Skate boy's meteor pic stuns Nasa

Seriously, see if you can find a contrail that looks like this. Contrails just don't glow fiery hot at one end like that...

nicely put muppet and cool explain-o-pix

Did you notice the length of it at all?.. whether it started or stopped at any point? Did it hold it's glow for a while? could you see what was forming it at the end? Sorry for all the questions.. I'm really curious about this!

Here are some, each with a different, but related characteristic to the original.
You'll have to make up your own minds however!!


This one is from a Missle Launch, varying degrees of illumination
contrail1


The wind does strange things.
unusual shape


all over europe
this one is just cool

More strongly illuminated at point of sunset.
sunset

looks kinda fake to me but i dont have my glasses on right now

In terms of the image itself, it's certainly possible it could be a digital fake, but if so it's a very good one.

The trail and fire itself could be done using a particle system with some retouching, but the trickiest part would be comping it behind the clouds like that. (and then doing it again from another angle for the other photo). A very professional job if it is a fake, but not beyond the wits of a dedicated 15yr old with a home PC...

I wonder... were there any other witnesses? Do the two photographers know each other?

All possibilities should be considered...

I did some more research into any possible additional witnesses and came up with this site abob.libs.uga.edu...

here's a quote:

"Shots 1 and 2 were taken as the contrail was being formed. There was no sign
of an aircraft at the leading edge of the contrail. Magnifying the leading edge
does show some kind of indefinite black blob there but you can't tell what
it is. Shot three was not witnessed forming as I'd been looking the other way.
As such I couldn't tell you how quickly this event occurred. After shot three
the plume lingered there for quite a while but no further trail developed coming
out of the plume."

note: pix links weren't working for me.....

also ton's of info here: abob.libs.uga.edu...

....according to this site: www.ukpsychics.com...
NASA claims the following:
The most likely explanation, according to NASA, is that the object may have been a bolide fireball, a phenomenon created when the friction on a meteor entering the earth's atmosphere causes it to glow red and, in some cases, explode in flames.


original NASA link:
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov...

[edit on 15-6-2004 by quadricle]

I saw a meteor during the early evening, what is called twilight. It appeared more like a magnesium flare crossing the sky and hitting the next town or so over. Actually it exploded above land 500 miles away.

Originally posted by quadricle

Seriously, see if you can find a contrail that looks like this. Contrails just don't glow fiery hot at one end like that...

nicely put muppet and cool explain-o-pix

So what is causing that big orange glow on the bottom right side of the sky? a UFO? or just the setting sun?

I don't think its true to say that meteor activity happens all the time. I am a uni student and I study the papers very carefully and read them back to front every day (several papers) and I can tell you in the last week in southern Australia I have seen two articles on meteors out of maybe 3 or 4 in four years. Furthermore, the one that hit the ground in NZ was the 9TH EVER RECORDED hiting the ground in NZ.

Originally posted by HowardRoark

Originally posted by quadricle

Seriously, see if you can find a contrail that looks like this. Contrails just don't glow fiery hot at one end like that...

nicely put muppet and cool explain-o-pix

So what is causing that big orange glow on the bottom right side of the sky? a UFO? or just the setting sun?

id say the sun. the portion to the rear is behind the other clouds shadow but the "flame" part is out ahead of the clouds

"the "flame" part is out ahead of the clouds"


It is also probably higher in altitude than those clouds.

Therefore is the only portion of the "trail" still getting direct sunlight,
albeit, slighly orange-ish sunlight, because the sun is setting and shining through more atmosphere.

I think the coloring is a clue, why would the "fireball"
be the same hue as the illuminated clouds?
Would it not have it's own, different source of light?