flashing light in sky sept 2,2005

[camp_man_84]

on sept 2 2005 - friday night i was camping with my girl friend - i have been looking at the night sky ever since i was a kid 48 years old now - <br />i live at Latitude North 39.3139 Longitude West 87.9965 <br /> we saw a flashing light in the sky --it wasnt a plane-- it flashed at a rate of 1 flash per every 100 seconds it dint stay in the same place but it did stay inside of small box if you draw on in the sky -- the box i used were 4 stars as the coroner points if you help your thumb up and sited it was a thumb lenght per side -- it jumped around inside of that box - <br />it was 170 degrees and at 10 oclock in the sky<br />we timed it i have never seen this before i have seen sat. ,planes, everything you can think of in the sky but have never seen this <br />it was a clear night not a cloud in the sky<br />if you can find out what it is i would like to know what it is i will look again monday night (for i work weekend nights cant get out ) for it to see if it is still there<br />thanks<br /><br /><br />

 

[igorsboss]

Fireflies?<br /><br />I'm serious... Nothing in your description can be used to determine the distance to the object. You might have been thinking about distant aircraft when it was only a firefly about 10 meters away from you.<br /><br />Since you have a companion, you can rule fireflies in or out using triangulation. To do this, stand about 10 meters apart and watch for a flash. When you agree that you both witnessed a flash at the same time, compare the direction in which you each saw the flash. If the directions are parallel, the flash was a long way away. If the directions diverge, you saw different flashes at the same time. If the directions intersect, the flash is very close: fireflies.

 

[camp_man_84]

i said ten oclock in the sky not 10 pm<br />170 degrees on a compass <br />and yes we werre apart and still saw it <br />as i said it wasnt a plane nor was it a firefly i do know the difference and if you would of read what i wrote and not what you think i wrote you would of known that <br />as i said i have never seen anything like this before and i have never seen a firefly flash with that<br /> type of regularity

 

[tfwthom]

Just to be nice....<br /><br />From the location at about 10pm SSE about 170 degrees.<br /><br />Sounds like Fomalhaut cutting through a lot of sky. That would give it the jumping around, the flashing, etc. http://www.solstation.com/stars/fomalhau.htm<br /><br />Once I had an experence with Izar doing that to me (before I knew better) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[kmarinas86]

Helicopters do not flash every 100 seconds. In fact, no manned aircraft in existence flashes at that rate. Also, I know of no towers than can move a light around so you can rule out towers. Swamp gas (i.e. Natural Gas) does not flash regularly and looks like a cloud. Fuel Dump from rockets don't flash every 100 seconds. Satellites can't reverse their direction. Balloons don't flash. Birds don't flash.<br /><br />There is one other logical conclusion, besides non-stealth military aircraft - Extraterrestrial-cause, or angelic-cause if you want to call it that. If you look at some African religions that look to the sky, you'll see that some of them have visitation from the stars written all over them. What you see is very likely to be nothing new to humankind. <br /><br /><font color="yellow">Caption: Swamp Gas</font>/safety_wrapper>

 

[kmarinas86]

<font color="yellow">Sounds like Fomalhaut cutting through a lot of sky. That would give it the jumping around, the flashing, etc. http://www.solstation.com/stars/fomalhau.htm<br /></font><br />A star does not suddenly change several arcseconds in position in the night sky. He says the object moved within a box the width of a thumb held up (arm's length). Also, a fist covers 10 degrees of vision at arms length, while a thumb is more than 1 degree wide at arms length. Remember that other stars were just next to it, so it's unlikely that this is a perceptual issue, because certainly, the other stars didn't seem to be moving - not that they ever appear to move in their own directions.

 

[camp_man_84]

the other stars were normal looking and did nothing out of the ordinary just that one light flashing <br /><br />thank you all for trying to help with this i am going out tonight to see if it is there again will let you all know if it is or isnt

 

[tfwthom]

A star does not suddenly change several arcseconds in position in the night sky. He says the object moved within a box the width of a thumb held up (arm's length). <br /><br />Then you haven't spent much time observing if you have seen Venus, Capella, Sirius, etc cutting through enough atmosphere to jump a 1/2 a degree as they rise.<br /><br />From Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy<br /><br />"Stars are big, but they are so far away that they appear to be very small, much smaller to our eyes than each of these air bundles. So when the light gets bent, the apparent movement of the star is larger than the size of the star in the sky, and we see the star shifting around" <br /><br />"This effect also plays with a star's color. Blue and green light get bent more than orange and red, so sometimes in very turbulent seeing a star's colors will rapidly change. This usually happens when the star is low on the horizon (so there's more air for it to pass through). The brighter the star, the easier it is to see; Sirius, the brightest nighttime star, is often seen changing from green to red to orange and back, very rapidly. I've seen it myself and it's quite lovely. If you're not prepared for it it's quite surprising; many people report a UFO when they see it!" <br /><br />And a thunb at arms length is not a degree it's the little finger that is one degree.. <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1" color="#3366ff">www.siriuslookers.org</font> </div>

 

