Shafts of Light

[Yithian]

Ok, something Fortean to report at last although its a hazy third person account i'm afraid. Anyway, in the last six months i've met a chap who despite being a top bloke and a friend of a friend, is definitely a bit of a space cadet inasmuch as he's well into his pot, gets frequently mashed and then speaks benign gibberish about the universe and our place in it. Next to his passion for weed he also loves astronomy and whenever a large group of our friends get together in the summer (camping out jamming and drinking at the beach, stone-circles, and on the South Downs) he always turns up in his camper van and before long sets up his fairly impressive telescope.

Recently he was telling me that when driving to one of our favourite sites he pulled over for a short while and watched the heavens as it was a clear, crisp evening and he'd been keeping an eye on Mars as it has been so close of late. As a non-astronomer the following is something i can't verify but he says that he turned his attention to a satelite which he could see with the naked eye (he tells me many can be?) and was stunned when a very bright shaft of light eminated from it widening like a conical searchlight. It didn't reach him or bathe him in light or anything so X-files, but he could see it very distinctly aginst the sky and it was bright enough that he could not mistake it for aircraft lights. He watched in awe (not unusual for him!) and then twenty seconds or so later, without warning, it simply ceased, turned off 'as if someone had flicked a switch'.

All this i could dismiss if i chose. He was actually sober and straight but then he's never going to be that sober or straight - its a bit late for that. Anyway, i could write this one off but the very next weekend a large group of twenty of us drove to Camber Sands and camped out and partying with fire, bar-b-que, music, midnight swimming etc. (a great weekend). Everyone driften away on the Sunday afternoon, tired and a little worse for wear but this chap and our mutual friend stayed on the extra night and ended up lying on the beach gazing heavenward. Now, our mutual friend comfesses to being a bit drunk but explained to me (in a subdued and wholly uncharacteristic tone) that he had witnessed the same thing that our space-cadet friend had reported the weekend before but this time the light came from a sattelite in the sky which, from their perspective, was out over the sea. I think he said it was quite close to the horizon.

Drink and drugs may be involved,
Mars was close to Earth,
The moon was an uncanny shade,
any ideas?


edit: personally i feel fairly confident they have seen something mundane in the sky but i'm at a loss to say precisely what. Its quite possible that a degree of suggestion was at work from the one to the other.
edit2: Just by chance (or synchronous conspiracy) i spotted a UFO cartoon in someones avatar. Just to be clear as it was decrbed to me the shaft was just that, a shaft - long thin but slightly conical - don't get the idea of huge swathes of 'abduction style' triangular floodlight beaming down on hippies!

 

[taras]

Only one solution, do it all again but next time you stay behind and pass out on the beach

 

[Philo_T]

Could it have been a satellite flashing and then going dark as it crossed into the Earth's shadow? I believe the ISS can also flash impressively.

 

[Yithian]

Good suggestion, that's the sort of thing i was expecting. I'll print and show the page to them when we catch-up next.

Other ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

Almost certainly an Iridium flare. Normally (if you know when and where to look) you will see a faint dot moving across the sky (which is the normal magnitude of the satellite) and then suddenly this will brighten significantly (they don't call them flares for nothing ). Finally, after a few seconds it will dim again and finally fade away when it enters eclipse.

Try the prediction sites. If you are on target for a good one it's worth doing. Tell your friends that you're going to create, with the power of your mind, a bright light (or nova?) in the sky, just before the predicted flare. See what sort of a reaction you get...

 

[Cavynaut]

Other ideas?

No, but you sound like you have some bloody great weekends!

Wish I could come!

 

[Yithian]

No, but you sound like you have some bloody great weekends!

Have done lately, but they're the kind of ones where monday comes around and you feel more tired and generally worse than you did last thing on friday.

 

[Anonymous]

Almost certainly an Iridium flare.

That's what I'd think. Iridiums are bright when they flash, and the flash lasts three to five seconds. I've seen them in the daylight sky before, on a sunny day. They get your attention.

 

[Pete Younger]

Here's a picture of one.

 

[brianellwood]

the http://www.heavens-above.com website will give you listings for iridium flares for any location, plus iss and other info.well worth signing in.

 

[FilthyleDog]

Me, I presume?

Is it my avatar you meant?!

