Unknown Object Over Fairfax, VA - May 29, 2011 **Updated**

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Thanks for uploading the video!
And thanks for the Stellarium tip, awesome

reply to post by tones


And you obviously have no opinion , so why bother posting on this thread

Originally posted by SubPop79
Well...I downloaded Stellarium (amazing software), and I looked up Saturn...guess what is back tonight EXACTLY where Saturn is. I'm just perplexed that we were able to see it with so much light pollution. And the fact that it faded from view. I'm still not totally convinced though because of that.

I have had a hell of an Astronomy lesson.

edit on 30-5-2011 by SubPop79 because: (no reason given)

I redact this statement. I am no longer convinced this was Saturn. We had horrible air pollution that day as well as the inescapable light pollution of our various cities in the surrounding area, so I don't think think I should have been able to see Saturn as clearly as I did, if at all, not to mention I almost constantly sky gaze and there was nothing there before those two days.

I was only able to observe the object for two days. I have been continuously searching for it long and hard with the help of Stellarium, but it is no longer there, and we have been having the most crystal clear skies I have seen in a long time - no "air quality warning" as per the weather channel - so if it was Saturn, which is supposed to be visible ALL month long, I should be able to see it BETTER now through the more clear skies, but it is no longer there...

And as I said before, it promptly faded from view at around 8:45 p.m. and Saturn should be visible all night until near sunrise.

I am no longer convinced it was Saturn.

Also, the object has a shadow located on it's bottom. Given the location of the sun, it should not be there. It should have been off to the side, or directly behind it.

It is also oval.

reply to post by SubPop79


I have the same tripod and it makes that annoying creaking sound, I even tried oiling it but i don't think it works with plastic. I saw a similar thing early morning. I took a photo so will load it up if I get chance, but I did think it was a star.Will check back on this post.

Originally posted by eyesdown
reply to post by SubPop79

 

I have the same tripod and it makes that annoying creaking sound, I even tried oiling it but i don't think it works with plastic. I saw a similar thing early morning. I took a photo so will load it up if I get chance, but I did think it was a star.Will check back on this post.

I did some further research, regarding the object's location, and now I know it was NOT Saturn. On May 30 at 6:30, the time we first notice the object, Saturn would have been in the South Eastern sky. We noticed the object in the North Eastern sky, at an elevation much higher than that of Saturn's as well.

Im from Fairfax VA. Ive seen these ufo orbs many many times, especially sitting on 66 in the sunsets, their "aluminum" shines in the sun, and they like hiding in the clouds. Ive seen them mostly around route 50 and the fairfax county parkway.

Originally posted by SubPop79
Also, the object has a shadow located on it's bottom. Given the location of the sun, it should not be there. It should have been off to the side, or directly behind it.

It is also oval.

Are you saying that it had a shadow and oval shape based on what you saw with your own eyes, looking up in the sky at it, or are you basing that on looking at it through the video camera/on the recording?

The thing that looks like a shadow and the oval appearance could be due to the video, and not be real characteristics of the object.

Originally posted by SubPop79
...I did some further research, regarding the object's location, and now I know it was NOT Saturn. On May 30 at 6:30, the time we first notice the object, Saturn would have been in the South Eastern sky. We noticed the object in the North Eastern sky, at an elevation much higher than that of Saturn's as well.

According to your opening post, you said you first saw it at 7:30 in the east, and it moved toward the southeast.


...As to what it could have been, perhaps it was a satellite in geosynchronous orbit, which was reflecting the Sun for that hour+ that you said you saw it, but then as the Sun went down, the reflection slowly faded.

Originally posted by Soylent Green Is People

Originally posted by SubPop79
Also, the object has a shadow located on it's bottom. Given the location of the sun, it should not be there. It should have been off to the side, or directly behind it.

It is also oval.

Are you saying that it had a shadow and oval shape based on what you saw with your own eyes, looking up in the sky at it, or are you basing that on looking at it through the video camera/on the recording?

