Strange Flashes in the night sky ,what are they,and have you seen them?

reply to post by tarifa37

I live in Florida and saw two all sky flashes in 2004. It was about 48 hrs. after Hurricane Charlie had passed through the area. All the power was knocked out, so I wanted to take advantage of the darkness to get a good view of the night sky. It was about 4:00 in the morning and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was really beautiful. I decided to walk round the back of the house for a better view of the southern sky. I was looking down at my feet when all of a sudden there was this bright flash. It was like the flash on a camera. It startled me, and I started scanning the sky for clouds. But the sky was clear. It was only a couple of minutes later that the flash happened again. This time I was looking at the sky. The entire sky lit up like a giant white sheet was covering it. Now living in Florida, I've seen plenty of heat lightning, so I know what it is like. But I have never experienced anything like that before. I decided to cut my stargazing short and got back in the house. I haven't found anyone who can explain this to me. Most people look at me like I am crazy. Good to know that others have witnessed this phenomenon, too.

Hey tarifa37... Is this kinda like what you saw.. ive also been seeing something that flashes a white
light.. it would flash 1-4 times and other than that there doesnt appear to be anything there..

One flash is all ive managed to capture..

s292.photobucket.com...

i292.photobucket.com...

Originally posted by CosmicTraveler
Hey tarifa37... Is this kinda like what you saw.. ive also been seeing something that flashes a white
light.. it would flash 1-4 times and other than that there doesnt appear to be anything there..

One flash is all ive managed to capture..

s292.photobucket.com...

i292.photobucket.com...

Fantastic job,that is it exactly .I was seeing about four like that in the same part of the sky but not from the same spot.The other night I saw a large slow flash and it was coming from an object that was moving across the night sky just like a satalite I guess that one must have caught the sun as it went past, looked amazing though really bright. How did you capture that flash? Were you just lucky when filming a part of the sky. Well done .



[edit on 14-11-2008 by tarifa37]

In October of 1993, I was driving at night on the highway from Freeport Maine to Ogunguit, and over a stretch of 25 miles every few minutes there would be a bright bluish flash of light, like the color of a camera flash only much brighter, bright enough to illuminate the landscape. The flashes were low to the ground and usually from almost directly overhead. Only there was nothing there. No ufos, no anything.

I realize that most of you will never believe this, but look into the term "heat Lightening". It can be seen up to 100 miles away in a variety of color.

It doesn't tie in with the ufo stuff also cited within the thread, but it is the scientific reason of what you are seeing. The mind does funny tricks, and there are numerous examples here.

I posted this on another site about 10/08/08 (should have come here)

For the past few clear nights I have been seeing single short duration (0.5 second) bright (mag –2 to –4, or about as bright as a very bright star) flashes, randomly scattered around the sky (they appear to be about 5 to 15 mins apart), they appear to be star like and have a yellow/orange tint to them.

Note I have been an active amateur astronomer for long time and I have lived near a busy airport in the past so I am very familiar with the night’s sky and things that might be up there, this isn’t an iridium satellite nor any kind of shooting star I have ever seen, in fact I have never seen anything like it in my 30 years of observing.

My location is 70 km north of Lahti, Finland

Also im sober

Ok additional

Since I first noticed this I have seen about 20 occurrences the size and brightness seems to be about the same for each.

The oddest one I have seen was a flash in the big dipper then almost immediately following that a second flash near Cygnus then a flash so bright it lit up the tree tops (behind the house so I didn’t see what that was)

One point, this happens around early dark and for a few hours after, which supports the space debris idea, but after watching the area of sky I see the effect in I do not see anything else (no tumbling debris)

Also its stopped now I haven’t observed it since about oct 20.

@ CosmicTraveler yep that looks like what I have seen

Meteorites burning up in the atmosphere.

OMG i am so pleased to know other people see this. I see this phenomena a lot and I also see white star type lights that that then become dazzalingly bright then shoot straight up at huge speed getting dim. The flashes that I see usually happen in 3's. They usually flash from the same area but there is nothing there.I feel it is some form of communication. There was one night when I was chatting to friends and not looking up and it flashed so bright it lit the whole roof up like a strobe. I looked up quickly and it flashed again but much more of a wink. This phenomana comes and goes. I haven't seen anything for about a month. I live in Watford which is south east UK.

