What's going on off CA coast right now?

It's a contrail lit up by the setting sun.

I've seen these before, as have others in this thread.

Why is this still going?

And I agree with the poster a few up from me that SO jumping in to say 'digg this' has probably led to the amount of stars and flags that this has, because honestly, I cannot see anything unusual about the OP's photos at all, nor in their analysis...

Originally posted by alphabetaone
reply to post by internos

 

Anything at all in the upper atmosphere can change inclination depending on the atmoshperic conditions there at the time.

Contrails are nothing more than water vapor, and the temperature, wind shear, any upper level disturbance or lack thereof could well dictate how a contrail acts, how long it "lingers", what direction it takes, or, in this case, it's inclination. The colder it is up there, the longer it stays around, else it dissipates quickly. For the lengthier ones, they remain as ice for an extended period of time.

Also, the photographers ability to have a pre-determined angle that is shot consistently, i would imagine (not being a photograper) would have a lot to do with it too.

Just my $.02 on that facet of the discussion, as far as the rest, it doesn't seem overly disturbing to me anyway.


AB1

Thanx for that, was on my way to work.

Internos-what he said. Hate to just say that, but it covers the issue exactly right.

reply to post by jritzmann


Thanks, Jeff, and special thanks to alphabetaone for providing an excellent explanation to a phenomenon that pheraps looks to be more out of the ordinary than it actually it is.

I keep hearing things are "all normal" around here(Socal) despite the fact we're the ones living here, we're the one seeing the stuff over our heads(and yes we know what contrails are), we know what standard military movement/training looks like, and what's been going on around here is anything but usual.

You might not be able to tell from the picture, but look at all the stuff that's been reported out of cali recently. Not to mention we are close to some of the most top secret bases here. I'm sure those who've done a lot of reading on the subject will recognize the names Edwards Airforce Base, 29 Palms/Palm Springs. So who knows what kind of stuff is flying out of there. You hear so much about the Aurora and other secret jets with secret propulsion systems, they might be testing or operations being run out of the area or something too.

Not to mention there has been more stories coming out about Catalina and the water between. Even UFO Hunters went out there for a recent show.

i'll be back at edwards in a few more weeks . . . will keep my eye out.

this could be contrail, but if the OP's report of jets apparently coursing to intercept, i'd take a closer look.

Originally posted by Shakesbeer
I keep hearing things are "all normal" around here(Socal) despite the fact we're the ones living here, we're the one seeing the stuff over our heads(and yes we know what contrails are), we know what standard military movement/training looks like, and what's been going on around here is anything but usual.

I cant speak for anyone but myself, but if you feel thats the case, get me some testable data. Not ambiguous smears or lights on black backgrounds. No one can go any further when it's just stories and internet reports.

Originally posted by Shakesbeer
I keep hearing things are "all normal" around here(Socal) despite the fact we're the ones living here, we're the one seeing the stuff over our heads(and yes we know what contrails are), we know what standard military movement/training looks like, and what's been going on around here is anything but usual.

You might not be able to tell from the picture, but look at all the stuff that's been reported out of cali recently. Not to mention we are close to some of the most top secret bases here. I'm sure those who've done a lot of reading on the subject will recognize the names Edwards Airforce Base, 29 Palms/Palm Springs. So who knows what kind of stuff is flying out of there. You hear so much about the Aurora and other secret jets with secret propulsion systems, they might be testing or operations being run out of the area or something too.

Not to mention there has been more stories coming out about Catalina and the water between. Even UFO Hunters went out there for a recent show.

My uncle works for the Postal Service in the LA area. He said that he was on his way home and stopped for gas when he saw a couple of military jets flying overhead. He said they seemed to be flying slightly ahead of their sound (hopefully that will make sense). He happened to look back at them and noticed that in the direction they were heading to, there appeared to be a ball of light in the distance, but some distance ahead of them. He said that the ball of light seemed to be moving much faster than the jets, as it disappeared out of view long before the jets did. And no it wasn't the sun...that sets off the Pacific and the jets/ball of light were going in a more south-to-north direction.

This morning, he mentioned it to some of his coworkers and some of them saw the same thing. One of his friends saw the ball of light but not the jets, and said the light was moving erratically. He could see sparks that the OP mentioned but he thought maybe it was a meteor (I guess he meant meteorite or shooting star or something) except for the strange movement.

I know what you mean though. I lived in SoCal for 10 years and saw some unexplained things in the sky. Lots of military bases there. Once, 2 friends and I witnessed an object hovering a few miles off Catalina. We were sailing so the water and wind noise made it hard to hear, but the object didn't seem to make any noise. Then we could hear a helicopter in the distance and the object dove straight into the water, making a splash about the size of what a whale would make. I don't think any military craft could that. I'm an avid diver and I regret not having any gear that day, I would have at least tried to dive in have a look.

And of course while some profess to believe in other-wordly aircraft, when someone says they may have actually seen one, they're met with an "no no, UFO's exist but that's not what you saw...no no that was just a (insert standard denial/pseudo explanation here)"



[edit on 4-3-2008 by Scuba23]

has anyone noticed that recently that the military has been flying helis alot a couple years ago it was jets

Originally posted by internos

Jeff, given you experience and your world class in photo analysis, i trust you.
There are just some details in Diplomat sighting that pheraps ***may*** deserve your attention: is it ordinary for a contrail to change inclination?
I'm asking it because i'm really ignorant on this matter and i'm sure that to clarify this point may help even in the future, not just in order to put this one to rest.

In the case of Diplomat's pictures, the change of "inclination" is easily explainable by a change in course by the aircraft towards the horizon. I think this animation of his pictures shows this.



