“What the Hell is that..?”
‘Twas a few nights ago and I was laying on my bed working on my advocacy project. I heard feet in the hallway and Allan poked his head in my room. “Tim, have you looked outside? There’s… red lights floating around.” I jumped up and looked out the window. Sure enough, four red lights in the shape of a huge rectangle were floating higher into the sky. Understandably freaked out, I grabbed my camera from under my bed and ran outside in my socks.
Sweet Baby Darwin, what the hell is going on?
After a few minutes of observing, the ones that had drifted the furthest up started to flicker and disappeared, while new ones kept coming up from the southeast. They looked like little fireballs.
After thinking about it, that’s probably exactly what they were. If I had to guess, it was probably a bunch of Chinese Lanterns that someone set off downtown. In fact, if we take a pretty picture of Chinese Lanterns:
From http://brophyworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Yi_peng_sky_lantern_festival_San_Sai_Thailand.jpg
And zoom in on one lantern:
Look familiar? (Scroll back up if necessary.)
This whole little episode brings up a topic that is fairly common in the public eye: UFOs. What are UFOs? Ships filled with little green men? Weather balloons? Light from Venus reflecting off of swamp gas? Maybe some diabolical combination of the three?
The definition of a UFO is simple enough: an unidentified object that appears to be flying. So what I saw was a UFO. After being identified though, it was an identified flying object, a mini hot air balloon. UFO doesn’t automatically mean something out of the ordinary. Many ordinary objects appear strange unless you know what you’re looking at. To keep you from making this mistake, I’ve compiled a little list of things that are perfectly explainable, but look rather odd.
Satellites
Have you ever seen a satellite? Probably, but you may not have realized it. Next clear evening that you have some time, lay on your back and look at the stars. Chances are eventually, probably within a few minutes, you’ll notice that some move about as fast as an airplane, then possible fade away. Some get brighter and dimmer and brighter again (such as spent rocket bodies that are tumbling.) Some even flare up to incredible brightness, such as Iridium Flares. These are caused by defunct satellites that happen to reflect light really well onto a tiny patch of ground. They can get nearly as bright as the moon at their brightest. The coolest thing about them, though, is that they are really predictable. For example, here’s all of the ones we should be able to see next week. However, if you knew nothing about satellites and saw a giant flash in the sky, that could be rather confusing.
Planets
Pff, who could mistake a planet for a UFO? Obviously at least one pilot. I’ve been confused before as well. When Venus or Jupiter is really low on the horizon, it can appear to flash different colors and blink from heat coming off the ground. If you’re not sure if you’re seeing a UFO, check back the next night. If it’s at the same spot at the same time, it’s probably just a planet or star.
Balloons
OK, chances are you’re not going to see a weather balloon just floating along, but it does happen. I found one once on the ground in some old strip mines. This is what the supposed Roswell UFO crash site really was- a high-altitude balloon with equipment to detect Soviet nuclear blasts.
Or…
Some incidents simply go unexplained. Take the Aurora, Texas UFO incident from 1897. Supposedly, a UFO hit a windmill, crashed, and killed the alien on board. The creature was given a proper burial in the cemetery along with everyone else, while the wreckage was thrown down a well. Attempts to dig up the being have been thwarted by the cemetery’s owners on multiple occasions. Until we get a chance to see what’s down there, we will never know if this incident is the real deal.
Well, that’s all, folks. Thank you all for your support and comments on this blog. Chances are I’ll see most of you before anything too terribly cool happens in the sky, but here’s a schedule of astronomical goings-on for the foreseeable future:
Venus will once again be visible starting this spring. Look for a very bright light low in the west starting in June.
If you want to do any stargazing and are around the area over the summer, shoot me a message on Facebook and I’ll try to organize something.
This fall- Comet ISON is expected to be rather spectacular. Look to the west after the sun sets starting in December.
So until next time, clear skies to you and don’t forget to keep looking up!
There were some pretty intense stories about lights over areas near Phoenix in the ’90s. The military says they were just A-10 Warthogs releasing flares in training exercises. That could be what you’re thinking of. And I know what you mean, it’d be pretty awesome to see a real alien spacecraft. I personally have only ever seen one thing that I haven’t been able to explain. It was late evening in the early 2000s. I was probably 8 or 9 and the time. My little brother and I were out on the front deck when an incredibly bright object silently flew overhead. It was shaped like a capital I flying sideways across the sky to the north. I never did manage to explain that, but it was too long ago to really try to explain it now. I have no idea what it was.
I love UFO stories… I know there have also been a few instances when communities saw lights flying through the sky, and everyone thought they were UFOs for the longest time, until the government said they had actually been flying planes that made the light patterns. At least, that was the story. I only vaguely remember this little story from some documentary on TV… but I’m pretty sure this was also near Area 51. I don’t know if I’m pulling that out of my ass, or if you know what I’m talking about. It’s too bad there are so many rational explanations for these kinds of things… but I mean, maybe someone has actually seen an alien space ship and mistaken it for a meteor or planet or satellite!