Saw Something Weird in the Sky...Ideas?

Hey ATS,

I was officially "taking a break" from the site, but dang it all if something weird didn't happen that I've decided to share.

So, first off, I unfortunately have zero proof of this. I had my phone with me, but there was no chance to use it to record anything. It happened so fast as to be impossible to record or do anything other than go WTH!?!?!?

What I saw:

I was vacationing at a lake with my son this past weekend, who did not see it, as he was pointing at the moon through the trees. If I hadn't been looking exactly where I was, I would have completely missed it.

There were few lights on, and the sky revealed itself in its spangled glory, so to speak, that we city-folk don't normally get to see. So, my son saw the moon and I was looking up at the night. Just before I turned to look at him and his discovery, a strange yellowish "fireball" zipped past above. I got the impression of yellow, with a yellow-green edge to it - very weird.

It was much bigger than any shooting star I've ever seen, and only "appeared" for about 2-3 seconds then "disappeared". It winked in, then out, with an odd sort of "trail" behind it that streaked and flared on it's own, like a smear of whatever it was peeled off and stayed visible for a split second (literally).

From my point of view on the ground, it was about a quarter-inch in diameter. It was a circle, but somewhat amorphous or distorted by "flames" or whatever it was trailing. ETA: If the horizon is at, say, 90 degrees, and the sky directly above me at 0 degrees, this was, from my p.o.v. at 20 degrees - if that makes sense. So, not directly above me, but down about 20 degrees, so I could clearly see it.

It moved about the same speed as a helicopter flying over would, appeared to be low in the sky and within the atmosphere. This is hard to explain, in that I don't really have a reference point for this, other than that is how it looked to me. It would have been absolutely huge if it were not! It seemed like the level of low hanging clouds.

Also odd - it did not appear to "enter the atmosphere" or something, like at an angle, but just appeared out of nowhere right above me and zipped by with its trail in a straight line for, from my point of view on the ground, about 2 feet worth of sky, then disappeared entirely like it had never existed.

It was completely silent, from what I could observe.

It was not a star or 'shooting star'(shooting stars are much much smaller, just streaks of light, compared to this).
It was not any kind of known vehicle flying by
It was not a bird on fire or a balloon or anything like that
It was not a drone

Okay, that all being said, I know I have no proof and that its just another story, and I'm not saying one way or the other what "it" was - I really don't know, only that it was not a simple "light in the sky" kind of thing . If you think you have a plausible explanation for it, please let me know. I am scratching my head and have that "eerie feeling" you get when you see something you just can't explain. So, for me, right now, it is a UAP or UFO (whichever).

(Note - it's the household rule not to give our location, but I will tell you it was at the edges of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and near National Forest lands.)

Ideas?

- AB

a reply to: AboveBoard

Small meteor? Or the last thing I saw on here with green was some type of a missile or rocket test.

It sounds like whats called a "micro meteorite" They burn up in the atmosphere and never reach earths surface, that may explain why it fizzled out.

Or then again, it could be something way more mysterious....

a reply to: AboveBoard

If was a straight line, it sounds very much like some kind of meteor. Yellow is an indication of the composition of the space rock, maybe a large one that skimmed the atmosphere or broke up quickly.

A micro-meteorite might be a possibility. Again, though, it was not at an angle, as if coming into the atmosphere?

It appeared right above me and lower down? I would think a meteorite would start flaming the moment it hit the atmosphere, and while it would be possible for something to be very high up from me and appear to go in a straight line, this was not that - it would have been massive and on all the news. ??

It could have even been as low as a hundred feet or so above the tree tops - I have no way of knowing, but it wasn't high up or we'd have something very large seen by thousands of people. At least I would think so...

Do you see my problem? My first thought was "meteor?" when I saw it, so I'm not ruling it out entirely, but just the appearance of it was so strange, and seemed so close to me.



Thanks for your responses!!

a reply to: AboveBoard

I've seen some green "shooting stars" in the past. Green usually indicates the meteorite contained copper:

The colors of this shooting star may also indicate the minerals that make up the space rock. Different elements emit different-colored light when they burn. A green glow, clearly visible in the trail of this shooting star, indicates the presence of burning copper.

