MIT students photograph Earth from Space - object seen in one photo

This is pretty cool. The Google Earth flight path of the balloon.
drop.io...

Some of the flight is missing though.

[edit on 9/14/2009 by Phage]

reply to post by Tifozi


Well...as someone said it may well be an artifact in the digital image.

Still, I have often seen the glints reflected from smallish bodies of water that are land-locked.

See, on a large lake, or ocean, the reflectivity is diffuse, because of the water's surface. Compared to a smallish pond, which may have a smoother surface.

Think of a shower door with the erose surface for opacity, compared to a mirror....

thats definitely a ufo;
you could see the huge lake or ocean behind it and thats not reflecting any light at all

and how many times have you guys seen water reflecting light off into space?
everytime ive seen pictures of water from space the water just looked blue......
ocean pond ice or whatever......
always blue, no mirror effect at all


[edit on 14-9-2009 by DjSharperimage]

Originally posted by weedwhacker
reply to post by amigo

 

Looks a lot like sunlight reflecting on the water in a lake or pond.

They snapped at just the right moment to catch the image. A few seconds later, or earlier -- or different angle, and it wouldn't show...or might show on ANOTHER body of water somewhere.

I see reflections like that often while flying.

You fly in space often eh? I do not believe your theory at all. Look at all those surrounding lakes in the same vicinity not "reflecting". The vantage point is from space where a small trivial angle is not going to matter.

[edit on 14-9-2009 by Wormwood Squirm]

reply to post by weedwhacker


You're correct my friend, with all stated. I just don't think it applies in this case.

(are you a pilot, or flight crew of some sort?) I'm also a pilot and I can even see peoples stuff shining in the beach some times, at high altitude, or car windshields reflecting the sun light..

I know what you mean, but I think this isn't the case.

Not trying to play debunker here, but when I originally commented on the possibility of the image artifact being a high albedo reflection, I was really musing that it might be reflecting off a large metal surface, like a football arena dome...

Here are two similar views from Atmo, featuring these high albedo reflections:



or this one, from the same data set...



Here is an overhead view from Google maps of the area around Sturbridge, MA:



Phage - I can't load the flightpath, can you post a screenshot here?
also, have you found the raw images online yet? I can't seem to find them, but they must exist, and there surely must be more than just the 4 pics up at the Icarus site... Right?

-WFA

Guys beautiful picture but I am not seeing anything, in area of cue, now a picture is just a still frame of Earth for a second captured, so don't go getting down, because, if I had control of satellites I would definately point them in areas that are in hot spots.

the Fitton Football stadium is in Worchester, where the Balloon went down...

maps.google.com...:en-USfficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=dome,+boston,+ma&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,36544 6974974652224&ei=7s2uSuf6EYf-tQOCt-nFCw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1

If Phage can get us a good image of the flight path, and we can ascertain where the balloon was at 93,000 ft when it took this image (and it's orientation) then it should be relatively simple to check if there are any large metal surfaces at that spot on the Earth...

Thoughts?

-WFA

From the CNN Report about the camera flight:



Hope that works... If not, go to this page:
www.ireport.com...

And click on Image #3 in the slide show...

There is an arena in the direct vicinity that should have a very high albedo...

Not saying this is it, but it's a lead worth following up on, IMHO.

Here are some other launches, by the same individuals:
space.1337arts.com...

-WFA

[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

reply to post by WitnessFromAfar

I don't know if a screen shot would be much help in analyzing anything. Here are a couple of points from the track.

The last point (before the break in the data) is:
Time: 2009-09-02 11:46:08Speed: 1 mphHeading: WAltitude: 2341 feet
coordinates>-72.0659,42.12464,713.54


The next point (well into the descent) is :
Time: 2009-09-02 14:40:59Speed: 16 mphHeading: EAltitude: 19853 feetG
coordinates>-71.81404,42.19702,6051.19


The high point would be somewhere in between these two locations.




[edit on 9/14/2009 by Phage]

Looks like there was an altitude cap for transmitting. They must have pulled the data upon retrieval.

I found some more images from the flight on Flicker:
www.flickr.com...@N05/sets/72157608267950423

Not sure why the link won't work, here it is without the Http://

www.flickr.com/photos/30721501@N05/sets/72157608267950423

And a video! Ooh neat

-WFA

[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

Their camera is pretty decent!

check out this still shot I got of the moon as the camera was spinning around and around after the balloon burst:




It's from the 29th video on the flicker site...

-WFA

Bingo, here we go:



There's the altitude data during flight...

Now if only we can find the orientation of the camera at that point...

can anyone find the image in question in the posted data set here at Flickr?:
www.flickr.com...@N05/sets/72157608235936214/

Again without the prefix on the link:
www.flickr.com/photos/30721501@N05/sets/72157608235936214/

-WFA

[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

Here is a portion of the larger image here:
www.flickr.com...@N05/2961139529/sizes/o/

Link without prefix:
www.flickr.com/photos/30721501@N05/2961139529/sizes/o/

where I think we're seeing the same object (or image artifact) from another angle in a different photo:



Also in this selection, you can see the sunlight reflecting on the surface of the water, as described by Tifozi above...

