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Things That Are NOT UFOs

Finally made it outside on time (and had a clear night) to see a Starlink train (forecast from https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink )

And bloody hell, there were a lot of them. Dozens of Starlinks in their merry little chain going roughly west to east, other sats going north, some south. Reminded me of that deleted scene from Star Wars when Luke is watching the Tantive IV/Star Destroyer battle from the ground.

Didn't see much in the way of the Lyrid meteor shower though (they peak Tuesday), maybe brief flashes in the corner of the eye.
 
Finally made it outside on time (and had a clear night) to see a Starlink train (forecast from https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink )
That sounds fascinating, I will give it a go tonight.

In other 'things that are not ufos' news, I was watching some terrible 'paranormal video' type programme on youtube and people in Mexico keep seeing so-called 'Ebani', like worms undulating in the sky. Are they a lifeform? From Outer Space?
No they're not, they're actually strings of balloons. Because putting up big arches of balloons is popular in Mexico.
Ebanis una gran mentira. Oh well. They look pretty weird though.
 
Finally made it outside on time (and had a clear night) to see a Starlink train (forecast from https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink )

And bloody hell, there were a lot of them. Dozens of Starlinks in their merry little chain going roughly west to east, other sats going north, some south. Reminded me of that deleted scene from Star Wars when Luke is watching the Tantive IV/Star Destroyer battle from the ground.

Didn't see much in the way of the Lyrid meteor shower though (they peak Tuesday), maybe brief flashes in the corner of the eye.
WOW - that's a great resource Tribble - thanks!
Finally made it outside on time (and had a clear night) to see a Starlink train (forecast from https://james.darpinian.com/satellites/?special=starlink )

And bloody hell, there were a lot of them. Dozens of Starlinks in their merry little chain going roughly west to east, other sats going north, some south. Reminded me of that deleted scene from Star Wars when Luke is watching the Tantive IV/Star Destroyer battle from the ground.

Didn't see much in the way of the Lyrid meteor shower though (they peak Tuesday), maybe brief flashes in the corner of the eye.
 
I've also just mentioned my encounter with the starlink bunch last night, trying to scam a neighbour, over on the "WTF" thread.
 
Hmm well I saw about three, maybe one a minute - so I guess that wasn't exactly the starlink. And then my neck started really hurting and I got cold. What a wimp. I was rather hoping to see more than one at once. But maybe to try another night. (It did occur to me that maybe I was out there at the wrong hour - GMT vs BST and all that?). Saw a few of the Lyrid meteors too!
 
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Hmm well I saw about three, maybe one a minute - so I guess that was the starlink. And then my neck started really hurting and I got cold. What a wimp. I was rather hoping to see more than one at once. But maybe to try another night. (It did occur to me that maybe I was out there at the wrong hour - GMT vs BST and all that?). Saw a few of the Lyrid meteors too!
About half an hour ago was correct. Very poor show here, too much light pollution I guess.
 
Well, saw something... that might or might not have been the newly-launched rocket. Not very clear, nothing dramatic, just a dot about the brightness of a regular sat. Bit too northerly here.
 
I saw these on Pinterest

7B11D911-3836-4689-9D50-3AF7B8E6C5FA.jpeg

 
I was in the garden yesterday late afternoon and I saw what I assumed was a balloon (one of them helium filled ones) floating overhead, way up high. It appeared to be black and circular, but TBH reaching the limits of what I could make out with the naked eye.
I then realised it was travelling at right angles to the prevailing wind at ground level, and also the direction of travel of the cloud cover.
I mean I guess there could have been a layer of air/wind travelling that way.
But I watched it for a minute or so, not deviating from it's path at all, until it became too far off for me to keep it in sight.
 
I was in the garden yesterday late afternoon and I saw what I assumed was a balloon (one of them helium filled ones) floating overhead, way up high. It appeared to be black and circular, but TBH reaching the limits of what I could make out with the naked eye.
I then realised it was travelling at right angles to the prevailing wind at ground level, and also the direction of travel of the cloud cover.
I mean I guess there could have been a layer of air/wind travelling that way.
But I watched it for a minute or so, not deviating from it's path at all, until it became too far off for me to keep it in sight.
I noticed a similar thing happening just a week or so ago, I was struck with how different layers of air masses were moving in totally different directions in the same patch of sky.
The reason apparently is that is one (or more) air masses are moving over the one below at a different heights.
 
I noticed a similar thing happening just a week or so ago, I was struck with how different layers of air masses were moving in totally different directions in the same patch of sky.
The reason apparently is that is one (or more) air masses are moving over the one below at a different heights.
One of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do was stand on top of Pike's Peak and watch the clouds.