Other color/element relationships:

Iron, one of the most common elements found in meteors, glows yellow. Silicates, which contain a form of the element silicon, glow red.

nationalgeographic.org...

a reply to: AboveBoard
you already know.. its a "weather balloon"

I appreciate everyone's responses. The thing I can't get past in regards to it being a meteorite or micro-meteorite, is that it was, to my best ability to estimate, low down in the atmosphere. It was not high up and skimming the atmosphere. It was not a large thing, but still about a 1/4 inch from my POV.

I don't have a problem with it being prosaic and not mysterious. Am I missing something here? Can a meteorite be in the atmosphere without flaming and then suddenly start up when its lower down in the atmosphere??

I will also say, this is an area known for strange UAP phenomena, so perhaps I'm prejudiced toward it being an unknown or on the more mysterious side. It was yellow - the only greenish part was on the very edges of the yellow "tail" - the remnants of what it left behind, and that was just an impression, because it happened so darn fast.

Anyway. Thank you again for the responses.

- AB

originally posted by: ware2010
a reply to: AboveBoard
you already know.. its a "weather balloon"

Haha! I almost put, as tongue in cheek, "It wasn't a weather balloon" in the description of "what it's not" but decided my "flaming bird" was enough...

a reply to: AboveBoard

Interesting. Theres always the possibility you saw a strange looking meteor.

However, i have some questions.

The yellowish color and shape.

Would you say the circle was sorta eliptical or lozenge shaped?

Was the yellow like a dirty dull yellow color almost like a candle flame.

Did you see it go below any clouds or was it just flying through the air.

The tail. When you say it was comet like was it loose and dispersive as if widening like a cone or fan. Or was it tight and more focused.

The tail again. Was it solid and uninterupted before fading out or was it lumpy and broken.

The green hue you mentioned. Was it a solid green? Greenish yellow-more on the yellow side? Was the tail green but the " circle" yellow? Was green present throughout? )

Also what part of blue ridge. Down by heaorgia,sc or up in the north?
Depending on your answers i may know what you saw.

also direction of travel. West to east. North to south. More importantly north east or south east direction?

a reply to: BASSPLYR

Interesting. Theres always the possibility you saw a strange looking meteor.

However, i have some questions.

Hi BASSPLYR! I will most happily endeavor to answer...

The yellowish color and shape.

Would you say the circle was sorta eliptical or lozenge shaped?

Was the yellow like a dirty dull yellow color almost like a candle flame.

It was circular but not crisply so - the edge seemed blurred slightly. It happened fast. It seemed more specific to a circle than a lozenge, definitely.

The color was very much "candle flame yellow" with an impression of yellowish green on the very edge of the tail "stuff" peeling off of it. It was not a bright color.

Did you see it go below any clouds or was it just flying through the air.

The sky was fairly clear, with no clouds to compare it's height too, so there is that. HOWEVER, this is a mountainous region, and there were trees...I don't know how to explain it, but my mind registered it as being - AT MOST - the level of very low clouds and possibly underneath the level of the mountain tops in the area, but it was above me so I could be wrong. I wish I had a "sky object" to directly compare it with. Much much lower than a passing jet, let's say? Again, my eyes could have tricked me, and there is no way to triangulate or get a better feel for exactly how high or how low it was. I will say that if it was high up, it would have been extremely large. I'm thinking it was smaller, but already in the atmosphere when it appeared above me, which makes it weird.

The tail. When you say it was comet like was it loose and dispersive as if widening like a cone or fan. Or was it tight and more focused.

The tail again. Was it solid and uninterupted before gafing out or was it lumpy and broken.

The tail was NOT a cone shape and did not fan out. It did not linger. It was more like...blobs of flames coming off of a torch going by rapidly. It was not a solid streak at all but lumpy and broken, quickly disappearing, again, like a rapidly moving torch might seem to "lose" flame behind it for a moment, though it lasted in the air longer than torch-fire would. UNLIKE a torch flame, however, the flaming blobs coming off of it were never wider than the object itself, never expanded, and were either the same basic width as the circular source, or smaller.

