ufo, or star?

[zhahown]

My neighbors and I have been observing these weird "stars" since last august. With the naked eye they look like "normal" stars, just more sparkly. A really good set of eyeballs might see a brief flash of red. However, when observed through high powered binoculars you see something quite bizarre. Red green and blue lights that move very fast leaving trails much like a sparkler being waved around.

That's what you see when you look at a star which is flickering (i.e. changing colors) with a binocular. The binocular magnifies not only the image but also the micro-movements of your hand, and then the flickering star seems to be dragged out on a irregular, colorful line (due to the 'inertia' of the eyes/optical nerves). Some people take pictures of this with a long exposure time and then they claim that this is a UFO because it looks like a really weird line.

My grandmother actually was observing the Hale Bopp comet with binoculars and she reported to me that it moved back and forth with high speed. Of course it did not do that. She just didn't realize that she couldn't hold the binoculars steady enough to have a still picture and totally misinterpreted what she was seeing.

Also the fact that this phenomenon is consistent over a long period of time suggests that it is just a flickering star. Remember the elusive nature of the true UFO phenomenon.

Also, because it was mentioned here a few times that a phenomenon in the sky "is near"... Human eyes have a stereo view only for very close distances, and if something is further away than a few hundred meters, it naturally can only look two dimensional, with no possibility to estimate the distance (provided it doesn't move in front of another object of which you know the distance). So, how can you determine that?

Yes there is no substitute for solid observation skills- these just develop over time & experience. Eventually a person develops the ability to weed their observations.

About measuring distances in the sky- it is tricky, but it can be done. Eg-one of my sightings in 2011- I think it was about mid August- & this is going to sound very very insane, although I remember reading a Laura Knight post a few months ago, from an older thread about maybe keeping track of who has seen boomerang type UFOs- making a list or something (count me in- I saw 2 of them!). Both of them materialized directly over a nearby mountain, then travelled DIRECTLY over me. They were translucent against a clear night sky. Because I had that initial point of reference jutting up into the sky I was able to estimate their size & speed (very approximately mind you).

An object directly nearby over a mountain (within maybe a couple thousand feet) can provide a point of reference for said object. Once you have approximate altitude from a nearby reference point, you can calculate size, & then travelling speed if the object moves.

& an idea: If an object remains stationary for long enough, you could theoretically point a lazer at it, & use this to calculate distance, as well as maybe temperature- Just an idea.

 

[soulshifter]

One thing to add that might help in your info gathering is that there are several "apps" that are available if you have a "smart" phone or tablet that has a gyroscope or gyrometer included in the device.

These apps give you the ability to point your device (iPad for one example) at the sky, and the app uses your device's gyroscope to detect where in the sky you are pointing. On the screen you will see an overlay of all the stars in that area of the sky with the names.

This way you can get a preliminarily list of possible stars that the object might be.

These apps don't answer ALL your questions, but they might be a good starting point.

You can tell if your device has a gyroscope most easily if the screen will rotate to a different perspective as the device is turned on it's side.

In your device's app store you can usually type a search for "astrology" or "stars", and this will help narrow down the search in the sea of apps. :) The majority of these apps cost money (ranging from $1 to $5 approx) as a heads up.

 

[RobertB]

The night before the Earthquake off the Oregon Coast (last week - Feb 13, 2012), I observed what appeared at first to be 2 satellites. They blinked in and out of visibility like airplane beacons, only they did not move. With each iteration of strobing, they grew fainter, as if they were not in orbit, or in flight, but growing more distant. They were in the Westernmost part of Orion. Again, they did not move in relation to the visible stars in the area. They were 4th-5th magnitude at brightest. I have observed the stars for 50 yeas.

 

[ginkgogirl]

Thanks so much for the feedback from everyone. When I re-read the original post I noticed that I forgot to include the actual video I referred to from the Stephenville "incident" in Texas a couple of years ago.

I am so so sorry and I don't what to waste your time, but you can hardly get the complete picture without it. Those stills do not do it justice if you know what I mean.

I would be really interested to hear if you still think this is just a normal star after watching this! From just before the 3 minute mark its closer up so your eyes can see what I see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPY50FrWGhs

Thanks so so much... I would really like to be able to let this go... but my eyes are telling me otherwise.

And yes Soulshifter I totally loved my apps when I was using them on my ipod. One of the things that makes me consider getting wireless internet again... I'm really missing it these days. :)