It may sound boring, but it's a point of view that lets you see them from a very different perspective.
Not my pic, but the first I could find.

yes... looking DOWN at the clouds.. so familiar, yet different.

Some people think they just drift across the sky, but clouds are not so simple. They twist and contort and writhe as thy move through the sky sometimes. Some of the movement here is the clouds twisting as the move around the mountain.... SOME of it.
 
Clouds are amazing things. The white mass you see is formed from water droplets which form in air around tiny particles, and the boundary between a mass of air which has visible water droplets and a mass of air with invisible, transparent water vapour is quite sharp, so the cloud looks very solid.

But in reality that surface is completely defined by the environmental conditions in the air at that point, and the apparent edge of the cloud is a transient boundary and not fixed at all. That's why they seem to 'boil' and writhe in these speeded-up clips.
 
Clouds are amazing things. The white mass you see is formed from water droplets which form in air around tiny particles, and the boundary between a mass of air which has visible water droplets and a mass of air with invisible, transparent water vapour is quite sharp, so the cloud looks very solid.

But in reality that surface is completely defined by the environmental conditions in the air at that point, and the apparent edge of the cloud is a transient boundary and not fixed at all. That's why they seem to 'boil' and writhe in these speeded-up clips.
*Good indicator of how the Sun can insert odd refractive images here!
Annotation 2020-09-07 115521.jpg
 
It's really quite convincing though in a picture. I'm sure if any of us were actually there though we would say "hang on, isn't that a blimp?"
 
It's really quite convincing though in a picture. I'm sure if any of us were actually there though we would say "hang on, isn't that a blimp?"
also a moving picture makes it easier to spot than a still image.
 
Mysterious UFOs spotted in the skies above Edinburgh

Locals in Leith had some hilarious suggestions on Friday night when some unidentified flying lights beams appeared overhead.

Source: Daily Record
Date: 1 August, 2020

Edinburgh residents were left shocked after spotting 'UFOs' in the skies.

One Leith resident spotted the mysterious beams projected above her home at around 7pm on Friday night.

Puzzled about their origin, she shared the images to a local Facebook page to ask if anyone could shed any light on what she'd seen.

[...]

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/mysterious-ufo-spotted-skies-above-22454486
 
Mysterious UFOs spotted in the skies above Edinburgh

Locals in Leith had some hilarious suggestions on Friday night when some unidentified flying lights beams appeared overhead.

Source: Daily Record
Date: 1 August, 2020

Edinburgh residents were left shocked after spotting 'UFOs' in the skies.

One Leith resident spotted the mysterious beams projected above her home at around 7pm on Friday night.

Puzzled about their origin, she shared the images to a local Facebook page to ask if anyone could shed any light on what she'd seen.

[...]

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/mysterious-ufo-spotted-skies-above-22454486
Notice that the angle of the 'beams' from the 'lights' are angled downwards in an 'V' direction, i.e. likely from the ground upwards, suggesting that they are probably caused via laser's. Beams from the sky down at an '/\' angle from unknown lights would be be more in line with any mysterious sightings I would think?
 
yeah there's tiny thin beams of light coming from the ground. this looks like someone's using clouds for a projection screen.
 
My wife and I spent a couple of nights staying in Sydney last week (Shangri-La Hotel 31st floor). We had a great view from our room and the weather was sunny so I took a few pictures of the Harbour, the Bridge & Opera House and despite holding my phone against the window, a reflection of a room light still managed to appear in the image. See below - middle of the picture at the very top.

sydneyufo.jpg
 
My wife and I spent a couple of nights staying in Sydney last week (Shangri-La Hotel 31st floor). We had a great view from our room and the weather was sunny so I took a few pictures of the Harbour, the Bridge & Opera House and despite holding my phone against the window, a reflection of a room light still managed to appear in the image. See below - middle of the picture at the very top.

View attachment 30457
I think it might work something like this 'L Lucan' ~ if it was a double-glazed window pane...
Light Refraction.png
 
Noted as I thought you might like to see a wonderful photographic example.

Unbelievable 'UFO' captured in stunning picture above South Lanarkshire

Fiona Pagett got the shock of her life when she spotted a strange flying saucer shape in the sky.

Source: Daily Record
Date: 21 November, 2018

A mum has captured a stunning picture of a cloud formation - that looks just like a flying saucer.

Nature lover Fiona Pagett, 49, headed out to Biggar, South Lanarkshire, on Sunday evening to photograph the beautiful sunset.

[...]

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/unbelievable-ufo-captured-stunning-picture-13622939
 
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