I saw a shadow on the moon?

At breakfast 06:25 (UTC+1) december 22nd I saw a shadow move across the moon. It was lunar eclipse the day before, wich I missed, so I had the moon in mind the day after when I ate breakfast. I saw the moon in front of me out of the window, and thought it was really bright and clear so I took my swarovski binoculars and watched the moon for a while. Suddenly a shaddow appeared at the bottom of the moon, and moved towards the top right "corner". I tried to make a pic of what it looked like.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ec29e3b003da.jpg[/atsimg]

It moved across the moon for about 3-4 seconds and then I had passed. I'm kind of confused and don't know what to think about it. More people should have seen it, but I've not seen anything in the news.

Any ideas?

reply to post by rihred0


It could have been several things Looking through binoculars it could have been several things. It could have simply been a cloud moving in front of the moon, or fog. What do you think it could have been, from your viewpoint?

reply to post by esteay812


I've thought about clouds, but it really looked like something made a shadow on the surface of the moon. It was that kind of "darkened" color of the shadow. I can't say that it gave me the feel of a cloud strip/spot, that's what makes me wonder. My logic tells me that it should be all over the news if it's not just a local thing, cause someone else must have had a look at the moon somewhere in the world at the same time. Some kind of smoke, maybe. Hrm..

Could have been an asteroid. Or a giant alien spaceship?

Oh, also a chance you could have seen a mirage-type thing too. Maybe some type of atmospheric distortions?

So, although a very interesting story, and thanks for sharing btw, but you do realize we will Never figure this out for sure?

That's ok though. I am fine with a mystery.

If a giant meteor hits Earth tomorrow, or aliens land; we will know what it is for sure.

reply to post by rihred0


I wonder if dark matter could be an explanation. Maybe some of our physicist members could ask you a few questions? Maybe Zorgon can help with this one. Not sure maybe Phage. Chadwickas would at least know someone.

John Titor.

But that's only cos his name makes for a great response.

Keep looking, maybe someday it'll become more clear to you what it was

Originally posted by muzzleflash
Could have been an asteroid. Or a giant alien spaceship?

Oh, also a chance you could have seen a mirage-type thing too. Maybe some type of atmospheric distortions?

So, although a very interesting story, and thanks for sharing btw, but you do realize we will Never figure this out for sure?

That's ok though. I am fine with a mystery.

If a giant meteor hits Earth tomorrow, or aliens land; we will know what it is for sure.

You got it! A giant alien ship.. has to be

I know my post can't produce a definite answer, but I wanted to share the experience, and see if anyone has a better solution than those my brain is locked on to.

Originally posted by rihred0
reply to post by esteay812

 

I've thought about clouds, but it really looked like something made a shadow on the surface of the moon. It was that kind of "darkened" color of the shadow. I can't say that it gave me the feel of a cloud strip/spot, that's what makes me wonder. My logic tells me that it should be all over the news if it's not just a local thing, cause someone else must have had a look at the moon somewhere in the world at the same time. Some kind of smoke, maybe. Hrm..

I hear ya. I saw something strange one evening too, but it was a dark, rectangular shape covering part of the moon. I know that clouds are not rectangular and I know what clouds look like. I haven't seen anything like it, since then. I'm not the only one that noticed it. Some of the comments I read from the incident mentioned the shadow of something large.

reply to post by rihred0


I have seen a shadow across the moon before, as well. It wasn't a shadow just across the moon though... it was a shadow across the sky, that just happened to intersect the moon. The best way I can describe it is it was like one of those beams of light that are used at festivals, in Hollywood, etc, except it was dark, instead of light. Maybe not the best example, but that's the best way I can describe it. It was smaller than one of those lights though... kind of thin really, and it didn't move. Just stayed in one place. I saw this on two separate occasions, several years apart. Both were during a full moon, and not during an eclipse. It wasn't a contrail, it wasn't a cloud... it was perfectly straight and perfectly even. I have no idea what it was. Maybe this is a known phenomena, but it isn't known to me! lol!

Perhaps you could have seen a shadow from a satellite passing between the moon and the sun and casting a shadow on the moon??? Is that even possible? I have no idea, lol. Just thinking of possibilities. I know what it's like to want answers though, and know that it's unlikely to get anything definite.

Originally posted by rihred0
I took my swarovski binoculars and watched the moon for a while. Suddenly a shaddow appeared at the bottom of the moon, and moved towards the top right "corner".
Any ideas?

Yes.

If you're looking through binoculars, anything flying between your binoculars and the moon within maybe 100 feet will be out of focus and make a blurry shadowy shape moving across your field of view, like bird(s) bat(s), so that would be my first guess if it didn't look like a cloud.

Your drawing kind of looks like a cloud though.

reply to post by gemineye


I like your description of a dark kind of spot light, but the one I saw swept over the moon. It felt slowly, and I had the chance to "see and feel" it in some odd way. But I think it wasn't for longer than 3-4 seconds. I've also thought about a satellite, but it seem a bit too big to cast that big shadow. I'm no expert so I can't tell for sure, but I don't know if it's realistic. The thought have crossed my mind though.


reply to post by Arbitrageur


I am a bird watcher, and I've never seen a bird move in front of the bin's that way before, if it wasn't a really big bird far off diving towards me, since the shadow became bigger than when it started "on" the lower side of the moon. But a bird in front of the bin's would make a much more blury impression if it was like you suggests. The shadow had pretty sharp edges, that's what made it look like it really was a shadow moving across the moon.

Originally posted by rihred0
I am a bird watcher, and I've never seen a bird move in front of the bin's that way before, if it wasn't a really big bird far off diving towards me, since the shadow became bigger than when it started "on" the lower side of the moon. But a bird in front of the bin's would make a much more blury impression if it was like you suggests. The shadow had pretty sharp edges, that's what made it look like it really was a shadow moving across the moon.

The closer the bird is, the blurrier it will be.
The further away the bird is, the sharper the edges of the shadow will be.

So I don't think you've ruled out a bird, only said something about its distance. The change in size of the shadow could be something as simple as a wing flap, especially if it's a large bird.