Unidentified Object? - Chicago, 10:10 pm CDT

I was just on my patio looking at the cloudless western sky. The crescent moon is about 30 degrees up in the sky, and at about my 10 o'clock if I am looking straight west. A light in the sky immediately caught my attention. It was at about my 11 o'clock, and a bit further up in the sky than the moon. There was a visible star very close to it. The light was a reddish orange, and emitting a sort of pulsing glow. It would be at its brightest point, and then it would dim slowly. If you were to count "one one thousand, two one thousand", it would then return to its brightest. The way it shone, it appeared as if the light spread further to the left and right of its brightest point, as if it was catching additional structure.

My first thought was, "Hm. Weird." The next was to go get my binoculars. I wasn't sure if it was a helicopter or something, as it was staying in the same location. There was slight movement, but then it seemed to remain suspended in one place. As soon as I got my binoculars, i tried to focus in, and wasn't having much luck with my crappy unsteady hands. I was able to see enough that the light looked redder and more concentrated, and then it faded...as if the light was receding to a single point. Then, it was gone. I lowered the binoculars, because i thought I just lost it in my view, but it was completely gone. I kept looking around at the entire sky to see if it would reappear, but nothing...

I'm sorry I don't have more information, and I know.... pics or it didn't happen. But does anyone have any idea as to what that might be? Helicopter with a specialized light? Would love to hear your input. Thanks!

It could have been a star.

Concentrations of gases in the upper atmosphere will warp the light coming from celestial objects causing them to appear brighter &/or change colour.

Its a pretty common phenomena but still very cool to see. (Note - Check out stars close to the horizon, they will flicker more and sometimes appear to change colour)

When the moon is near the horizon you get a similar effect, it will appear redder and larger due to the fact that it has to pass through the more atmosphere than it would if overhead.

I'm not saying that this is what you saw but there is a very distinct possibility that it could have been.

en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by OccamAssassin


Thanks for the quick response... definitely a cool thing to see if that's what it was. I should note that I'm smack in the middle of the city, so unfortunately, I don't have the privilege of seeing too many stars. The big dipper and a few others, and that's about it. The complete antithesis to being in the Alps and seeing blankets of them.

This was definitely the largest object in the sky at that moment, with the exception of the moon. When I was able to catch it in the binoculars, the light definitely had an "artificial" look to it. However, I'm not sure if that's my brain expecting it to be explained away as something man made. The way the light spread out when I first spotted it was definitely unusual.

Well, if it was a star being funky, I'd certainly like to see more!

reply to post by HolographicPrincipal


Visit this thread and begin a process of elimination or identification....

reply to post by greeneyedleo


Thank you for directing me to your guide. I've been perusing the various sites, and from a cursory glance I'm not finding anything that matches up with what I saw. However, I still have a lot of exploring to do. Your thread is a wonderful resource... much appreciated!