-WFA

My dear friends,

I think you will agree with me that everyone will see what they want to see in a photo, but I feel that some explanation is in order (since most did not bother to read the project page I linked to).

1. This is not my project.

2. The Project Icarus had nothing to do with hunting UFOs. These students set on to launch a cheap Helium weather balloon (that sounds like a cliche, doesn't it, weather balloon, UFOs...you know... ) and take some near-space photos of the Earth.

3. The balloon flu up to 93,000 feet (they said 17.5 miles) or so before it exploded - it probably reached it's maximum hight before the material gave in.

4. They used a simple digital camera so glitches in the imagery are possible, as well as cosmic rays or whatever other explanation including a real solid metallic UFO.

5. The balloon exploded and the payload returned to the Earth via an on-board parachute. Upon return the team extracted the camera and photos it took.

6. They set the camera to time-lapse photography (every 5 sec, 1/800 shutter speed) so there was no control or transmission during the flight except the GPS tracking through the mobile phone.

7. The photo I linked to is just one of many, perhaps there will be more in the series so we can see whether this shiny blip is still there or not.

8. They said that a time-lapse video will be posted to YouTube soon, so that could be another way to determine what's in that photo.

reply to post by amigo


Hi there Amigo! Just wanted to be clear, I just really think it's a neat photo, and am examining some of the more terrestrial explanations. If those can be ruled out, this image's mystery will only grow.

I must say I'm curious though, and there is enough data here to do some analysis (there were from MIT ) cool thread! I starred it

-WFA

p.s. if it wasn't an interesting image, Phage wouldn't be here He/she is very smart individual! Ignore the Facts, as well, actually was quite sparing in his criticism, which may not sound like a lot, but does mean something

Thanks for bringing this post to our attention! Let's all deny our ignorance and get to the bottom of this one (or at least the bottom of the terrestrial possibilities...)


[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

Originally posted by WitnessFromAfar
reply to post by amigo

 

Hi there Amigo! Just wanted to be clear, I just really think it's a neat photo, and am examining some of the more terrestrial explanations. If those can be ruled out, this image's mystery will only grow.

I must say I'm curious though, and there is enough data here to do some analysis (there were from MIT

) cool thread! I starred it

-WFA

p.s. if it wasn't an interesting image, Phage wouldn't be here

He/she is very smart individual! Ignore the Facts, as well, actually was quite sparing in his criticism, which may not sound like a lot, but does mean something

Thanks for bringing this post to our attention! Let's all deny our ignorance and get to the bottom of this one (or at least the bottom of the terrestrial possibilities...)

[edit on 14-9-2009 by WitnessFromAfar]

Howdy,

I totally agree, it is a neat photo and if nothing else I'm glad I shared it here with everyone else so they can enjoy it.

Whatever else might be in the photo is left for a debate, as more date and evidence needs to be gathered before any conclusions could be drawn.

reply to post by amigo


Amigo, are you able to find the picture from the Icarus site (the one with the object in it) in the Flickr data set?

I've been through the slideshow several times now, and can't find it in there...

Perhaps someone from the thread should contact Robert Harrison through Flickr... I don't have an account at Flickr, anyone here have one?

Here is Robert Harrison's page, if so, please ask if we can have a link to the full data set, and request any other images that feature this object (ie. the images before and after the image in question, in the sequence...)

www.flickr.com...@N05/

And without the prefix:
//www.flickr.com/photos/30721501@N05/

-WFA

Originally posted by WitnessFromAfar
reply to post by amigo

 

Amigo, are you able to find the picture from the Icarus site (the one with the object in it) in the Flickr data set?

I've been through the slideshow several times now, and can't find it in there...

Perhaps someone from the thread should contact Robert Harrison through Flickr... I don't have an account at Flickr, anyone here have one?

Here is Robert Harrison's page, if so, please ask if we can have a link to the full data set, and request any other images that feature this object (ie. the images before and after the image in question, in the sequence...)

www.flickr.com...@N05/

And without the prefix:
//www.flickr.com/photos/30721501@N05/

-WFA

I believe you have mistakenly identified two different projects, although they have the same name, they are done by different individuals.

The MIT students in this Project Icarus are Oliver Yeh, Justin Lee, Eric Newton.

The "other" Project Icarus linked by you to Flickr is by Robert Harrison.

Although, Harrison's Icarus has some gorgeous photos as well, especially the second one with the Sun in them:

Icarus II

Please note the date of that Flickr photo stream:

items are from between 28 May 2009 & 28 Jun 2009.

reply to post by WitnessFromAfar


Here is the dome (#3 in the CNN Slideshow on this flight) I mentioned in the above linked post... This object should have a fairly high albedo.

Not saying this is the culprit yet, but a possibility we can test...




-WFA