I had my first unexplained sighting today ! 440 Incident.

It was not very thrilling since it was distant and barely noticeable by naked eye in the broad daylight.

It was my peripheral vision that caught up with it. Another reason i was not as thrilled as i expected was that although i am a skeptic i think we are all quite conditioned nowadays to accept the alternate reality of UFOs really being around and that its not as uncommon as one might suspect on first account without having a good look around the web.
(I use the word UFO in its broader term but not for things like baloons, kites etc)

Here is the facts:

I was just outside a friends house waiting to come along with me on a ride with my motorbike since it was a fine afternoon.
For the last 10 days or so i developed the habit of carrying my SONY Cybeshot DSC-W90 around at all times and take pictures whenever motivated.
So as i was waiting having a smoke with the engine idleing under my legs i noticed a white spot in the clear blue sky.
At first i thought it was an aircraft since we have an airport in the outskirts of the city.
I was facing north towards the seaside. The airport is on the far right of me as i was sitting on my bike-to the east.
After a second or two i realised that this is no aircraft nor helicopter, nor a baloon or a kite. It looked as being above the sea (although i could not see the sea from my point of view- i was about 1500m away and within the city blocks)
I tried to focus on the object which was a little bright spot but it was no good. My vision is 10/10 but i could make no details of it apart from the fact that it did not look perfectly round. (it looked like being wider in the botom side with a curved top) (while writing these lines i am not looking at the pictures but just try to communicate to you my experience and what i remember at this time)
I took my eyes away seeking for my Cybershot in my bikers jacket. So far the object seemed stationary.
I then looked back at the sky and tried to focus back on it to get the photos.
I think it was on a slightly different spot but i cannot tell for sure.
Looking back onto my cameras screen i couldn't discern the spot but i made the best of it since i remembered the relative position of the object to the obstructions ahead of me at the lower level of the screen.
I took a couple of photos. I think at the moon setting left over from two nights ago while i was photographing some evening clouds.
I looked back up to the sky to locate the object again but i could not see it.
I think it was mostly by being rushed on managing to capture it while at the same time i could see my friend stroling the road towards me.
I snapped another couple or so photos before he reached for me.
When i looked back to it i could not see it any more.
I was asked about my actions but i made no real comments about it since i feared being flamed...
I took another 4-5 second gaze at the sky but i could not see it.
I only wish i waqs alone at the time...
Anyway there are 6 pictures of the incident alltogether some with various zoom settings. I think some are on digital zoom (6x alltogether against the 3x optical one) in the effort to get the best picture. I was not sure it would register on the camera...

Before giving you the picture links i will give you some more details:

City: Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Date: 14 March 2009
Time: Look at the exif time stamp. It was early evening.
Time zone: +2
Sighting duration: Propably perceived by me over a minute or so...
Witness: One but never informed him of the action...
Just lights, or shape discernable? : Bright spot with some shape. Stationary.
Color of lights and/or object/s? : White or rathe lit against a blue sky
Number of lights and/or objects? : 1
Apparent altitude?: I guess it really depends on object size. It looked like 1000m high in the sky over the sea to the north. Horizontal distance was something like 2500 m
Direction of travel? : Quite stationary while i could observe.
Apparent brightness? : That of a star against the sky (NO star in this case. Trust me. There were no other stars and if there was the slightest chance of it being a star i would not consider it as a sighting...)
Path of travel (straight, curved, etc.)? : Quite stationary
Any pictures or video? : Yes (see below-please download)
Any sound?: NO but it was too far any way (i think it was since i do not know anything about its size...)
Any aircraft around? : None whatsoever!

HERE ARE THE LINKS TO THE PHOTOS ON PHOTOBUCKET:
(I chose photobucket since it retains EXIF data.
ATS makes compression etc but you are welcome to post them on ATS in any form - I should catch up ahead of you to compress so i can also make an ATS upload and pic post. Currently the computer i sit on does not have photoshop so i don't know if i manage. The folder i saved at Photobucked is named 440 incident since 440 is the number of the first shot...)

DSC00440

DSC00441

DSC00442

DSC00443

DSC00444

DSC00445

At this time my conclusion is that this is my first UFO sighting.
I have not done an analysis yet myself but this is no optimistic statement.
To be honest i am surprised myself at my cool allthough i am quite impatient in posting this.

Peace!

I can see it in the first 3 pics, but not the last 3. It's too small to tell what it is. If you have larger pictures that you can upload elsewhere, that might help.

This is the best i can do right now.....
I just do not have the software on this PC
and paint is a ...pain...
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/91575175aeb4db3e.jpg[/atsimg]

This should at least give you the location of the object on the photo.

If you want to see it at large download the original photos.