On a seperate note, I've seen satellites flare up like in the photo, but I wouldn't have thought them responsible for producing a conical beam. In many years of looking up at the skies (and unfortunately never really having seen anything anomalous) I've never seen anything like you describe. But it is strange that your friend-of-a-friend should describe something like this and then soon afterwards see it again.

 

[Yithian]

Re: Me, I presume?

Is it my avatar you meant?!

...But it is strange that your friend-of-a-friend should describe something like this and then soon afterwards see it again.

Certainly was your avatar! And yes, it is strange, which is what makes me particularly suspicious that the power of suggestion may have been at work. I would have mentioned the possible explanations to them by now but last time we met no one was in a fit state to discuss anything meaningful.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Thursday September 16, 2004



That's not a UFO; it's an iridium flare


MORONGO BASIN - Some people gazing upward may have seen a sudden flash in the sky recently - or years ago - leaving them to wonder what in the world it could be.

According to longtime astronomer Sam Davidson, the flash is nothing more than an iridium flare.

The flare occurs when sunlight is reflected from the antenna of one of a set of 66 communications satellites, said Davidson.

The satellites are relatively small telecommunications satellites in a low Earth orbit and are part of a world-wide system for mobile communications, states a information report about the flares.

Three main mission antennas on the satellites have flat, highly reflective surfaces that flash sunlight to the night-sky watcher on Earth.

"It usually lasts a mere five seconds or so," added Davidson.

An iridium flare can be seen about every 10 days in the Basin, but it has a schedule and the times are not always the same.

The flare can usually be seen in Yucca Valley. Twentynine Palms residents probably won't be able to view the flash because of the position of the satellite with the sun, said the astronomer.

The next flare that can be seen in Yucca Valley will be at 7:40 p.m.Thursday high in the southeast of the sky, said Davidson.

The flare is expected to be brighter than Venus.

The path of the satellite is usually north to south, so Landers should also be able to catch a glimpse at the flash, he explained.

http://www.hidesertstar.com/articles/2004/09/14/features/feature1.txt

 

[Mythopoeika]

Hasn't somebody (the Japanese?) put a mirror and a solar sail in space? These would be highly reflective, and seen at the right angle, they may appear to be sending out a beam of light.

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

Last Updated : Jan 18, 2005


Woman baffled by 'beam of light'


A woman was left mystified this morning after she saw what she thought was a UFO over Telford. Sue Oliver, 37, of Briarwood, Brookside, said she was walking her dogs at Nedgehill at 6.40am when she saw a "massive" beam of light. She is now trying to find out whether anyone else saw it.

She said: I wasn't sure what it was, I don't usually believe in weird things but I knew it wasn't a shooting star. After talking to my colleagues we think it might have been a UFO."

The Meteorological Office said it was unlikely to have been caused by the Northern Lights because of the cloud cover.


--------------
The full version of this story appears in the
Last edition of tonight's Shropshire Star

Source

Last Updated : Jan 21, 2005


Experts join debate on mystery light


Astronomical experts have joined forces with puzzled Shropshire residents in a bid to identify the mysterious beam of light spotted in the county's skies.

People across the county stopped in their tracks as a massive beam of light lit up the early morning gloom on Tuesday. But no-one could explain what caused the eerie light which disappeared three seconds later.

Now county residents and top boffins have drawn up a list of possible explanations for the phenomenon, including an iridium flare, a burning meteor, a bright search light, aircraft landing lights or even a UFO.

Sue Oliver, 37, of Briarwood, Brookside, Telford, saw the beam of light at 6.40am while walking her dog at nearby Nedge Hill.

She said though she does not usually believe in "weird happenings", after seeing the light she thought it could have been a UFO.

Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Opik, who has campaigned to raise awareness of the risk of a meteorite or comet hitting the earth, claimed the light was most likely to be an iridium flare, which can illuminate hundreds of square miles and would look like a bright light.

But Kev Wildgoose, from the Shropshire Astronomical Society, disagreed and said with 40 years of experience he did not believe it was an astronomical sighting. "I'd be more inclined to identify it as an aircraft, perhaps a bright search light," he said.

People in Lancashire also reported sighting something strange in the sky on Tuesday.

