Twin UFO's over New England?

NOTE: I used the term UFO in the title because, to me, they are so far unidentified objects, that seem to be flying....repeat SEEM to be.

This afternoon, I took this picture with my cell phone of the sunset at approx 3:52pm ET (UTC +5). Later I discovered that there were two odd lights in the upper right-hand corner of the shot. The only manipulation I've done is cropping the original to remove the extraneous flora.

The photo was taken pointing 284°W, using an Android Droid2 phone.

A few observations I've been researching today to try to nail down what these might be are:

• They seem odd in that the rays from the Sun are in a different direction than those emanating from the lights
  
• It is unclear whether they are separate or fixed together
  
• I'm of the mind that they are lens flare, but the flare angles don't seem typical
  
• It cannot be Venus, as the direction and time do not match
  
• They can't be Sun dogs, as the angles there also do not seem to match
  

I leave it to the ATS community to discuss the possibilities here. Tomorrow, if I can, I will attempt to replicate the shot, to see if it was a lens flare (if I can reproduce it, then it's likely lens flare).

Krakatoa
The only manipulation I've done is cropping the original to remove the extraneous flora.

Actually it would help to have the original.
Then it could be checked to see if the sun, and the two objects are exactly opposite the centre of the picture (as would be the case with optical issues).

alfa1

Krakatoa
The only manipulation I've done is cropping the original to remove the extraneous flora.

Actually it would help to have the original.
Then it could be checked to see if the sun, and the two objects are exactly opposite the centre of the picture (as would be the case with optical issues).

Here is the original, uncropped.

To me it looks like a simple lens flare.

Do you have a shot of these "objects" as the direct element of interest and not the sun?


To immediately eliminate the lens flare issue, simply change the camera's angle or position.

Sovaka
To me it looks like a simple lens flare.

Do you have a shot of these "objects" as the direct element of interest and not the sun?


To immediately eliminate the lens flare issue, simply change the camera's angle or position.

As I said in my OP, I noticed it after-the-fact, and will try to replicate it tomorrow if I can, to determine if it is lens flare.

reply to post by Krakatoa

don't bother it's a lens flare and there is another one down in the snowy grass. the lower one is a flare caused by the reflection of the sun on the water

My two cents..


Just two holes in a cloud formation with sun going through them.

reply to post by Krakatoa


Holes in the cloud with sunlight coming through.

I'm with the majority on this, looks like light playing with your camera to me.

I'm confused with your time and date. You say it was taken this afternoon at sunset and the image was taken in NEW ENGLAND .. Yet I'm in ENGLAND (UK) and it's only gone 3pm

I'm not saying you are wrong I think I've misread something somewhere

ThePeaceMaker
I'm confused with your time and date. You say it was taken this afternoon at sunset and the image was taken in NEW ENGLAND .. Yet I'm in ENGLAND (UK) and it's only gone 3pm

I'm not saying you are wrong I think I've misread something somewhere

Yes, New England is the northeastern United States. That is why I posted the time including UTC +5 (which is the timezone for this area).

reply to post by Krakatoa


Ok I'm still slightly confused so I'll try again ... So does the sun set early in New England because if you posted it say 3Pm uk time that means it was only. 10am USA time

I think I'm just confusing myself suppose that's what you get while ATSing and trying to work at the same time

Lens. Flare.

If flying saucers from another world really existed, considering the ubiquity of digital cameras, couldn't we expect to get better snaps than amorphous blobs of light?

TheWrightWing
Lens. Flare.

If flying saucers from another world really existed, considering the ubiquity of digital cameras, couldn't we expect to get better snaps than amorphous blobs of light?

Please, show me where, ANYWHERE, I mentioned flying saucers in this thread. Or, did you not actually READ the OP at all, and are just assuming?

Frankly, it's a bit insulting to me that you didn't at least read the OP. It's a courtesy I provide to EVERY thread I decide to post in, and I wish more ATS members reciprocated in kind.

Well ATS, I was able to reproduce the shot today, as promised. And, I have figured out what is causing the light blobs. It was not lens flare, per-se, but something that replicated it very closely. The window I was photographing through is a double-pane glass window (DOH!). Each of those panes was causing their own "flare" from the sun. In effect, it was acting like a lens flare, if you consider the window as a very big clear lens some distance in front of the actual camera lens. Below are shots I replicated today at approx the same time and direction. As you can see, the flares are there, and by moving the camera angle very slightly, I was able to move the flares to a different position. Below are the replicated pics, showing the flares in these positions.




I thought it was lens flare, but the angle of the flaring rays threw me a little (because they were off the glass not the actual lens). This is a prime example of even an advanced-level photographer can be misled by not taking into account ALL the variables. I didn't even think of the glass panes for some reason. DOH!

Thanks ATS for convincing me I was not crazy (well, not much anyways).