The OP photos are classic examples of contrails lit by the sun after sunset. Really common and frequently seen as UFOs judging by the number of reports I've seen come through ATS in just my short time here.

Now, I am more interested in the husband's story. This is more worthy of exploration. Any more details?

I'll try to get him to sign up tonight so he can post it. He had a similar experience last week with aircraft zoomin all over the place like they were chasing something. I'll have him add that experience too.

wouldnt a change in inclination of a contrail made by a craft lead to a curved contrail?

is someone trying to tell me that is a contrail?, a contrail that happens to momenterily form and then dissipates without any trace whatsoever??.

maybe its a different climate to mine,but ive never seen a contrail form a globular mass that leaves no trail behind it whatsoever.

[edit on 4-3-2008 by welivefortheson]

Sorry folks, as usual this is just a high alitutde contrail reflecting the sun

And some people really wonder why UFOs are such a laughing stock in the media...threads like this are the reason why

upload.wikimedia.org...

[edit on 4-3-2008 by ukLeeham]

reply to post by welivefortheson


It would do so if it lasted long enough to define the curve. Looking at the animation above, it's clear that we have an aircraft generating a short-lived contrail. This happens when the surrounding air is above its dew point. The excess water vapour from the exhausts saturates the area immediately behind the plane creating a vapour trail, but this rapidly evaporates into the surrounding air. Persistant contrails are actually made up of ice crystals since the air temperature is at least 50 degrees Centigrade below zero. Contrails don't easily form at a higher temperature.

WG3



[edit on 4-3-2008 by waveguide3]

reply to post by waveguide3


indeed,that would be an explanation,i suppose the question should be,was the temperature at that time at that altitude just above dew point?.floridians?!.

reply to post by welivefortheson


It was at least 30000 feet up to create the contrail in the first place

Go figure...

If you can't then it generally doesn't matter where in the world you are, 30000ft = contrail...it's damn cold up there

reply to post by jritzmann

I completely agree with you honestly, getting good data as I'm sure you know, is incredibly hard. I've been with camera in hand for weeks now and have been getting pics of everything over head indiscriminately to help confirm or corroborate things.

If I wasn't caught up on my work people would think I'm obsessing because of how often they see me with a cam pointed up these days

I started a thread about all the helicopters in the socal area HERE with various pics others & myself have taken of the activity in the area.

But in the very least being an artist I've gotten some great stock shots and overall "cool pictures" while outside more

Hey sorry the pics arent so great. Most of my pics are using Macro for my jewelry sales. Outside of macro I'm just a newbie with the camera.

has anyone noticed that recently that the military has been flying helis alot a couple years ago it was jets

I live in the middle of nowhere in West Tennessee and last week for four days straight 4 helicopters that were armed to the hilt flew over my house several times a day. It was always three from tho east and one from the south. They flew so low that some dvds fell off of my shelf. They flew very low and very fast. The last time they flew over was Wednesday night at 9:00 or so. I finally found my camera and haven't seen the helicopters since.
Several people in town ( I live out of town ) inquired at the Army national guard station here because this is such an unusual sight for us. The man at the ANG said all that they had been told was that the government was doing a sweep of the area. That's all he knew.

I Have Been Living In Socal All My Life. And Im 26. Trust Me One Who Has Been Living Here For Many Years Would Know What A Contrail Looks Like. To All Posters That Think These Photos Are Of Contrails Answer Me This One Question. Are Contrails A Rare Occurance? I Think Not. Ive Lived In L.A Most Of My Life And Lived About 6 Years In The Palmdale/Lancaster/Rosamond Area. I Stayed About 20 Blocks From Lockheed Martins Skunkworks And I Used To Live I Dont Know How Many Miles From Edwards But I Went There All The Time Because I Friend Lived On Base That Had A Recording Studio. I Have Seen Pretty Much Every Aircraft The U.S Armed Forces Has To Offer. F22 Raptors F117 A Nighthawks. B2 Bombers Of The Stealth Variant And And The B1 Lancers Or Whatever They Are Called They Kinda Look Like The Concorde And Those Were Louder Than Anything Else They Had Flying Up There. I Never Saw The Aurora But I Think I Heard It Once. What Could Make 10 Sonic Booms Back To Back To Back In Less Than A Second Of Each Other. 10 Planes Going Super Sonic Maybe But I Saw No Planes The Space Shuttle Landed There A Few Times Too And The Most I Heard That Make Was A Double Sonic Boom. I Even Seen It Riding Piggyback On A 737 Or Whatever. I have seen lots. and i have seen what diplomat and the op have seen off the california coast. and its no contrail. whatever it is its huge and it moves slow. the one i saw was around the same time when the sun was setting and it had quite a few small round blueish lit orbs flying around it as if it was being escorted or something. it dissappeared into thin air and i never seen one again until these two posters pics. it looks like a contrail but until you see the way the object behaves then you would know it isnt a contrail if it was a contrail which are very common around these parts then why would anyone even take the time to even pay attention if it didnt look odd?

This reminds me about one month ago between 2-3 am I was working on my computer when I heard a strange humming sound coming from above our living room I then felt a strong vibration emanating from nearby and one of the two living room windows (that are horizontal to each other and about 6 inches apart) began rattling rapidly and I began to feel light headed, this lasted for about 5 seconds and then the sound and vibrations seized.

Then last week I woke up around midnight to sounds of what sounded like distant sonic booms, there was about three separate instances that took place over a period of 30 or so seconds and then it was quiet the rest of the night.

This took place in the Central Valley area of California.