'Snowflake' UFO Above Rio De Janeiro

[Zeke Newbold]

From last November: this short video filmed in Brazil.

Now the immediate source is the ridiculous Scott Waring - but he didn't film the video, so let's not be too quick to shoot the messenger. In fact I first came across this new sighting in the Russian hard copy press.The claim is made there that the shape of this thing doesn't correspond to any known vehicle or known atmospheric phenomenon. Observers say that it looks as though it is `feeding` off the power lines, but that, of course is pure speculation.

To me it just looks too slow and almost static to be any kind of balloon that I have set eyes on before. However, there are a lot of unanswered questions here - such as : how long was it visible for and where did the object go? Who were the witnesses and what did they say about it? And so on...

Anyone have any more information, or any ideas as to the `snowflake-thing's` identity?
http://www.etdatabase.com/2019/11/snow-flake-ufo-seen-over-power-lines-in.html?m=0

 

[Eponastill]

That's interesting, Zeke. I must say, if I saw that I would probably presume it was the ill-advised flying of a drone? They can stay super still and automatically resist being buffetted by the wind (by some sort of gps technology witchcraft). And they have sticky out rotors that remind me of that object. Although I've not seen any with a kind of double rotor effect like that admittedly. There are 10 sticky out things aren't there? (Obviously it would be more interesting if it was something weirder). This picture is a bit similar but not entirely https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231018302632 And I admit I can't see anything rotor-y going on. And the guy says it was quiet, unlike a drone.

 

[Victory]

Think it is a drone, similar to this one.

https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/us-army-nixes-use-dji-drones-over-cybersecurity-concerns-a-10170

 

[Zeke Newbold]

I'm going to stick my neck out and put the case against this being a drone:

* I've done an image search on drones - and I invite you to do the same - and I just can't find a match for what seems to be shown on the Janeiro video. As has been said, this thing has ten protuberances - whereas most (all?) drones have between four and six.

* I can see no rotors on the Janeiro image. There is a close up in the link - close enough to let you see if there are any rotors on it - and I can't see any.

* The object in question is like a pin cushion - with protuberances sticking out at all angles - whereas drones usually have a horizontal `fan` of extended rotors going round them (see the image above).

* According to witness testimony (which does need to be taken into account) this thing was silent. Drones are not - and cannot be (for obvious reasons).

* I don't know whether the soundtrack to the video is in real time or not. On it you can hear people speaking (presumably) Spanish/Portugese. You can't hear the noise of a machine. This backs up the above claim (if the sound is in real time, that is).

* The drone shown in the link above by Victory is used by the US military for `sensitive and mission critical operations` and very different from the average commercial drone,

* I suspect that if such a military drone were flying over a Brazilian power line, then this would make the news for an entirely different reason!

Overall: drones come in a limited number of designs and there are legal limitations as to which airspace they can fly in and to what use they can be put. They are not an elixir of UFO debunkery.

That said - I've got a sizeable portion of Melton Mowbray's finest Humble Pie waiting in the fridge - which I will eat if someone can find a drone that matches the one in the O.P.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

I'm going to stick my neck out and put the case against this being a drone:

* I've done an image search on drones - and I invite you to do the same - and I just can't find a match for what seems to be shown on the Janeiro video. As has been said, this thing has ten protuberances - whereas most (all?) drones have between four and six.

* I can see no rotors on the Janeiro image. There is a close up in the link - close enough to let you see if there are any rotors on it - and I can't see any.

* The object in question is like a pin cushion - with protuberances sticking out at all angles - whereas drones usually have a horizontal `fan` of extended rotors going round them (see the image above).

* According to witness testimony (which does need to be taken into account) this thing was silent. Drones are not - and cannot be (for obvious reasons).

* I don't know whether the soundtrack to the video is in real time or not. On it you can hear people speaking (presumably) Spanish/Portugese. You can't hear the noise of a machine. This backs up the above claim (if the sound is in real time, that is).