[edit on 14/3/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

There is a bit of data missing from your excellent report: The time of day (which is available in the EXIF data if your clock is set properly). The azimuth (compass direction). The elevation in degrees above the horizon. As you note, judging the altitude is impossible but elevation can be useful.

You did catch something, obviously. Have you considered that it could have been a daylight viewing of Venus? According to the timestamp the viewing was at about 5PM. From your viewpoint Venus would have been west at about 28degrees above the horizon. Possible?

No Offence George

But you churn out 20 threads a day, Im inclined to think this is another 1 of many

It's definitely a UFO in the sense that it's something seen in the sky that cannot immediately be identified.

Venus is certainly a possibility especially as from your account it would seem to have been stationary. The sky looks a tad too light for Venus to be visible but that may be due to overexposure. Confirmation of the direction you were looking mightn help confirm/eliminate that theory.

At least your pictures show proper context - we can see the foreground - which is better tha a lot of UFO pictures!

reply to post by Phage


Dear phage,
i will do my best to help you through google maps.

Just give me some time.

reply to post by branty


Actually it is quite offending...

I admit of being somewhat ATS addicted lately but since you went into the trouble of looking at my profile have you ever seen me making such claims before as having a sighting?

I never thought i would actually although there was hope. As of today i will be even more observant.

Not all of my threads are interesting nor are they all of tip top quality, but hey if you are not interested you are not obliged to participate in any of them... Nor is anyone else.

GOOGLE MAPS

[edit on 14/3/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK

Chill George my friend, i meant no offense , its just that , every morning there are 10 people who see a ghost the night before , 5 people who are paralized every nite , 4 people who see "something" every nite, Us at ATS see a lot , and prove not to much

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


Just knowing "Greece" was close enough.

In what compass direction were you looking and was it at 5PM?

George where are these ufos? All I see is blue sky. I've seen them all, discs, rhombus types, ufo orbs by the dozen, angle grinder ufo orbs that morph into the angel/Jesus type light, been rained on after a sighting by manna/ufo exhaust fumes/cotton wool type substance, but I can't see nothing here.

reply to post by Phage


I have noted the direction on this image you have the link to this image on google maps on my previous post.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/308b2e22bea08269.jpg[/atsimg]

I will try to get more detailed. But i do no know how long i will be able to attend tonigh before i have to go..........

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


Northwest then, that's what I would have guessed judging by the shadows. That rules out Venus.

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK
Yes ok just seen that pic. Looks like a ufo orb of the clear/white type. A question - were you thinking of ufos or looking for the at the time or smoking a cigarette at the time?

Also here from live search maps:
I was standing just behind the zebraline and you can see the cable runing over the street in front of me in the photo...

maps.live.com...< br />
I hope i was helpfull.

[edit on 14/3/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

It really looks not much different then the one I sighted and watched for probably around 8 minutes, just two days ago, as it slowly made its way across the completely clear sky.

I would have to say the same thing I said about my own. It's a small white dot. There really isn't anything to say. You'll never determine what it is from those photos.

I decided the one I saw, due to the very slow movement, and slightly erratic behavior, was some sort of balloon, perhaps a weather balloon, although, I don't really know if those sorts of things are very flown near major cities (this was over Denver, CO).

But even if it harbored some curious residents from Alpha Centauri, it doesn't matter in the slightest. It doesn't further the study of UFOs, since nothing can be proven. Still fun to watch though, whatever it is.

EXIF time stamp is reasonable accurate (better than 5 mins)
Elevation above sea level is about 10m or so..

EDIT: I overestimated the elevation.Its not 30m but less, rather in the 10m region. Will use my HTCs GPS next time..

[edit on 14/3/2009 by GEORGETHEGREEK]

I will have to go just now but i will be back tomorrow with anything you may request.

From a better equiped pc too..

I am excited but somehow i could see it coming that many of the artifacts observed are actually true.

I had a similar experience once where I had to take a triple-take before I figured out what I was seeing was the Metlife blimp waaay off in the distance.

Is it possible you saw something similar to this blimp that had a stay at the airport near you in 2007? (the post doesn't say where it is now, but it was destined for UAE)

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/91e013dd6974.jpg[/atsimg]

www.airpics.net...

If a blimp were traveling away from you, it might appear stationary and eventually be too far off to see.

Just a thought...


EDIT: Looks like this particular blimp never made it to Dubai, but it is no longer at Heraklion either.

The ship made it to the island of Crete. The next leg of the journey was planned to go through Egypt. However, for reasons unexplained, the Egyptian authorities refused to grant permission for the airship to make the trip. In spring of 2007 the ship returned to Europe for use in sightseeing.

en.wikipedia.org...


[edit on 14-3-2009 by Zarniwoop]