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Author Topic: What sky phenomena is this?  (Read 286 times)

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Chandler

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What sky phenomena is this?
« on: March 11, 2010, 08:52:59 AM »
http://www.moss-avis.no/polopoly_fs/ildkule-lysfenomen-ufo-1.4816564!image/3916617052.jpg_gen/derivatives/derivative_780/3916617052.jpg?modified=1268223296000

This picture was in a local newspaper, with people calling UFO as usual.
The description from the people who saw it is:

Quote
Early in the evening they were out stargazing with their 2 year old son. Suddenly a big, orange cylinder appeared in the skies in the west-north-west direction. "It was glowing and it was big. I'm sure it would have crushed the town if it had landed", said the 38 year old mother.
"It was at the same height as planes, but it wasn't and airplane. It was much bigger and completely silent, and there was some kind of mist/steam around it. The whole show lasted for 4-5 minutes."
Other witnesses used to seeing planes in the skies said it was much brighter than a plane at approach. It apparently moved north-west until it disappeared
Complete article in Norwegian

The woman reporting this obviuosly can't be very bright because "it was at the same height of planes" and it was "completely silent". Personally I have a hard time hearing the engine sounds of a plane at cruising altitude.

I think this must be some sort of cloud lit by the sun below the horizon, but I'm sure you lot have some other good theories as well :)
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Chew

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2010, 09:03:10 AM »
It's a crappy picture. Can't tell what the hell it is.
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Anders

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2010, 09:13:33 AM »
The woman reporting this obviuosly can't be very bright because "it was at the same height of planes" and it was "completely silent". Personally I have a hard time hearing the engine sounds of a plane at cruising altitude.

Anyway, judging distance against the sky is very difficult. This is completely worthless.
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seaotter

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2010, 09:40:30 AM »
I'm going to say meteor up close
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Anders

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2010, 09:49:21 AM »
Could it be Bigfoot?
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Evil Eye

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2010, 03:32:33 PM »
They also removed all data from the image.

Hoax.

(not that it isn't something, but hell... it could be a finger)
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iResonate

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2010, 03:46:01 PM »
It was probably the Sun as it set. There is no limit to the stupidity of some people, it wouldn't surprise me.
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cerveauxfrits

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2010, 03:47:46 PM »
I'd like to see a full-frame photograph before judging anything.  Pictures that are blown up and cropped to the point where the dust on the camera lens becomes a prominent feature of the image never impress me much. 

That said, it could be anything.  The things it most looks like to me are things that you wouldn't see in the sky, though: poor exposure or development or light leakage if it's a film photograph, a laser pointer or similar bright light source if it's a digital photograph.

Unless we hear stories coming in from more people, I'm inclined to say this witness's testimony is likely to be rather more fanciful than the truth.  What she describes is spectacular, anyone else who was looking at the sky at the time would have to have seen something like that.  Google says Moss is a town of ~40,000 people, so I have a hard time believing these were the only people in the area to look up during this 5-minute period.
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Evil Eye

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2010, 04:49:50 PM »
My question is ... How do we even get from that picture to in the "sky"?
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cerveauxfrits

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2010, 05:03:03 PM »
My question is ... How do we even get from that picture to in the "sky"?

One person's uncorroborated claims.
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FoxPaws

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #10 on: March 12, 2010, 01:53:39 AM »
That looks like what happens when film is in a light-leaking camera.... Maybe they should just start doing some lomography!
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Beams

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2010, 07:41:20 AM »
As stated above, without a better picture it's hard to tell, but my guess is an aurora.

I'd watch the Bad Astronomy blog. Phil Plait will probably get to it.
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Chandler

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2010, 03:29:05 AM »
Mystery solved!

It was a Chinese Lantern sent up by a 7 year old kid and her father.
They contacted the newspaper right after the event, but the article didn't get published until today.

Quote
"We sent it up just a few hundred meters from where the people in the original article reported seeing it.
If I hadn't known what it was I might've started wondering myself. It glowed a lot"


Original article in Norwegian

Pictures of the "launch":

#1
#2
#3
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Chew

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2010, 05:30:22 AM »
Thanks for the follow-up.

Does your town have a lot of Chinese-Norwegian hoaxers?
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Chandler

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Re: What sky phenomena is this?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2010, 05:40:23 AM »
This is the first "good" UFO story in our local newspaper that I can remember, so we don't really have any hoaxers at all. We have lots of weirdos who sees spaceships where there are only lanterns, though.
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