[kmarinas86]

kmarinas86: <font color="yellow">A star does not suddenly change several arcseconds in position in the night sky. He says the object moved within a box the width of a thumb held up (arm's length). Also, a fist covers 10 degrees of vision at arms length, while a thumb is more than 1 degree wide at arms length. Remember that other stars were just next to it, so it's unlikely that this is a perceptual issue, because certainly, the other stars didn't seem to be moving - not that they ever appear to move in their own directions.</font><br /><br />So, my thumb, is more than 1 degree, so around 1.5 degrees, 2 degrees, or whatever.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">Then you haven't spent much time observing if you have seen Venus, Capella, Sirius, etc cutting through enough atmosphere to jump a 1/2 a degree as they rise.</font><br /><br />I look at the stars every now and then. I live in Northwest Houston and the altitude a few hundred feet, so the atmopsphere is thick here, especially during high pressure.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">"Stars are big, but they are so far away that they appear to be very small, much smaller to our eyes than each of these air bundles. So when the light gets bent, the apparent movement of the star is larger than the size of the star in the sky, and we see the star shifting around"</font><br /><br />Of course, but also, stars twinkle as the light distorts it, they do not flash as in a flash light of an airplane, or what have you.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">"This effect also plays with a star's color. Blue and green light get bent more than orange and red, so sometimes in very turbulent seeing a star's colors will rapidly change. This usually happens when the star is low on the horizon (so there's more air for it to pass through). The brighter the star, the easier it is to see; Sirius, the brightest nighttime star, is often seen changing from green to red to orange and back, very rapidly. I've seen it myself and it's qu</font>

 

[sawit]

Event occured 29 January 2005, 4:30 AM EST in NY<br /><br /><br />The reason I am posting to this thread was my search from google gave me this threaded message of Sept 2, 2005 -- My search was prompted by a similar event that occured early this morning.<br /><br />At approximately 4:30 A.M. I was looking up at the night sky from my skylight, waking from a good sleep. I saw, for approximately 30 to 50 seconds, a series of flashing red lights given off by a plane or satellite. The object was "jumping" in the sky in a well defined geometric pattern in what appeared to be a "box formation" in the sky (as previous poster seemed to lay that out, correctly --even the area of the box he descrbed seems about right). It would jump from one corner of the "box" in the sky to another, then another and would return, VERY precisely, in a very programmed-like fashion. After the 30 to 50 secs. passed, the object then went eastward and out of my view ( as I looked up at the skylight ). The red flashing lights were VERY vibrant while it jumped, but when going straight eastward, was dimmer and a straight course. It was in the southern sky along the very broad eliptical that the stars and planets follow (as that is what part of sky that is captured in our skylight). I live around 42 degree 27 N 076 degree 30 W. <br /><br /> Has ANY ONE else seen it or has commented on it? It looked lower than I'd seen satellites move, but higher than a small plane's altitude. It, too, was a clear night last night over my home. Stars were shining bright (but a messy cloudy day some 8 hours later).<br /><br />Signed: Saw it (to comfirm initial sighting)

 

[kmarinas86]

http://www.terraserver.com/imagery/image_gx.asp?cpx=-76.5&cpy=40.45&res=8&provider_id=305<br /><br />Impossible to be a known satellite because the motion you describe would be very uneconomical in terms of the thrust needed to do what it did.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">It would jump from one corner of the "box" in the sky to another, then another and would return, VERY precisely, in a very programmed-like fashion.</font><br /><br />Cause is an obvious explanation as to why you use the words "precisely" and "programmed".<br /><br /><font color="yellow">After the 30 to 50 secs. passed, the object then went eastward and out of my view ( as I looked up at the skylight ).</font><br /><br />While assuming that it truly went eastward:<br />Planets, stars, comets, etc and the sun set in the west. Therefore, this must be something else (not a planet, star, comet, and obviously not the sun). To assert otherwise would demand supernatural intervention (and is therefore not a real option).<br /><br /><font color="yellow">I saw, for approximately 30 to 50 seconds, a series of flashing red lights given off by a plane or satellite.</font><br /><br />Can't be a satellite. It's not a plane if the following is true:<br /><br /><font color="yellow">The object was "jumping" in the sky in a well defined geometric pattern in what appeared to be a "box formation" in the sky (as previous poster seemed to lay that out, correctly --even the area of the box he descrbed seems about right).</font><br /><br />Planes do not jump, they work because the wings give them lift. The harrier jump jet can only hover for 33 seconds. Helicopters only for a few hours. The way wings are designed means that the plane cannot travel backwards. Jumping implies an acceleration and deceleration. Rise in altitude by a flying craft is meas

 

[sawit]

Thank you for your interest. It seems ALL that you say is very logical. It seems what I saw is VERY VERY unlikely, yet I assure you it was seen. <br /><br />I say it was programmed and precise because it happened without slop, in what appeared to be a flash pattern that was "computerized". Now it could be (the craft or satellite) larger than what I thought and the pattern of light went off in different areas underneath the craft, giving the appearance of it jumping, but not really. That might explain BOTH Camp_maN_84 and my observed phenomenon. <br /><br />It was indeed moving eastward, and YES, therefore, it was man-made. Definitely.<br /><br />I heard NO sounds, as I was in my bedroom. It was definitely higher in the sky than a helicopter, and perhaps as high as a VERY low moving satellite. But it was man-made. The immediate thought in my head was that it was taking survey pictures. Jumps with the flashes were 4-8 times. Yes perhaps 4-8 times the lights "jumped" in that area. <br /><br />I live in Central NY. For the record, I am just putting my observations down and my brain is satisfied with that. If it isn't known now, at some point, enough people will have seen it to make sense of it. I am satisfied it won't be answered now. But thanks for trying!