UFOs Hover Over Fresno for Four Hours

I appreciate all the feedback, and I found that a report on this sighting was submitted to the National UFO Reporting Center as well.

link

It appears to be the same guy who submitted a report to MUFON. He does note that the object was very small to the naked eye, which could help explain why no other videos have cropped up.

Sure wish there was some more information on this one so we might be able to put it to rest without having to throw out certain pieces of the report altogether (the 4-hour duration, for example). I have queries in to a couple of MUFON representatives, but I know at least one of them is at the conference in Las Vegas this weekend, so I'm not sure if I'll hear back anytime soon.

Carry on.

There are good reasons for believing that this is a commonplace object, and that the eye-witness testimony relating to it being stationary for four hours in 70mph winds may not stand up to scrutiny.

On March 9 2012, the Huffington Post ran a piece about California ufo sightings, which included this:

Further north, the city of Fresno offers its own UFO encounters in the form of many video images taken by Robert Thorson. Since 2006, Thorson estimated he has videotaped around 200 strange objects and lights in the sky. "I started watching the stars a couple hours a night and began to notice some things were flying around. I didn't know what they were -- shooting stars or satellites -- but they seemed to be moving closer and getting brighter," Thorson told The Huffington Post. Now, before your "Warning! Warning! Hoax! Hoax!" signals go off -- and they probably should at this point -- it's important to know that Thorson is physically disabled, which allows him to spend a great deal of time watching the sky, day and night, with camera always ready. And he's a regular skywatcher for Sanger Paranormal Society, a group that investigates paranormal claims in the Fresno area. "One of the reasons why some people don't take Robert seriously is because they think his stuff is either computer-generated or Photoshopped, but all he knows how to do technically is to load the video from his camera to YouTube," said Sanger Paranormal Society founder Jeffrey Gonzalez. "Some people think it's all nonsense and must be a hoax. These armchair quarterback debunkers thrash him because they can't see how a guy like this is videotaping so many things."

www.huffingtonpost.com...

Thorson's footage and his claims about the object are here: www.youtube.com...

His replies to the comments he's received and a look at the other videos on his channel lead me to think that this is a guy whose credibility rating is not high. Conclusion: Hoax.

Clearly it's one of those new self-tethering balloonachutes. Just kiddin.

Everything hinges on the veracity of the claim of it being visually present up there for 4 hours. Who could substantiate that and what is the source? It does share some visual similarities with both the balloon and the parachute pictures, but from a physics standpoint if it behaves contrary to both of those things then it seems less likely of being an acceptable explanation.

Perhaps there is some possibility of an elaborate and extensive set up to make the balloon/parachute hypothesis more logically palatable. The whole question would've benefited from having the full (alleged) 4 hours worth of footage to look at, though I suppose that is unreasonable to expect. Not sure what this was recorded with, but I know cameras on smart phones or cell phones don't typically last all that long.

Originally posted by jammer2012
reply to post by Nomad451

 

Don't you have any common sens?It does not take 4 HOURS to land in a parachute...no where near it.

I'd like to think I have some at least.

I dunno man, tell me what it is then?

From all appearances, I'm going with the weather balloon group on this one. Windspeed varys alot with altitude. So even though there may be strong gusts near the ground, there could be a fairly lazy breeze at whatever altitude the balloon is drifting at.

Whatever it is this is an excellent thread! S+F bro.

I'm up in the air on this one. (no pun intended.)

If I ever see anything like that I'll try to shoot it down - if it shoots lasers or space bullets at me then we'll know it's a ufo.

Originally posted by Nomad451

Originally posted by jammer2012
reply to post by Nomad451

 

Don't you have any common sens?It does not take 4 HOURS to land in a parachute...no where near it.

I'd like to think I have some at least.

I dunno man, tell me what it is then?

---
Ummm how about you tell me what you "Think" it is? that's the whole point to the thread, what exactly is it.
We are not going to find the answer's so easily, yes we a couple of theories that are sound, but there are a number of valid reasons that suggest otherwise. Don't be so quick to hit the respond button.
For starters it is a UFO, is it alien in origin? that's up for debate.
Is it a parachute? Possibly, but that chute won't stay there for 4 hours, a previous poster looked up the wind conditions.
Is it a ballon? Possibly, but we see no tether and like a chute, subjective to the wind factor.
Is it a hoax? Possibly, but there still needs more information on the folk who took this video, perhaps that might shed some light.
So what we have are POSSIBLE theories on it, but nothing solid, hench, UFO.
SO I dunno man, YOU tell me what it is then.

reply to post by Arnie123


I wasn't even talking to you, I was talking to that guy Jammer?

If you click on page 3 you will see what I think it is. I think it's a parachute or balloon of some kind.

Dude you need to relax

I also think the witness accounts are the problem here, and the "4 hours still" statement might not even be accurate.

Notice that the FIRST clip (aside from shortly in the beginning) does not show real video, but instead sliced together several still-photos and even added a fake "lens-flare" effect which first made me believe it's actually footage, but it's not, it's a slide-show.

The second video is extremely shaky and there is nothing but a blue, detail-less sky as background. Both videos are not suitable to say whether the object actually moved or not.

