Do weather balloons emit light?

At night, I mean (i.e. not reflected light from the sun).

Would they be visible as a bright, constant (not flickering) shining light - like the light of an airplane, or of Venus - on a night sky?

I did google around before posting but this particular piece of information seems surprisingly difficult to establish without a doubt.

And BTW... why does anyone use weather balloons anymore?
Aren't satellites enough?
(Just asking.)

Thanks!

i don't think weather balloons emit light.. they are usually to high for planes to crash in to them so i doubt there would be any real need.. although some high altitude weather balloons may reflect sun light just after it gets dark because they are still exposed to the light...

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by purplemonkey



Thanks!
Based on photos and the description of the processes involved I didn't think so either.

Are there any other flying "gadgets" with a source of light (as described in the OP), no audible sound, and slightly random-looking movement (but very little movement anyway)? Any ideas?

Thanks again!

Artificial satellites... although they don't move erratically...

maybe UAVs I've heard that they are very difficult to hear because they are so small and it could be possible that there movements seem erratic if they are on a circular coarse...

and of coarse there are the alien UFOs... (dun dun dun)

Weather ballons to my knowledge do not have light sources. But wait five minutes and someone will come along to tell you chinese lanterns.

Sorry, I'm late... I saw some Chinese lanterns in London some months ago. They are quite pretty. But don't hang so high in the sky (depending on you POV of course).
You did notice also that the first guy replying said that if you saw something just after sundown an object high up could still be illuminated by the sun while you would have twilight / darkness on the ground... because of Earth's curvature.

[edit on 8/6/08 by flice]

Flice, just my mediocre attempts at jocularity. The ufo slayers here can be brutal. Swamp gas, etc.

Thanks, everyone.

The thing I am talking about would definitely not be reflected sunshine because it was visible in the middle of the night.

So, based on your comments, it would not have been a weather balloon (because of the light), or a floating "lantern" (because of the height, and the light would have been flickering), or a satellite (because of the movement).

Are there any aircraft with hovering abilities, but totally soundless?










[edit on 9-6-2008 by Vanitas]

As for using balloons, yes the National Weather Service still launches them across the country, everyday.

Then there are other groups that play with them also. I know some people that do this: www.arhab.org...

They launch balloons that go 95000 to 110000 feet then come back down, all the time sending telemetry and GPS location reports for retrieval.

Middle of the night, light in the sky. Rule out balloons and most satellites. You have a real UFO, maybe Earth oriented, but still a UFO.

reply to post by hinky



It most definitely is - because so far it hasn't been identified by those who saw it... :-)

Thanks!


P.S. Are there no silent and hovering IFO (however clandestine)?
Not that there was anything particularly "clandestine" about this one - well, except for the fact that it was 3 a.m. or thereabouts.









[edit on 9-6-2008 by Vanitas]

if it's emitting light in the day, it's a weather balloon reflecting the sun,

if it's emitting light in the night, it's swamp gas.

if it's emitting light in the day, it's a weather balloon reflecting the sun,

if it's emitting light in the night, it's swamp gas.

Now you're just plain scaring me...
Because if that was swamp gas, I shudder at the thought of the swamp emitting it - and at the splash it will make when it comes falling down from the sky!

That was a good one.