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Originally posted by alfa1
Wasnt there, so I cant say what you saw, but for interests sake, let it be known that meteors can tumble.
Random pic...
Originally posted by h4y6d2e
just didn't seem like a meteor.
Originally posted by h4y6d2e
ive seen plenty of comets and shooting stars. this was very different looking.
Originally posted by h4y6d2e
but I suppose if it skimmed it could produce the effect. like I said - like a rock skipping across the pond.
Originally posted by FireballStorm
You said it took around 1-1.5 seconds to cross the sky. That can only mean a meteor, and you are right when you said "grazer", as a meteor can only travel over a large part of the sky if it's entering the atmosphere at a low angle.
Considering the time-frame involved, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to tell for sure, just by observing, that the flares were exactly at repeating intervals. To tell for sure, a photograph or footage of the event would be needed. Besides, in some cases, "randomness" can result in a pattern. It certainly can't be ruled out.
So, I would say that you probably saw a meteor.
Edit to add - It's not uncommon for earthgrazers to have no tail. This is because they are skimming the outer edges of our atmosphere, which is where the air is extremely thin. The tail of a meteor is made from ionized air molecules, so if there is not much air, there will not be much of a tail, if any at all.edit on 8-6-2012 by FireballStorm because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Erno86
I have to disagree that it "can only be a meteor." A fast booking alien starship --- can fly like a bat out of hell --- so to speak; especially in its bluish-white fusion plasma high-power phase.
Detection of an intergalactic meteor particle with the 6-m telescope
On July 28, 2006 the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences recorded the spectrum of a faint meteor. We confidently identify the lines of FeI and MgI, OI, NI and molecular-nitrogen N_2 bands. The entry velocity of the meteor body into the Earth's atmosphere estimated from radial velocity is equal to 300 km/s.
Originally posted by Yahm16
and
in a different direction for only 4 seconds
Originally posted by Yahm16
To help if you ever see something unusual again, a place and direction of travel would help
to find out if anyone else saw the same thing. Even if it's just an approximate.
Originally posted by Tearman
how could you tell that it wasn't something much closer?
Originally posted by Erno86
I'm not saying that a starship is a "more likely explanation," I'am saying that the possibility exists --- however rare --- that the OP could have witnessed the light effect from an alien starship.
Originally posted by FireballStorm
Originally posted by Tearman
how could you tell that it wasn't something much closer?
Can you think of anything that could fly "much closer" at the kinds pf speeds needed without giving away it's true nature, and fitting the OP's description?
Originally posted by FireballStorm
Originally posted by Tearman
how could you tell that it wasn't something much closer?
Can you think of anything that could fly "much closer" at the kinds pf speeds needed without giving away it's true nature, and fitting the OP's description?
I can't - most possibilities would involve at least some kinds of sounds or sonic-booms.
So, if no sounds were heard, that suggests that whatever is was, was further away. We know that at about 50 km altitude the air becomes too thin for sound waves or sonic booms to propagate, and most meteors become visible at around 100km. Very few make it below 50 km, so we generally don't hear meteors.
Visually alone, it would be hard to tell if an object in the sky is close or far away as I explained in this thread here (scroll down a bit for the section about meteors in particular).
I would suggest that, in the absence of evidence to suggest that it was anything close, we must conclude that it was probably much further away (and going much faster than it would have had to have been if it was quite close), and although we cant prove it was a meteor, a meteor could easily explain everything the OP.
Originally posted by Tearman
Not saying it was this but it could have been a strobe light on an RC plane with its motor turned off. I know I've seen RC planes that are only audible when they are under power, and silent when gliding.
I've never seen this but could there be some kind of firework rocket that burns with a strobe effect? I know those are audible but the sound could easily be drowned out or go unnoticed