UFO "check list" - a suggestion for ATS

In some of the UFO/Aliens thread I have read about something called "chinese lanterns" as a possible explanation for sightings. I for one have no idea what these lanterns look like. I am from Norway, so we don't get to see many of them here, I guess.

But I was thinking - could it be an idea to create a thread or some kind of "library" with info and images of objects/phenomena that can be easily mistaken for UFOs?

Like different weather phenomena (strange sky formations, ball lightning), man made objects (balloons, aircrafts, lanterns, satelites), and astronomical features like unusual bright stars. It would also be great if some of the image experts in this forum (like ArMaP) could contribute with info about lense flares, pixellation and so on.

I think such a collection of info/images would be educational for all of us, and useful when discussing different sightings, photos and videos. ATS has many members with special knowledge and expertise, so I believe it would be a good idea to pull their resources togheter for the benefit of us all.

I look forward to hearing your opinions about this suggestion.

this is what they refer to when they say chinese lantern.
seminars.torontoghosts.org...

Its a good idea.. need to make that list first before taking on a thread I think.

Balloons are pretty common one would expect that people know what they look like.

also a popular misidentified object are solar balloons.


www.metacafe.com...

reply to post by NephraTari


Thanks! I feel rather stupid now (well, to be honest I often feel stupid). I didn't excactly mean ordinary party balloons, but I recently saw an image of solar balloons for the first time, so I just thought that perhaps I wasn't the only one who hadn't seen them before. And simpletons like me need to be enlightened!

That's what I've been saying.

Need to do an experiment with 50 or more chinese lanterns and compare photos.

Hey ziggy good idea.. although it was already put forth in this thread. Still the author never bothered to fix the links and the thread title is misleading. I vote to use your thread. If I take any unusual (non-alien) pix I will post them here.

Thanks to internos who provided these images:

SWAMP GAS (artists impression)




EARTHQUAKE LIGHTS

An earthquake light is an unusual luminous aerial phenomenon, similar in appearance to the aurora borealis, that allegedly appears in the sky at or near areas of tectonic stress, seismic activity or volcanic eruptions. Scientific evidence for the presence of lights is unreliable, given that there are few references documenting the phenomenon.

Link: en.wikipedia.org...





PLASMA




ST. ELMOS FIRES

St. Elmo's fire is an electrical weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge originating from a grounded object in an atmospheric electric field (such as those generated by thunderstorms or thunderstorms created by a volcanic explosion).

Link: en.wikipedia.org...'s_fire




RED SPRITES

Sprites are massive but weak luminous flashes that appear directly above an active thunderstorm system and are coincident with cloud-to-ground or intracloud lightning strokes. Their spatial structures range from small single or multiple vertically elongated spots, to spots with faint extrusions above and below, to bright groupings which extend from the cloud tops to altitudes up to about 95 km. Sprites are predominantly red.

Link:
elf.gi.alaska.edu...




BLUE JETS

Blue jets are a second high altitude optical phenomenon, distinct from sprites, observed above thunderstorms using low light television systems. As their name implies, blue jets are optical ejections from the top of the electrically active core regions of thunderstorms.

Link: elf.gi.alaska.edu...

reply to post by Scramjet76


Sorry, I was not aware that this kind of thread already had been proposed. I tried to do a search, but couldn't find anything!

It's a good idea, and much better done than the thread Scramjet76 pointed to.

I have sent a U2U to a mod asking what he thinks about turning this thread in a somewhat "official" thread for identifying flying objects.

reply to post by ArMaP


Thanks for your input, ArMaP! And if this thread was turned into into a "official" thread, I would be happy to leave it in the hands of more capable people than me.

In the meantime, here are a couple of more images provided by internos:

TRANSIENT LUNAR PHENOMENA

A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) or "Lunar Transient Phenomena" (LTP), refers to short-lived lights, colors, or changes in appearance of the lunar surface.
Claims of short-lived phenomena go back at least 1,000 years, with some having been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists. Nevertheless, the majority of transient lunar phenomena reports are irreproducible and do not possess adequate control experiments that could be used to distinguish among alternative hypotheses. Few reports concerning these phenomena are ever published in peer reviewed scientific journals, and rightfully or wrongfully, the lunar scientific community rarely discusses these observations.

Link: en.wikipedia.org...



