I would like to propose another explanation for the flash of light appearing in the video from the Old Faithful webcam in this article. The flash of light appears instantaneous in this time lapse video, so it is possible it actually lasted for several minutes. There is no time or date stamp on the video. Therefore, we do not know the exact time of the flash either.
The webcam is located at the Old Faithful Visitor Center, and what you see in the video is Old Faithful Geyser in the lower right corner where the steam is coming from. A map found here may help visualize what I am trying to say:
_http://yellowstone.net/geysers/upper-basin/
Locate the Visitor Center and see Old Faithful from there. Draw a line slightly to the right of Old Faithful and you will cross the Firehole River and come to Beehive Geyser. Continue following on this line and you will come to Lion Geyser. Lion Geyser was reported to have erupted at 2207 and 2328 (military time) on 2/29, and 0044 on 3/1. Beehive Geyser was reported to have erupted at 0415 on 3/1.
As you can see from the map, there is a walkway through the thermal features in the area of Lion and Beehive Geysers. I propose that someone was out late at night or early in the morning watching one of these geysers with a bright light. It is not that unusual of an occurrence. Eruptions of either geyser lasts 3 to 6 minutes.
Look at the Old Faithful webcam in the daylight on a clear day and you can get a better feel of what the cam sees:
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Also know that operators can zoom and move this webcam, so wait until Old Faithful appears in the bottom right of the picture to get a comparable view that appears in the article.
The webcam is located at the Old Faithful Visitor Center, and what you see in the video is Old Faithful Geyser in the lower right corner where the steam is coming from. A map found here may help visualize what I am trying to say:
_http://yellowstone.net/geysers/upper-basin/
Locate the Visitor Center and see Old Faithful from there. Draw a line slightly to the right of Old Faithful and you will cross the Firehole River and come to Beehive Geyser. Continue following on this line and you will come to Lion Geyser. Lion Geyser was reported to have erupted at 2207 and 2328 (military time) on 2/29, and 0044 on 3/1. Beehive Geyser was reported to have erupted at 0415 on 3/1.
As you can see from the map, there is a walkway through the thermal features in the area of Lion and Beehive Geysers. I propose that someone was out late at night or early in the morning watching one of these geysers with a bright light. It is not that unusual of an occurrence. Eruptions of either geyser lasts 3 to 6 minutes.
Look at the Old Faithful webcam in the daylight on a clear day and you can get a better feel of what the cam sees:
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html
Also know that operators can zoom and move this webcam, so wait until Old Faithful appears in the bottom right of the picture to get a comparable view that appears in the article.