Originally posted by shambles84
Weather Balloon would be the obvious explanation but the fact that it hung there for 4 hours suggests otherwise , would not surprise me if it was some sort of Military craft for spying .

edit on 19-7-2013 by shambles84 because: (no reason given)

I happen to agree with ya.. something tells me kinda like the new cia blimp kinda like thing just something different esp with them yanking it like they did. taking it off that is. You got to remember China has came out official at one point about anti-gravity development what 2 years ago now? SR-71 blackbird test flight was 1964 was not till in the 80's till the US even said yes we own this plane. Think of the gap from 64-80's. + Tech leaps the past 20 years Next they will be able to sample a pile of crap to make sure they did not eat any of the kings dear from the air.... gmo only die--diet.

Back on my point is it is hard telling what kind of toys the gov has today

Originally posted by micpsi

Originally posted by pigsy2400
I find the irony in this claim rather funny, as I do believe for the first time it actually IS a weather baloon , ohhh I feel all dirty

A weather balloon that remains stationary in strong winds for four hours? You don't mind violating laws of physics as long as you can see a simarity to a man-made object?

Yes, you SHOULD feel dirty.

there is no proof that it was stationary for 4 hrs, no-one had the thought to film it for the duration with a camera on a tripod? This would also have shown the object disappearing at the end of this period of time and we would have been able to see how it did this etc, there is no proof it was stationary,

I want to believe as much as the next ATS'er , but I will not let that "want" be negated by logic and reason.

Compelling. It looks like a parachute but it doesn't behave like one. There are enough points in the 8 minute video where the chap lets go of the camera for you to see its motion for 30 seconds or so.

Here in the UK notams would have noted a parachute jump, do they cover that in US notams? Anyway likely too late to go back and check those now. But it's important to check NOTAMS on the day of a sighting. That should be people's first stop before reporting to any UFO societies or calling any police.

Anyway, I wanted to get a feel for what parachutes look like observed from directly underneath (as it seems is how the observation in that 8 min video is). I could only find this video (below). I don't want/mean to derail the thread but what the heck is that at 27 seconds tracking along with the plane?



As for the Fresno UFO here...I'll keep an open mind. It doesn't add up either way to me yet. And now I'm freaked out there's another UFO in a video that this thread led me too Parachute jumps take place near me on a regular basis, and they're listed on the UK NOTAMS so I'm considering catching some video of that for comparison.

S&F for an interesting thread. Just three days ago I had been moaning about lack of decent daytime sightings in 2013. This one has piqued my curiosity so am happy now

PS I liked the news coverage too. Three people's views, some useful info about the wind... At the very least they did a good job there, and I didn't feel like a moron watching it

The strong evidence of their existence has not been yet got. There are still biased opinions about it.

I am not buying the Parachute aspect of this one, I have jumped before and while i see where you could compare them it doesnt look like a chute. As far as Project Loon.... I can believe that one, should be pretty easy to send a request and ask Google if they had anything out that day.

What I really want to get is credible accounts on the 4 hours, that would really help with determining if this was something abnormal or not.

I'd like to know how many people seen it.
I
know the news stations etc have excellent cameras etc but lets be honest 99% carry cell phones with cameras or low end HD camcorders both would struggle to get any better than what we have here.
Try taking a video with an actual potato and see what you get.


Not saying its real but it's not like it was hovering over times square with thousands of people were standing there waiting to make contact with cameras in hand. It was clearly high up.

We'll see, unless we get more footage we are kinda at a dead end.

reply to post by bigfootgurl


Look, a UFO. Let me just go and get my worst quality camera and record the shakiest video ever!!

4 hours and thats all they got? ridiculous

rc-zeppelin.com...

Looks exactly like these surveillance balloons. Some Law Enforcement or agency most likely. Scroll down you will see a better view, almost identical to the video. These are tethered, so they wont move and will stay in the target area.

reply to post by bigfootgurl


I am always amazed by the majority of the comments from people on this PARANORMAL site when it relates to something paranormal. Please step away from your kool-aid for a moment. UFO - DOES NOT MEAN that it is an ALIEN entity from Zeta Reticula coming to eat your favorite pet.
And they work so hard to fit the phenomena in to their box, even if their explanation doesn't make since.
Hmm.. eyes wide shut.

My belief is that we are more like the "Dust Spec" in Horton Hears a Who. We are a young planet full of egotistical, elitist, that does not want to see past their own neighborhood, yet they pretend to be interested.


Why didnt someone get better film of this object? This object appears to be several thousand feet up. If you have a camera, try yourself, zooming in on a tiny object, 1000's of feet away, with out a tri-pod.
Actually, the still frame pics are very good. We are lucky that someone went out and took these shots. Only way to have taken a better pic would have been if someone had a telescope mounted on a tripod with a camera attached. Not that many people that have this setup laying around the house.

Also, the hole in the middle of the object is square, not like the parachutes that were offered up as an excuse.
And.. parachutes... really? That is lame.

This object sure looks like a parachute with something hanging from it. Or a round and thin blimp type craft with something under it, like a camera or something. But it's all just uninteresting theories with no substances.

I'm more interested in:
Where did it go?
How did it leave? (fast/slow/no sound/etc)

The all-knowing debunkers never fail to amuse me. Is it alien? No, I really doubt it - the Google Internet balloon seems the most likely explanation. But to hear some of you talking down to people because it's "obvious" it's an old-style military parachute makes me just before I - really.. a parachute?

With no visible payload, that doesn't move for supposedly hours. A parachute in the sky with no payload would simply flutter around like a piece of cloth. It wouldn't just hover. I don't mind intelligent explanations - but the condescending tone from people who also are equally clueless about what it really is blows my mind.