The green hue you mentioned. Was it a solid green? Greenish yellow-more on the yellow side? Was the tail green but the " circle" yellow? Was green present throughout? )

The green hue was NOT present throughout - it was almost an...impression on the edges. In other words, it was yellow, but instead of a red or orange outer tinge like you'd have on a candle, it was slightly greenish. Does that make sense?

There was no "white" like you might find on a candle flame. Fire-yellow with a green edge, not a red one.

I hope this makes it clearer! These were GREAT questions!!! Thank you for helping me clarify.

- AB




ETA - Family internet policy prohibits me from getting too into detail about where exactly I was in a public post. I will PM you if it makes a big difference to the outcome...

Green, blue, orange, white....

Large, small...

At any angle invite sky as we are a spherical planet in orbit.

''Twas a meteor my friend.

a reply to: AboveBoard

Hi AB


It does sound like you saw a meteorite in the fireball category. I've seen a bunch like you describe over the years sitting outside watching every shower that comes along. Typically I see maybe one fireball a year... so not very often. You got lucky

Here is an example of what I'm guessing your sighting might have looked like...

originally posted by: BASSPLYR
also direction of travel. West to east. North to south. More importantly north east or south east direction?

Ok - I just looked it up on google maps, and I'm glad I did because I would have given the wrong answer off the top of my head!!

It was from a fairly true North (maybe a few degrees NE) to South (a few degrees SE?).

a reply to: Zarniwoop

Awesome video!!


Well it did look something like that. The "drippy tail" part was a lot longer, it wasn't as bright, much duller, with no white core at all. I really wish I'd had a camera on for it!! It would be much clearer then.

So I guess we can call it "MOST LIKELY IDENTIFIED" as a fireball meteorite... Unless someone comes up with another answer, based on the data, I would have to go with that.

It was pretty cool though. One of those "one in a million" kind of moments where you happen to glance up at the right time to see something you've never seen before. One doesn't need aliens nor paranormal phenomenon to have a moment of WTH?!?! wonder...

a reply to: AboveBoard

Hey it sounds closer to a meteor than what i was thinking.

If that tail was long and uninterupted it meant you had a plasma trail. There are two vehicles in the US inventory that does that. Which you may still have seen. Just that the drippy tail doesnt jive entirely although the rest of your description is a perfect fit. Both seen on occasion in your general area. Usually heading south east. Sometimes north east.

One flys in the upper atmosphere and the other flys above the karmen line and skips off the upper atmosphere.

If it was in the lower atmosphere. There is a new technology that could be responsible that the military is interested in for their aircraft.

Sounds more like a meteor but then again the above mentioned are often confused with meteors.

a reply to: AboveBoard

Fascinating event for sure AB! Thanx for sharing the post about it!

Yes thanks for sharing.

There is one aircraft that we have that is often mistaken for a meteor. A green one with a long laser like solid green tail. And its been seen often enough inyour area heading towards africa or the indian ocean. Onthe upper east coast heading to scotland or the ukraine.

Ive seen her heading outbound on the west coast. Probably heading to central pacific. Korea. China or indian ocean.

Youd be very proud of her if you knew more details.

Do keep your eyes open andlooking up. Ifyou pay attention youd be surprised as to what you can see.

Look for that green comet. Or a yellow lozenge going horizon to horizon. Or stoplight red lights (somewhat smaller) doing the same thing flying either singular or in formation.

All sorts of neat stuff to see up there.

originally posted by: AboveBoard
I appreciate everyone's responses. The thing I can't get past in regards to it being a meteorite or micro-meteorite, is that it was, to my best ability to estimate, low down in the atmosphere. It was not high up and skimming the atmosphere. It was not a large thing, but still about a 1/4 inch from my POV.

The angle it was flying and its height could be deceiving. A meteor that looked to be near the horizon could seem FROM YOUR VANTAGE POINT to be flying low and in a path straight downward, but that could just be a matter of perspective. Another person who might have been more directly under it could think that it looked high in the sky above them and moving laterally across the sky.

Here is an example of a meteor that SEEMS to be heading straight downward toward the ground near the horizon, but in reality it might have just been moving more parallel to the ground and simply over the horizon away from this camera's POV (the meteor in this video might be hard to see at first -- it's on the right side, near the horizon, and appears between the :03 mark and the :06 mark):