-------------------
The full version of this story appears
in tonight's Shropshire Star

Source

 

[Mighty_Emperor]

More reports from Shropshire (because people are watching the skies?):

Last Updated : Feb 22, 2005


Another sighting in UFO mystery


Mystery surrounds the origin of a bright light seen streaking through the Shropshire skies at the weekend after two late night cinema-goers claim to have spotted the phenomena 10 hours earlier.

Several county residents reported the light at about 10am on Sunday, with many believing they had seen a meteorite.

But Rachael Jones, of Harlescott, and Bryony Morgan, of Castlefields, cast further intrigue into the sighting after they saw the object as they left Cineworld, in Old Potts Way, at 12.30am on Sunday.

Miss Jones said: "It was a sort of yellowy-white colour and then tailed off to nowhere, it went across the sky and then disappeared. We didn't know what it was, but it was weird."

But motorist Richard Gorton today stuck with original reports, saying he had seen the blazing trail from Craven Arms at 10.15am on Sunday.

Source

 

[Anonymous]

This is going to sound like the same thing only different.
I was driving home from the store after dark. I was on a four lane highway separated by a wide grass median. There was other traffic on the road. This particular highway proceeds up a gentle grade until finally you crest a hill and can see the road ahead for a couple miles. The sky was clear, stars were out and I noticed a search light on the other side of the next hill, pointed straight up into the sky. Search lights are used at grand openings, etc, to draw people in, but they usually move back and forth to attract attention. This was a vertical shaft of light, about the size of a large searchlight, but it was in a rural area where there weren't any business' of which I was aware. And this light appeared to becoming from the middle of the median. Odd.
I crested the hill and I could see that the shaft of light was hanging directly above the median and highway. There was no searchlight, it was literally hanging in space. There was no source for this beam of light, and it did not extend down to the ground, it just ended. I'm a lousy judge of distance but the end was considerably high up, something like a ten or fifteen story building.
I was trying to observe as many details as possible, make mental notes about the conditions, all while keeping the car on the road. I don't know why I didn't stop and take some notes about what I was looking at. It seems like the idea crossed my mind but I was reluctant to do that for whatever reason. I noticed that none of the other cars were stopping to observe it or slowing down as I had so I could look at it. I finally drove under it as everyone else was doing and obviously couldn't see it anymore.
There's been one other occurance that was very similar. Again coming home after dark, saw what looked like a searchlight pointing vertically into the sky, not moving. This time I took a two lane highway that runs parallel to the four lane I was on last time, only lies about 2 1/2 miles north of it. The beam of light originated from a horse farm about 5 miles west of where the first one had been, but far enough back on the property that I could not see it's source or if there was one. While it's entirely possible that it actually was a searchlight, why it would be way out in the 'back 40' of a horse farm is the strange part.
It's been suggested to me that the first beam of light with no source might have been some sort of combined effect of moisture in the air reflecting light. It could very well have a natural explaination, but I'm not aware of it. It was strange to see and odd, but maybe significant that there were two similar occurances in such close proximity to each other.

 

[Anonymous]

on a similar note myself and the other half were driving at night near consett ,durham.
we both saw the night sky turn to day,this was about 11 at night
as far as we have been able to find out it was possibly a metiorite ???
when i say day time i mean i could have easly read a newspaper
for all intensive purposes it was, for about 3 seconds, day time
the epecenter of the light which we saw was over my right shoulder at the time
on looking at where this light was coming from i saw a strange blue light, but it looked more like energy/dust being spinkled from where the initial sorce had ignighted and then faded
anyone??? as ive no idea just what i was.

 

[rynner2]

Midnight wrote:

The sky was clear, stars were out and I noticed a search light on the other side of the next hill, pointed straight up into the sky.

When I was in the Coastguard, we also acted as meteorological observers. Apart from thermometers and rain gauges, we also had a vertical searchlight to indicate cloud height - we would measure the angle of the light on the clouds with a simple quadrant set some distance from the light, and a simple table gave the cloud height.

Not saying that's what you saw, but there is a reason for some people to use vertical searchlights!

The column of light you see (if at all) is due to moisture or dust in the atmosphere, and so need not be continuous, either to the ground or to the clouds.

 

[Anonymous]

"The column of light you see (if at all) is due to moisture or dust in the atmosphere, and so need not be continuous, either to the ground or to the clouds."

Thanks, I find it just as fascinating when I find a natural phenomena that I've never seen before. It was very strange looking, it would be interesting to see it again.