* The drone shown in the link above by Victory is used by the US military for `sensitive and mission critical operations` and very different from the average commercial drone,

* I suspect that if such a military drone were flying over a Brazilian power line, then this would make the news for an entirely different reason!

Overall: drones come in a limited number of designs and there are legal limitations as to which airspace they can fly in and to what use they can be put. They are not an elixir of UFO debunkery.

That said - I've got a sizeable portion of Melton Mowbray's finest Humble Pie waiting in the fridge - which I will eat if someone can find a drone that matches the one in the O.P.

Just did a quick search and whilst unable to find an exact match, I did see that some larger drones do have very substantial antennae, that can give them a multi-armed appearance. Or else it's yet another Photoshopped hoax.

 

[Ogdred Weary]

Must be one of them "SJW UFOs".

 

[eburacum]

I'm fairly sure this is a balloon. I can't find a picture of the exact model at the moment, and it is probably a one-off custom-built balloon, but here are a few other exotic shapes that have similar projections.

Note; the balloon in the movie clip doesn't seem to be a man-carring balloon, just a moderately large fiesta balloon of some sort.

 

[henry]

balloon ?

the ever-convenient power lines in ufo photos are a turn off for me, equivalent of a headless ghost ... puts me in mind of this classic item of threadware

 

[Zeke Newbold]

I'm fairly sure this is a balloon. I can't find a picture of the exact model at the moment, and it is probably a one-off custom-built balloon, but here are a few other exotic shapes that have similar projections.

Note; the balloon in the movie clip doesn't seem to be a man-carring balloon, just a moderately large fiesta balloon of some sort.

I am glad that we seem to agree that it's (probably) not a drone. However, I'm not so sold on the balloon explanation either.

Balloon was my default option - but there's something about the way it moves - or rather doesn't move (balloons usually rotate or twist a bit in the air) which appears unballoonlike to me.

And it's an awfully dull colour for a bespoke fiesta balloon! If you had gone to that trouble to design such a thing - then surely you'd add a bit of colour to it, (Compare and contrast with the examples in the quoted post. Yes, there's a black one - but it has a dash of red on it too).

Also - it just doesn't have enough `body` to be an inflated object. Look at the close up in the link again - it resembles a bundle of criss-crossed poles more than anything.

As for the `convenient power lines` - look again at the video clip and you'll find that the when object first arrives it is distinctly above all the power lines which are visible.(If there are any more then they'd have to be very very high up- higher than a trickster with a bit of nylon string could get to).

My Humble Pie remains in the fridge....

 

[eburacum]

I'm fairly sure I've seen clips of balloons similar to this before, usually from South American countries. I think they represent stars or jester's hats or something. Prbably not snowflakes, because snowflakes are generally flat.

But there is a distinct possibility that it is just a CG movie, like most UFO clips nowadays.

 

[Eponastill]

I'm fairly sure I've seen clips of balloons similar to this before, usually from South American countries.

Balao pontudo in Rio de Janeiro:

and another video here

(I warn you to turn the sound down )
Not exactly like the original video. But not so different that it couldn't be a different design?

 

[eburacum]

Absolutely. That's what I mean.
No idea what that is supposed to represent, though.

 

[eburacum]

They are called 'Balao Pontudo' ( pointy balloons) and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

and so on.

 

[Zeke Newbold]

Mmmmm! MmmmMMMM! This Humble Pie tastes quite nice actually - especially with a dash of Brazilian pesto sauce on it.

So there are still one or two unanswered questions but the above is as good a fit as you're likely to find - so it was (most likely) one of those Balano Pontundos. Trust those madcap gringos to have that up their sleeves!

It is interesting to note that the hard copy Russian article, where I original came across this story, made something of the fact that the shape of this UFO was unlike any other that had been previously encountered. Now we know why.

Well, at least I was right about it not being a drone. Or CGI.

 

[Shady]

If it was a balloon wouldn't it be all over the place if there was wind? And was that the power in the lines i could hear, wouldn't that do something to the balloon as well. I do not think it is alien, at all

 

[michael59]

I'm going to stick my neck out and put the case against this being a drone:

* I've done an image search on drones - and I invite you to do the same - and I just can't find a match for what seems to be shown on the Janeiro video. As has been said, this thing has ten protuberances - whereas most (all?) drones have between four and six.