The thing that looks like a shadow and the oval appearance could be due to the video, and not be real characteristics of the object.

With my own eyes I saw that it was oval with a shadow on it's bottom, and this is also reflected in the video.

And we observed it for about an hour or so. This is estimated time, considering we didn't think it was that unusual until it started moving in directions that were not indicative of a geo-synchronous satellite or planet, at which point we started to become intrigued, and after that I pulled out the camera and over time learned how to use it. You can see in the video that I didn't know it was on for a good bit. There was more before that where I was trying to video tape it, but it was not on.

I don't know a lot about satellites, but to my knowledge even if it was geosynchronous it would not move steadily up, down, left and right - it would follow a steady orbit that would be elliptical or circular and not more along the lines of a zig-zag. Also, if it was synchronized, I would be able to be to see it there more than 2 days out of the year, and NOT on a day with extreme air pollution. We also have heavy light pollution.

Also to my knowledge a satellite can only be seen during the day in the case of an iridium flare, but that would make it visible for maybe 10 seconds, if that, and not hours.

Originally posted by xynephadyn
Im from Fairfax VA. Ive seen these ufo orbs many many times, especially sitting on 66 in the sunsets, their "aluminum" shines in the sun, and they like hiding in the clouds. Ive seen them mostly around route 50 and the fairfax county parkway.

This is not my first sighting either. My first was much, much clearer. I guess this guy made a mistake flying in cloudless skies.

I have contacted various Astronomy Magazines and Website. Alan MacRobert fro Sky and Telescope replied back saying it was Arcturus, and that it faded from view because of haze rolling in.

According to Stellarium with an ocean landscape to simulate sea level (Fairfax is 312 above Sea level) and being set to Perspective mode, Arcturus would have only been directly North East at 4 p.m. Not only would I not be able to see it with this much daylight, it would be below our roof, right under the horizon, effectively out of sight completely. Even at 6 p.m. Arcturus would be directly East. At 6 p.m. the Object was North East.

On the nights of June 6th and 7th, I brought my computer outside and started up the program to more accurately find Saturn and Arcturus. We had the same haze in the air as May 29th and 30th, and neither Arcturus nor Saturn were visible until 8:45 p.m. and Arcturus, if what we saw was Arcturus, and I HIGHLY doubt it was, was drastically less visible than what the object looked like at the same time on the 30th.
If am somehow mistaken, and May 29th DID NOT have the have / air pollution I remembered, my observations still point to this NOT being Arcturus, or Saturn. Our skies tonight (June 7th) were almost overcast with haze, so a random patch of haze could not have made the Arcturus fade out, as it was visible tonight with heavy haze.

Originally posted by SubPop79
I have contacted various Astronomy Magazines and Website. Alan MacRobert fro Sky and Telescope replied back saying it was Arcturus, and that it faded from view because of haze rolling in.

According to Stellarium with an ocean landscape to simulate sea level (Fairfax is 312 above Sea level) and being set to Perspective mode, Arcturus would have only been directly North East at 4 p.m. Not only would I not be able to see it with this much daylight, it would be below our roof, right under the horizon, effectively out of sight completely. Even at 6 p.m. Arcturus would be directly East. At 6 p.m. the Object was North East.

On the nights of June 6th and 7th, I brought my computer outside and started up the program to more accurately find Saturn and Arcturus. We had the same haze in the air as May 29th and 30th, and neither Arcturus nor Saturn were visible until 8:45 p.m. and Arcturus, if what we saw was Arcturus, and I HIGHLY doubt it was, was drastically less visible than what the object looked like at the same time on the 30th.
If am somehow mistaken, and May 29th DID NOT have the have / air pollution I remembered, my observations still point to this NOT being Arcturus, or Saturn. Our skies tonight (June 7th) were almost overcast with haze, so a random patch of haze could not have made the Arcturus fade out, as it was visible tonight with heavy haze.

Another update that nobody cares about. Arcturus is yellow in daylight. So this was also not Arcturus.