Originally posted by racasan
they appear to be star like and have a yellow/orange tint to them.

-snip-

One point, this happens around early dark and for a few hours after, which supports the space debris idea, but after watching the area of sky I see the effect in I do not see anything else (no tumbling debris)

Also its stopped now I haven’t observed it since about oct 20.

Thanks for posting racasan.

The yellow/orange tint would certainly fit with sunlight being reflected from gold-plated parts of some satellites.

Also the fact that it was only visible soon after dark, and disappearing after a certain date, which could be accounted for I think by slow changes in the Sun's angle due to Earth's orbit.

The evidence for many of these flashes being due to satellites certainly seems to be mounting, but as I said earlier in this thread, there's no reason why at least some could be due to meteors.

I think we have two phenomena here which could easily account for all the flashes people have described. What is the point in discussing this further? This equine corpse has been putrefying for at least the last 5 pages IMHO.

reply to post by C.H.U.D.


I am a regular sky watcher and absolutely know what a satellite and meteor look like thankyou very much, and I'm sure the other people who have posted also are aware of what happens in the night sky. Please do not insult my intelligence. Unless you have experienced what we have seen then you can not presume to think you know the answer. If you have only ever seen satelites then of course you will assume that is all we have ever seen. You do not need to discuss this any further as you obviously have not seen it!!!
[edit on 14-11-2008 by starseedz]

[edit on 14-11-2008 by starseedz]

[edit on 14-11-2008 by starseedz]

reply to post by just theory

reply to post by just theory
I too have seen the high flashes in the night sky. I thought they had to be space debree hitting the atmosphere more square on thus instantly disintegrating leaving no trace. Unlike a more common meteor leaving a bright trail of bright burning material and plasma gases behind the velocity vector. The larger the object the more brilliant the trail. Ofcourse we cant see the meteor itself, just its affects like a comet or a black hole is all we see, not the object itself. October and November are busy months for meteor showers as we pass through cometary trail debree
that may have pass many years before. As we pass through these remenent trails of debree during our orbit of the sun at 66,000 mph and also rotating at 1046 mph towards the east is why we see them in the northeastern skys from points of origin like Persius for the persiuds, Lyra for the lyrinids, Orion for the orionids ect. I dont believe they are Iridium Flares as they are satellite on polar orbits with predictable passes from various data providers like Heavens Above, and they are moving with a sudden bright flare up due to angular reflection just right so magnitude increases for a few seconds. I'm a amateur Astronomer and have seen them often but have no sure explaination. But I'm glad I found this forum and that others have seen them. I'm in northwest Washington State so we know they happen everywhere. As my telescopes track objects I look up frequently and see lots of things, but these flashes go unexplained so far.

last night i was out smoking on my driveway when all of a sudden i saw a quick bright white flash and the shadows of all the trees' branches everywhere... it was really weird. i looked around for storms but none were around, it was real calm. i dont know what it is but ive never seen it before

reply to post by tarifa37


I don't think I have responded to this particular thread about this, there have been other threads about it though. Yes there are strange flashes of lights in GA. I have been noticing them for about a year now. I work 3rd, and go out many times a night for security checks and to smoke and I am constantly seeing the flashes. I was out just about an hour ago and kept seeing them. I am positive that I am not seeing meteors or anything like that. It is something else.

reply to post by CosmicTraveler


I have seem the same flashing light once in East TN around 12:30am traveling due north. But here in Southwest Florida both a friend and I have seen a flashing light on two seperate nights traveling Eastward; first night spotted around 8:30pm, the second night around 10:00pm.

Hi all,

I'm an amateur "backyard" astronomer, pilot, and amateur radio operator, and currently employed by a major airline on the east coast of U.S.A.

I know exactly what you're talking about regarding these flashes.

I've questioned professional astronomers, and some have said they know what I'm talking about, some do not.

I remember seeing them as a little kid. I was 5 when I first noticed them. At first, I thought it was my eyes playing tricks on me. Maybe my pupil dilating and contracting extremely fast, but no... I was wrong.

I've seen this phenomena several times since childhood. I, at one point, thought it was "heat lightning." Lightning from a distant thunderstorm that reflects off dust particles in the air, and in all honesty, this is a plausible excuse, but I later came to assume that it wasn't that either.

It can be described as an ALL ENCOMPASSING flash of light. The few times I've paid attention to it, it seems to have no point of origin, and blankets the ENTIRE night sky.

