TIS (Traffic Information Service) which displays information on nearby aircraft. There was nothing within 12nm on the screen, and we were actively receiving TIS service from KOMA. My friend even grabbed his binoculars and tried to look at the object but claimed it looked just like a blurry sphere. I tried but i couldn't get the binoculars to work in my favor before it started. The object started moving to our left at a steady pace, but did not change in shape, velocity, or altitude. What was weird was there was no flashing beacon (as per FAR regulations after sunset all aircraft are required to have one) or a rotating beacon. Nor were there the standard green/red wind nav lights. The object never got brighter nor dimmer, and stopped moving when it was abeam our Port wing (left). It stayed there for approximately 30 seconds to a minute before it faded into nothing. We didn't know what to make of it. And watched the area intensively for the better part of twenty minutes before giving up on both the light and making it home for the night. We ended up in Grand Island, NE for the evening.
AND the third time;
I was attending the EAA Oshkosh festival this year at Oshkosh Wisconsin, USA. Its the world's largest aviation celebration / airshow with attendees and showcases from all over the world. One night in particular the friend of mine I had been flying with over Omaha, NE and I decided to go lay on one of the busiest runway in the world at that time (RWY 9/27). It was after 2000 (GMT-6 again) as the runways were closed and you weren't allowed on them prior to that time with aircraft operations. I'd have to say it must have been around 2100 to 2300. As we were laying on the runway we were actually discussing seeing things in the sky, and I recall looking over to our left which would have to have been WNW (so more West than North) from the way we were laying. I caught a single bright light and what i thought was a red light nearby it. Immediately i called out about it and my friend looked over, the red disappeared and he says he caught the white disappearing just as he looked over. There was no aircraft sounds, and the sky was clear and conditions were pleasant with a slight 3-5kt breeze. The runway was closed so it there shouldn't have been traffic.
So What did I see?
I can't explain it and yeah i will admit i've watched Ancient Aliens, all of them, but i am also a generally skeptical person. I've looked further into similar stuff and have even gotten into Egyptian, Summerian, and Babylonian mythologies and accounts of stuff. Now they'll put anything on TV, especially American television. So I'm definitely not saying it was Aliens, but i've seen what i've seen. There's strange stuff in this world. Past and Present.
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Edited by Flynn - Wednesday, 12.09.2012, 00:03 |
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