Mufon report 19997

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quicktime movie

Went out into my backyard early in the evening. No moon or stars were visible yet. In the west / northwest sky was a bright triangle / diamond shaped object. At first I might have thought it was a blimp or a balloon. But it sat too still in the sky. It was so still it was almost creepy. It gave me the weirdest feeling. I watched it for what must have been thirty or forty-five minutes and took some pictures and video or my cheap digital camera. I finally went back inside because I had dinner on the stove and I didn't want it to burn, but I kept peaking at it from time to time, and it was just there. Finally about an hour later when it was a little bit dimmer (but still no stars out) I could tell that this object was not just reflecting the sunlight, but was actually glowing, kinda a blue light, kinda like the blue hallogen light color like are on some newer cars. Then I noticed a tiny red dot that had dropped below it for a short distance. Then very strangly the triangle slowly faded into a small dot much like the one below it. Then they both slowly just faded and vanished. It's hard to describe. They didn't just fly away or move off into the distance, they just faded off. I actually had a very similar experience to this a few years ago, but didn't have a camera then. In the pictures you can tell the diamond / triangle shape but really can't get much more detail. Sorry, but at least it's something. It amazes me that other people saw the same thing and are describing it in almost the exact same words. How amazing!

The way this object is described it would seem to be reflecting sunlight, but the witness didn't believe it was. The fact it doesn't move could mean it is in geosync orbit but that would mean it would have to be huge. If it were within the atmosphere, it would have to expend energy to remain in one place that long.

Anybody got any guesses what it is?

The observer's location coordinates and the direction of the sighting would help eliminate any mundane explanation. Without that data, it's just another light in the sky. The make and model of his 'cheap' camera would also fill in a few optical factors.

WG3

[edit on 19-10-2009 by waveguide3]

reply to post by finnegan


Searching for reports on sightings on 17th Oct 2009 turns up two sets of files for that report:

www.mufon.com...

The second set of files appears to be screengrabs and crops from the first set.

The EXIF of one of the files is as follows:

(Overview)
File name: D:\19997_submitter_file2__ufoOct1709011.JPG
File type: JPEG
File size: 950.3 KB
Creation date: 17/10/2009 18:13
Last modification: 19/10/2009 16:01
Make: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY (www.kodak.com...)
Camera: KODAK EASYSHARE C613 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Software: KODAK EASYSHARE C613 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Dimension: 2848 x 2134 px (6.1 MP, 4:3)
Focal length: 18 mm (equiv. 108 mm; 1.2x digital)
Aperture: F4.8
Exposure time: 1/86.8"
ISO speed rating: 160/23°
Program: Landscape mode (for landscape photos with the background in focus)
Metering Mode: Pattern
White Balance: Manual
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode

(Image)
Manufacturer: EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Image input equipment model: KODAK EASYSHARE C613 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Orientation of image: 0° (top/left)
Image resolution in width direction: 480 dpi
Image resolution in height direction: 480 dpi
Unit of X and Y resolution: inch
Software: KODAK EASYSHARE C613 ZOOM DIGITAL CAMERA
Y and C positioning: Co-Sited
Exif IFD Pointer: 0x00000918
Keywords: ufoOct1709
Padding: 2060 bytes

(Thumbnail Info)
Compression scheme: JPEG (old-style)
Image resolution in width direction: 0.0104 dpi
Image resolution in height direction: 0.0104 dpi
Unit of X and Y resolution: inch
Offset to JPEG SOI: 0x000045B8
Bytes of JPEG data: 3576 bytes

(Camera)
Exposure time: 1/86.8"
F number: F4.8
Exposure program: Landscape mode (for landscape photos with the background in focus)
ISO speed rating: 160/23°
Exif version: Version 2.21
Date and time of original data generation: 2009-10-17 18:13:26
Date and time of digital data generation: 2009-10-17 18:13:26
Meaning of each component: YCbCr
Shutter speed: 6.43 Tv (1/86.2")
Aperture: 4.52 Av (F4.8)
Exposure bias: ±0 EV
Maximum lens aperture: 4.52 Av (F4.8)
Metering mode: Pattern
Light source: Daylight
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Lens focal length: 18 mm
Manufacturer notes: 0x0000135E
Supported Flashpix version: Version 1.0
Color space: sRGB
Image width: 2848 px
Image height: 2134 px
Interoperability IFD Pointer: 0x00004516
Exposure index: 160
Sensing method: One-chip color area sensor
File source: Digital Camera
Scene type: A directly photographed image
Custom image processing: Normal process
Exposure mode: Auto exposure
White balance: Manual
Digital zoom ratio: 1.2x
Focal length in 35 mm film: 108 mm
Scene capture type: Landscape
Gain control: Low gain up
Contrast: Normal
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Subject distance range: Unknown
Padding: 2060 bytes
Offset Schema: 0x00000FD0

Assuming the time and date is correct, that narrows things down. But Texas is huge, and the direction the lens was facing would be helpful. The uncropped files have EXIF, not sure about the crops and screengrabs, haven't checked.

Assuming the time and date is correct, that narrows things down. But Texas is huge, and the direction the lens was facing would be helpful.

Looking at the movie, he's facing slightly north of west. Notice the red glow to the left side of the posts. Looks like a shot just before sunset to me. I think that may be enough to check what the astronomy was at the time.

WG3

reply to post by waveguide3


I'm crap as astronomy stuff, but downloaded Stellarium and checked sw to nw, at that time and approximate location, but unless Mars or a couple of others were visible there was no obvious culprit. But, I am crap at that sort of thing. So if anyone else wants to check astronomy software and Heaven's Above, it'd probably be a good idea.

I suspect (suspect not equalling sure by any means) an atmospheric balloon that faded as the sun went down (bearing in mind at altitude it would remain brighter than the ground). The light that was claimed to have appeared under it could be a payload or sensor package being lit by the setting sun.

As most astronomers would probably guess, the object filmed shortly before sunset was Venus. Since the observer's location was given as 'Texas', I have assumed Austin will be near enough and set up the relevant parameters into Stellarium. The stills were taken around 18:18 on 17 October 2009. This was about 40 minutes before sunset, which the record shows was at 18:57 on that day. The video confirms the sun was getting low, as evidenced by the red glow to the left side of local objects. The camera was facing about due West and recorded a very bright and stationary Venus blazing away at magnitude -3.66. This makes it easily visible in broad daylight and particulraly spectacular around sundown. Anyone observing Venus in daylight using binoculars can be fooled into thinking it's a silver orb. It really does look metallic. I suspect the separate red light reported by the observer was the result of scintillation. I cannot explain its apparent extinction without referring to the weather situation. At a guess, I'd say it was probably obscured by cloud. The apparent triangular shape in the stills is Venus as seen through the camera's telephoto system and is due to lens/shutter leaf distortion. In this camera, Venus is a point of light when focussed correctly. The planet is out of focus so appears extended and deformed. Again a very common occurance amongst amateur UFO imagers. Here's the Stellarium render with the daylight removed from the sky to improve detail.

Stellarium Image:

WG3

[edit on 19-10-2009 by waveguide3]