Visible Gaseous Anomoly

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devongrant

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Visible anomaly.<br /><br />My wife and I witnessed a very large, if visibly discrete, gaseous anomaly in the nights sky between the position of the stars Mizar and Thuban at 22:35pst on August the 20th, 2006. It was a very large cloud like apparition (similar in form to the comet I had seen in 1986 when witnessing Halley’s comet) and only visible when one focused away from the apparition, apparently due to the light pollution of our neighborhood. At 22:37 hours, I reported back to my wife that it had disappeared, to which she was very surprised. I had told her initially that I saw a comet, and she acknowledged that she saw gas cloud as well, and was then as surprised as myself to find that only a minute later, the anomaly had vanished.<br /><br />Any reports of this type of course are subject to objective skepticism, and I hope to hear soon that other people were witnesses to the same exciting (if insignificant) astronomical event.<br /><br />Truly<br /><br />Devon Woollett<br />
 
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qso1

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This may have been a barium cloud or similar experiment .Similar to what the DOD used to do. I saw one many years ago. The chemical was released in space to simulate an Aurora I suppose. It was quite a show because it was about three times the apparent diameter of the moon and colorful with greens reds, being predomenint. I havn't heard of this type experimentation in recent years and the one you witnessed sounds much more subdued but thats at least one possible explanation. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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devongrant

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Cool, if disappointing; I was hoping to have witnessed a supernova!
 
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devongrant

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There weren't any colors at all.<br /><br />I mean - man - it was weird- just a lonley, vauge whitish cloud that seemed a gajillions miles way.<br /><br />The thing that really brought my attention to it was that we could barely see it. You know, I go out every night to look at the stars...HOLTY &%$#@! IT JUST CANE BACK!
 
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qso1

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Thats what I thought from your previous description. No colors, You say it just came back. Is it still in the same general position you initially saw it in? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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devongrant

Guest
have you stepped outside -objectivly- to see if *you* could see anything?....
 
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qso1

Guest
Any chance its there but simply getting blocked by high altitude, thin but opaque enough clouds? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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qso1

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I have not stepped outside because viewing conditions at my location are too compromised by light pollution. If its less than say, 500 miles up. I wouldnt see it anyway due to its altitude unless its well above 40 degrees elevation. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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devongrant

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word. It's gone again, regardless. I've sent my "report" to JPL, and SETI (expecting nothing, of course) and have nothing left to do (read here: my wife is going to kill me if I do not go to bed right mow and stop all of this nonsense), so cheers, and I hope that the agencies reading this right now don't hassle you or I any time soon.
 
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qso1

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I don't think there is any danger of JPL etc hassling you or me. Will probably never know what it was unless it appears again. If that occurs, be ready with a digital cam with excellent night capabilities if you have one. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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qso1

Guest
Initially I thought that but it sounded rather large and I cannot recall ever seeing a galaxy or even a nebula with the unaided eye. But I never really got the opportunity to do any astronomy at a really dark location. Its disappearance and reappearance is easily explained by higher altitude clouds that are not reflecting ground light sources.<br /><br />What is its apparent diameter compared to the moon?<br /><br />I'd never be able to see any nebula or galaxy from the megalopolis I live in. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>
 
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devongrant

Guest
It was certainly as large as the moon, a did not move or change shape. I love the idea of it being a galaxy, but I have been looking up at the night's sky long enough to have noticed and been familiar with this feature before...<br /><br />It is *very* possible that it was a high cloud, but I's sticking with "something else"...;)
 
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MeteorWayne

Guest
qso1's idea sounds good to me, with one other idea in mind (assuming of course it wasn't a cloud)<br />I've seen these barium experiments a few times, and they range from a small colorless puffs, to colorful clouds tens of degrees across, looking like a circular aurora. On the east coast they launch them from Wallops Is., VA.<br /><br />One other thought was possibly a water dump from the ISS? I'm not even sure they do that, since water is so precious. I know the Shuttle does it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>
 
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