HESSDALEN LIGHT PHENOMENA

Hessdalen is a small valley in the central part of Norway. At the end of 1981 through 1984, residents of the Valley became concerned and alarmed about strange, unexplained lights that appeared at many locations throughout the Valley. Hundreds of lights were observed. At the peak of activity there were about 20 reports a week.
Project Hessdalen was established in the summer of 1983. A field investigation was carried out between 21.January and 26.February 1984. Fifty-three light observations were made during the field investigation. You may read the details in the technical report. There was an additional field investigation in the winter of 1985. However, no phenomena were seen during the period when the instruments were present.
Lights are still being observed in the Hessdalen Valley, but their frequency has decreased to about 20 observations a year. An automatic measurement station was put up in Hessdalen in August 1998. Both data and alarm-pictures can be viewed on this website.

Link to "Project Hessdalen":www.hessdalen.org...

Since CHINESE LANTERNS/SKY LANTERNS seems to be the explanation for some UFO sightings, here is some info on them:

Sky lanterns (天燈) are traditionally lanterns made of oiled rice paper with a bamboo frame containing a small candle or fuel cell, which is a waxy combustible material. When lit the fuel cell heats the air, creating smoke, and causes the lantern to rise into the air. The Sky Lantern is airborne for approximately 15 minutes, or until the fuel cell is exhausted, after which the lantern floats back to the ground. They achieve quite a height and launching them in strong winds is not recommended.

Source: en.wikipedia.org...

In this YouTube video you can see a group of people sending sky lanterns up in to the sky and make a wish. It is easy to see how these lanterns may be mistaken for UFOs when seen on the dark night sky:

Found a good site about IFO's made by Merseyside Anomalies Research Association in UK. The site has lots of useful images and info:

IFO stands for Identified Flying Object. An IFO can be described as a UFO which has a rational explanation. In other words something which looks unusual and is hence often misconstrued as a UFO. The purpose of this project is to build a database of IFOs so that people can visit the project if they have had a UFO sighting and check to see if their sighting corresponds to the description and pictures in this project.

Link: www.mara.org.uk...

I really like this idea Ziggy a kind of data base members can look at before starting a thread "look at this UFO I took a picture of last night" and see if the thing in their photo is explained as something man made.

I will see about finding and posting a few workish photo's of things that some people might mistake for a UFO phenomenon.



[edit on 17-7-2008 by QBSneak000]

Stared and flagged!

Maybe we could make "Fact posts" allso, to reffer other threads to it, instead of repeating posts all over the forum. Like the ones you created further up about the lights and so on

Good thread ..

OK who has started this same idea recently? In the past year anyway. A very good thread already exists on this. And internos great start if we do decide to just start an new one.

My input is that when you see an airplane coming from a far distance it can look like a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena).

I have been mistaken numerous times on that one.

S@F Op

Here are a few photo's of different types of weather balloons and lenticular clouds.

reply to post by QBSneak000


Thanks, my friend. Those are excellent images, great to have pics of weather balloons on this thread. The images of the lenticular clouds are also fantastic, it is easy to see how these clous formations may be interpreted as UFOs!

here are a couple of pictures of chinese lanterns i took a month ago.






taken with a w880i phone camera




mods can you make them visable like the others?

[edit on 31-7-2008 by beefeater]

Come on, who would mistake a HUGE cloud that doesnt move, and eventually dissapates as a "UFO" I know the skeptics would like to believe we're all moronic monkeys who cant tell the difference between a massive static cloud, and an object that flys, stops on a dime 90 degree's and takes off at high speed is a "cloud" or weather balloon..give humans more credit..

yea, I just happened to be looking thru my $10,000 telescope one night at the moon and mistake it for an alien mothership...COME ON..

TRANSIENT LUNAR PHENOMENA

A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) or "Lunar Transient Phenomena" (LTP), refers to short-lived lights, colors, or changes in appearance of the lunar surface.
Claims of short-lived phenomena go back at least 1,000 years, with some having been observed independently by multiple witnesses or reputable scientists. Nevertheless, the majority of transient lunar phenomena reports are irreproducible and do not possess adequate control experiments that could be used to distinguish among alternative hypotheses. Few reports concerning these phenomena are ever published in peer reviewed scientific journals, and rightfully or wrongfully, the lunar scientific community rarely discusses these observations.

L

[edit on 31-7-2008 by OneLifeTooLive]