Bigelow's Genesis Captures Mystery in the Sky

Has this object been identified?
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/18c665112153.jpg[/atsimg]
On March 3 a camera aboard Genesis I captured this image. The video clip of this Mystery in the Sky is posted on the Bigelow Aerospace website and visitors are asked to comment on what it might be.

Ready to join Genesis I for a bit of detective work?

In this small video clip taken from one of Genesis I's exterior cameras on March 3, a bright spot of some kind can be seen in the lower-middle portion of the images. The bright spot doesn't stay in the same position, neither does it correlate with the same locations above the Earth based on the cloud formations below. Each picture is separated by 20 to 30 seconds.

Care to make an educated guess on what the bright spot might be?

Is this a 2009 video?

And....if it is...

Then just three days later we had this announcement

MUFON to receive major funding from billionaire backer


March 6, 1:50 AM

Billionaire real estate investor and entrepreneur Robert Bigelow of Las Vegas, Nevada is now betting his bucks on MUFON to find valuable new knowledge about alien propulsion systems. Bigelow who has long been known to give millions of dollars to fund serious UFO research has just concluded a deal with MUFON to furnish rapid response teams of Field Investigators to be deployed within 24 hours to the scene of a major UFO event, the kind designated as Category 2 or 3 in the classification system devised by legendary UFO researcher Jacques Vallee. These are the rarer cases where either physical traces are left or physiological effects are caused in the witness. Bigelow has hired 50 top-flight scientists to assist MUFON in this endeavor to function as consultants and to do expensive lab analysis of alien materials gathered at the location of a UFO event. Bigelow, who never does anything on a small scale, a few years ago founded BAASS (Bigelow Aerospace Advanced Space Studies) with the incredibly ambitious goal of putting a commercial hotel up in orbit around the earth. He thinks that even one category 2 or 3 case if properly investigated can yield significant scientific paydirt. Whatever high-tech equipment needed by the investigators on the scene will be drop-shipped to them overnight by BAASS.

ATS Thread MUFON to receive major funding

Memphis UFO Examiner

Has this object been discussed on ATS or has it been identified? I did a little searching but didn't find anything....

Thanks for any input....



edit: fix photo link

[edit on 11-5-2009 by DancedWithWolves]

reply to post by DancedWithWolves

Care to make an educated guess on what the bright spot might be?

I'll give it a go.

Hotels need tourists. Tourists need attractions.

You know those old British and Irish stately homes they turn into posh hotels? Well, that bright spot there is what you might call the Bigelow Castle Ghost.

Or you could call it a kite - a metaphorical one, of course.

Come on, John Lear can't be the only UFO buff rich enough to afford a weekend in orbit.

Looks like a classic lens flare. It moves at the same rate as the much larger lens "halo" in the image shrinks as the sun's angle to the camera changes. It also shrinks in size as the image dims and the spacecraft approaches orbital sunset.

[edit on 11-5-2009 by ngchunter]

reply to post by ngchunter


I would agree, except that this particular flare, if that's what it is, is the only one that appears out of the norm since July 12, 2006, when Genesis I was launched. At least out of the norm in that it was posted as a "Mystery in the Sky" on the Bigelow Aerospace website. Surely they would recognize lens flare in photos from the space habitat since 2006 when they began this journey? If this is lens flare then it should be easily recognizable to Bigelow staff and there would be no mystery.

Are they really stumped or playing Mr. Obvious with the "educated guessers?"

I found the timing of this video if it was 2009 and their generous support of MUFON interesting to note.

There also seemed to be heavy ufo traffic reported March 2-3 to MUFON

UFO 'discs" popular in March sky

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c62a83b1c696.jpg[/atsimg]

A series of disc-shape or bright light sightings occurred March 2-3, 2009, according to witness reports from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) database. A 100-foot-wide disc with 10 circular lights along its bottom side descended rapidly to about 500 feet over NY, hovered, then turned its lights out, while witnesses continued to observe a dark disc shape. In FL, a witness observed two large objects in the sky, while more than 25 smaller objects appeared higher in the sky. A TX report described a row of white lights that vanished when the sound of jets approached. A new sighting near Chicago's O'Hare airport looked like four lights arranged in a square - and 20 witnesses from different vantage points observed a bright light source in the clouds beaming to the ground near Crystal Lake, IL.

ATS March UFO thread

Just pointing out the connections and you may very well be correct. Thanks for the educated guess.

Originally posted by DancedWithWolves
reply to post by ngchunter

 

Are they really stumped or playing Mr. Obvious with the "educated guessers?"

The latter is not out of the question. In the past they've played similar games with "mysteries" like "how did we get this picture with the 'whole earth' visible."
www.hobbyspace.com...
www.bigelowaerospace.com...
Of course the answer is likewise simple; it's not the whole earth, it's just the distorted shape of part of the earth due to a fisheye lens. That's why you aren't seeing recognizable continent shapes as if it were taken at a great distance (ala apollo).

[edit on 11-5-2009 by ngchunter]

reply to post by ngchunter


Now that just makes all kinds of (non)sense. You are correct with the lens flare I would wager then since games are how they roll in the mystery department it would seem. Thanks for the photo and helpful information.

Maybe they will do a Willy Wonka style Golden Ticket to Ride space candy bar contest someday. Now THAT would be cool to play and win.

Looks like a reflection to me. It moves in exact synchronization with the shadows on the spacecraft.

As ngchunter said, this is not a "real" mystery, but simply a game aimed at getting people engaged with Bigelow's website and interested in their space venture.


Bigelow's people know exactly what the bright spot was in the OP's video (lens flare), but have turned it into a game to make people keep coming back to the website.

I'm sure Bigelow will have more "mystery pictures" for us to try and figure out in the future.

yep, looks like sunlight reflecting in the optics to me.

Another example of a lens flare (artifact) can be found on this pic from one of external camera's on Genesis I.



Kinda has the same shape as the bright thingy shown on the pic in the OP.
I'm curious about this one though.



What do you guys think this is? It can also be viewed in the animation on this pic.



[edit on 5.18.09 by toreishi]