Sid's Cleeve Hill Sighting

[Sid]

NOTE: This sighting thread was spun off from the UFO Spotting: What To Bring thread.

I've drawn (as below) a computer sketch of an object I encountered when out on a day's walk over Cheltenham's high point which is Cleeve Hill on a fairly warm pleasant Summers day some years ago along with a friend.

Picture a lovely sunny day, bright skies a few light clouds here-and-there, very pleasant.

Then when we approached the three large transmitters pylons sighted on the higher point of the hill... then, this happened... thick cloud boomed in, and within a few minutes we were both caught in a torrential downpour, with really heavy rain and wind from what seemed like nowhere. So we had no choice but to head for the nearest cover, running towards a circular group of thick scrubby trees with a few sheep already sheltering in there.

Whilst running towards this cover, I happened to glance upwards to the sky above, as it appeared like it was a bit of a brighter gap in the clouds, and as I did so I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

A tunnel (a hole) right inside the densest part of the clouds. The inside of the tunnel slightly swirling round, and right in the middle directly above the 'hole' I saw this object - which absolutely astonished me, but my friend was keener to get under some sort of cover, so she didn't see it for herself.

*This is my interpretation of what I saw for something like 30 seconds or so...

 

[Mythopoeika]

I've drawn (as below) a computer sketch of an object I encountered when out on a day's walk over Cheltenham's high point which is Cleeve Hill on a fairly warm pleasant Summers day some years ago along with a friend. ...

... interesting post.

 

[eburacum]

Absolutely. I know Cleeve Hill very well; that is fascinating.

 

[eburacum]

The best I can come up with is that you somehow saw the top few feet of one of the masts on Cleeve, maybe some kind of bizarre mirage. The one on the left looks pretty similar to your image.

 

[eburacum]

Hmm; there is another interesting possibility.
Apparently Cleeve Hill is sometimes used by amateur radio enthusiasts to send and receive messages to and from distant radio stations. This is a hobby known as DXing, and it involves climbing to the top of a hill with a special aerial and making contact with distant (DX) transmitters. Maybe you saw a particularly unusual amateur aerial suspended on a lightweight pole. It might even have blown away in the wind.

We know that Cleeve Hill is a useful hill for transmitting - that's presumably why those permanent antennae are up there.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Hmm; there is another interesting possibility.
Apparently Cleeve Hill is sometimes used by amateur radio enthusiasts to send and receive messages to and from distant radio stations. This is a hobby known as DXing, and it involves climbing to the top of a hill with a special aerial and making contact with distant (DX) transmitters. Maybe you saw a particularly unusual amateur aerial suspended on a lightweight pole. It might even have blown away in the wind.

This triggered a related thought ... One of the oldest ways of gaining the advantages of a tall antenna on the cheap is to use a kite antenna or an antenna suspended from a kite's line. When using a kite for longer range communications I recall it being preferable to suspend the antenna part-way along the line rather than integrating it into the kite.

The suspended antenna could be as simple as a trailing wire, or it could be an elaborate lightweight skeletal structure. If wind conditions permit, such kite antennas can be anchored so as to remain aloft without direct contact with anyone on the ground.

 

[maximus otter]

This triggered a related thought ... One of the oldest ways of gaining the advantages of a tall antenna on the cheap is to use a kite antenna or an antenna suspended from a kite's line. When using a kite for longer range communications I recall it being preferable to suspend the antenna part-way along the line rather than integrating it into the kite.

The suspended antenna could be as simple as a trailing wire, or it could be an elaborate lightweight skeletal structure. If wind conditions permit, such kite antennas can be anchored so as to remain aloft without direct contact with anyone on the ground.

lnteresting theory, but l’d be loath to be flying a metal aerial during the sudden downpour described by Sid in case things got a bit Franklin-y.

maximus otter

 

[Sid]

lnteresting theory, but l’d be loath to be flying a metal aerial during the sudden downpour described by Sid in case things got a bit Franklin-y.

maximus otter

Should take note that this thing was very high up in the air, well above the highest of the cloud - even though, 'it' seemed to be at the centre of causing the twisting tunnel effect on the cloud directly below it. The spot where we headed for cover was well away from the actual transmitter masts themselves - down the side of the hill quite a way away, as there was nowhere else we could see to get dense enough cover from the rain. There was no-one else in the area where we were, just a few sheep scattering for cover themselves. There was nothing perceptibly attached to it as it was so high in the sky itself.

 

[eburacum]

Here's an antennae-lifting kite- as EnolaGaia said, the antenna is attached to the string, not to the kite itself.

Not recommended for use in a rainstorm.

 

[EnolaGaia]

lnteresting theory, but l’d be loath to be flying a metal aerial during the sudden downpour described by Sid in case things got a bit Franklin-y.

True, but ... Sid said it had been a clear sunny day before the storm arrived rather suddenly. Reeling in a kite already aloft would be just as risky as launching or flying it. If a kite-flyer didn't recover the kite before the storm hit there'd be little (reasonable) choice except to leave it aloft.

I'm not overly sold on the kite hypothesis. I was simply pointing out that the earlier juxtaposition of the site and radio enthusiasts seeking greater range provided another basis for some sort of skeletal thing being visible high above.