* I can see no rotors on the Janeiro image. There is a close up in the link - close enough to let you see if there are any rotors on it - and I can't see any.

* The object in question is like a pin cushion - with protuberances sticking out at all angles - whereas drones usually have a horizontal `fan` of extended rotors going round them (see the image above).

* According to witness testimony (which does need to be taken into account) this thing was silent. Drones are not - and cannot be (for obvious reasons).

* I don't know whether the soundtrack to the video is in real time or not. On it you can hear people speaking (presumably) Spanish/Portugese. You can't hear the noise of a machine. This backs up the above claim (if the sound is in real time, that is).

* The drone shown in the link above by Victory is used by the US military for `sensitive and mission critical operations` and very different from the average commercial drone,

* I suspect that if such a military drone were flying over a Brazilian power line, then this would make the news for an entirely different reason!

Overall: drones come in a limited number of designs and there are legal limitations as to which airspace they can fly in and to what use they can be put. They are not an elixir of UFO debunkery.

That said - I've got a sizeable portion of Melton Mowbray's finest Humble Pie waiting in the fridge - which I will eat if someone can find a drone that matches the one in the O.P.

Makes me wonder what the occupants look like. It reminds me of arachnids I know arachnids only have 8 legs but 2 could represent/be something else.

The two pictures that are shown last on the page have the appendages at different angles. The appendages do not appear to be moving at all in the video.

It is still impossible to guess how far away it is. At least, I can't tell.

That bird at the beginning of the video sure changed it's mind and flew in the opposite direction very suddenly. lol

My first thought was, balloon. My second thought was why is this clip so damn short?

 

[Shady]

True, you don't just stop filming what you think is a UFO, you try to get nearer

 

[marhawkman]

I'm going to stick my neck out and put the case against this being a drone:

* I've done an image search on drones - and I invite you to do the same - and I just can't find a match for what seems to be shown on the Janeiro video. As has been said, this thing has ten protuberances - whereas most (all?) drones have between four and six.

Overall: drones come in a limited number of designs and there are legal limitations as to which airspace they can fly in and to what use they can be put. They are not an elixir of UFO debunkery.

Drones can be custom built by anyone who understands how they work. Meh, why waste time typing?

And as you can see in the video spinning props are hard to photograph. They often come out as a faint blur. The amount of noise a drone makes is based mostly on the design of the rotors, motors and gear assemblies(if any) I've seen models that were almost impossible to hear. It's like the difference in engine noise between a Ford Charger and a Bentley.

Quadcopters are the easy stuff, but other configurations are available. This object has a top pole, a bottom pole, 4 upper and 4 lower. So it could be an 8 rotor design. Hmm... it's also possible the lower four are actually feet for landing, and thus it's a modified quadcopter. Hmm it seems there are mass-produced designs that use that landing gear config. https://newatlas.com/autodesk-octocopter-3d-images/22083/#gallery:4 Which leaves the question of what the top and bottom poles are for... I'm guessing at least one is an antenna. This is a remote controlled device, and if you lose signal you lose control. The other might be a camera.

So yeah, use a cube shaped body, attach rotors to the top 4 corners, feet to the bottom four. Have a camera mast on the top face, and a flexible antennae sticking out the bottom.

Someone probably made it at home.

 

[eburacum]

If it was a balloon wouldn't it be all over the place if there was wind? And was that the power in the lines i could hear, wouldn't that do something to the balloon as well. I do not think it is alien, at all

I don't think so. These 'balao pontudo' are pretty big- several times as big as a volkswagen, looking at the images. Such a large object would drift quite sedately above the observers, and would be a long way above the power lines in that clip.

 

[eburacum]

The Balao Pontudo clip posted by Eponastill shows exactly the right sort of drifting behaviour. Thanks for that.

It's probably not a drone, since it has no propellers- but it doesn't need to be.