The last (memorable) time I saw it, it was early to mid February. A friend and I were sitting by a lake in my hometown. The moon was visible, and it was after midnight. Anyone that knows New England, knows that thunderstorms don't take place in February often, and in my 30+ years of living here, I have NEVER seen a thunderstorm in the middle of the night in mid February.

On that night, my friend and I were watching for shooting stars. I saw the first flash, and he said, "what the ....?" I knew he had view it, but I wanted confirmation that it wasn't just me. A few minutes later, it happened again. My friend knows I'm an avid "backyard" astronomer, and he asked me, "What the hell is that?" I responded with, "That flash?" He said, "Yup!" and the the search for answers was on. I now had a witness to what I had been seeing for years. I asked him if he saw it's point of origin. He said that it had appeared from the South-East, but had NO clear definition. It was what he described as being "the brightest portion of the flash", but he agreed that it was all-encompassing.

Later I contacted a friend Steve "Dr. Sky" Kates, and he couldn't come up with any answers, but agreed that he's seen similar phenomena.

The only thing I can come up with, is that there may be some sort of generator in space that sends ionized particles into space. If these ionized particles hit Earth's ionosphere, it may appear as a "split-second aurora", but blanketing the entire planet. The only problem with this guess, is Where do these things originate?

Any suggestions, contact me at [email protected]

Most clear nights I at least look out of my window or if warm sit in my garden for 5 mins or so to look at the stars and to see if I can spot anythig strange.As I have stated in this thread I have a few times now witnesseed some flashes high in the sky. i have not seen anything for quite some time untill last night that is.Last night was very exciting as looking out of my window(french doors) looking south west. I saw a flash of white light and at first though it must be a plane as that sort of white flash you get from a planes wing light.The thing was that this was way up high and it was just one flash .A plane would keep on blinking as it crosses the sky.Therefore I carried on watching the same place in the sky and about one min later another very distinct flash. Somebody on this thread has explained that meteors coming in straight on could cause a single flash instead of a streak and I thought maybe these are from meteors coming in one behind the other.Although the flashes were very white and bright like a camera flash or as I said plane strobe. Any way I watched for a further 10 mins and was just about to call it a night when bam another flash same piece of sky.Then a few mins later another flash. by this time it was getting late and I needed to be up early today for work so I gave it a few mins more but did not see anything else.I ask every one of you who enjoys sky watching to look out for theses flashes and report anything you see on this thread. What are they? I am still trying to get hold of a night vision scope that will fit my budget but keep getting outbid on ebay.I am going to get one eventually and would have loved to have had one last night to see if there was anything there .

9:49 PM PST- Just saw a flash outside of my blinds, and all the streetlights turned off because of the intensity of the light, they are now all warming back up to full brightness. That was really weird. Southern California.

At first look id say the OP's flashs where point meteors ive seen quite a few where I live I make it a habit to stand out on clear nights and star gaze for an hour or two (live in a rather low light pollution area so have some nice night skys) but never a number of them at once, although i did once see two relatively close together fire off one after the other over a time frame of about 20 seconds.

Although if you had a bunch of small meteors all traveling close together and in the same trajectory (say a broken up one) then I guess you could have a bunch of point meteors happening all at once quickly.

A few months ago I was going out to see our little horse out the back around 9pm and when I turned my head to look into the garden I noticed a blue rather wide (about two finger widths at arms length) faint streak flash across 30 degrees of the sky at about a 70 degree angle off the horizon, although it was just inside my field of view. I moved my head around a number of times after to make sure it wasnt some other light reflecting off my cornea which it wasnt. So not sure what that would be.

And to anyone that see's their first iridium flare, prepare to at first poop your pants... well if you see the one I did the first time (ive seen alot of others afterwards), since having a satellite go from faint and dim to almost blinding and stay blinding for a few seconds over around 6-8 seconds as my first one did. Its quite a sight that can confuse you big time At first I thought 'Holy crap its pointing a bloody beam at me!' it was that bright.

[edit on 10-4-2009 by BigfootNZ]

Aha,

so you have seen the famous "orbs" that teleport around and such.

They are pretty common nowadays, almost as common as the "saucers" of old.

"At first I thought 'Holy crap its pointing a bloody beam at me!'"

[edit on 10-4-2009 by Vyrtigo]