Dark Contrail or UFO

I took this footage as I was driving home late December. Sun was setting, and I was headed/pointed west when a black shape hanging in the sky caught my eye. At first I thought it was just a jet contrail facing towards or away from me perfectly, but the fact that it was so black, and so much closer than any other contrails in the sky, compounded by the fact that it neither faded nor moved position really threw me for a loop. Any ideas?

Apologies for the sound, had NPR playing on radio when I took the video and I'm too lazy to edit out the sound.

Video Here

a reply to: Wayfarer

I think the extraterrestrials configure their spaceships to look like terrestrial airplanes and jets.

Diesel Jet .... " Rolling Coal "

The question might be... why is the contrail that dark ? Angle in relation to the sun ? Atmospheric haze ?
It's constant speed seems to indicate that it is a common jet..

a reply to: Wayfarer

Did you see my Sky Chariot thread?

We got that Saturday morning around 6:40

It is now a MUFON investigation

Case # 97452

originally posted by: visitedbythem
a reply to: Wayfarer

Did you see my Sky Chariot thread?

We got that Saturday morning around 6:40

It is now a MUFON investigation

Case # 97452

I did indeed. I think its 99.99%+ a contrail rather than a UFO I'm just trying to reconcile the odd behavior of it. Other contrails near it were all white and farther away. They were also dissipating whereas this one wasn't. I guess both the unusually dark color and the fact that it didn't move/dissipate over about 5-6 minutes (at least that I could tell) felt weird to me.

originally posted by: Wayfarer

originally posted by: visitedbythem
a reply to: Wayfarer

Did you see my Sky Chariot thread?

We got that Saturday morning around 6:40

It is now a MUFON investigation

Case # 97452

I did indeed. I think its 99.99%+ a contrail rather than a UFO I'm just trying to reconcile the odd behavior of it. Other contrails near it were all white and farther away. They were also dissipating whereas this one wasn't. I guess both the unusually dark color and the fact that it didn't move/dissipate over about 5-6 minutes (at least that I could tell) felt weird to me.

The other contrails that were farther away might have still been in an area where the sun was still shining on it (at the altitude of the contrails). This one was in an area where the sun had set and was no longer shining on the contrail at that altitude.

a reply to: Wayfarer

Aircraft contrail in shadow. The aircraft is likely still on the likes of Planefinder. Next time you see something like that then simply use flight tracking software. Download the app for the likes of your phone, etc.

Flightradar24 app

Flightradar24 app link

From

Flightradar24 link

Also use the playback facilities. Remember to use GMT/UTC for these apps.

Planefinder link

Also see guide for viewing contrails. Some people are puzzled at the distance that contrails can be visible.

Contrail Science - How Far is that Contrail Link

originally posted by: tommyjo
a reply to: Wayfarer

Aircraft contrail in shadow. The aircraft is likely still on the likes of Planefinder. Next time you see something like that then simply use flight tracking software. Download the app for the likes of your phone, etc.

Flightradar24 app

Flightradar24 app link

From

Flightradar24 link

Also use the playback facilities. Remember to use GMT/UTC for these apps.

Planefinder link

Also see guide for viewing contrails. Some people are puzzled at the distance that contrails can be visible.

Contrail Science - How Far is that Contrail Link

This is great, I was looking for something like this when I got home that evening to try and correlate a flight to match the position.

Although it doesn't show up well (Youtube downscaled the video horrendously) the contrail looked really close (I could make out whisps/details with the naked eye). I'm a commercial rated pilot and I'd wager it was within about 5-7 miles from my position.

Is it possible that there was some stalled zone of air that kept the contrail suspended motionless while the rest of the distant/higher altitude contrails shifted/moved in the same period of time?

originally posted by: Box of Rain

originally posted by: Wayfarer

originally posted by: visitedbythem
a reply to: Wayfarer

Did you see my Sky Chariot thread?

We got that Saturday morning around 6:40

It is now a MUFON investigation

Case # 97452

I did indeed. I think its 99.99%+ a contrail rather than a UFO I'm just trying to reconcile the odd behavior of it. Other contrails near it were all white and farther away. They were also dissipating whereas this one wasn't. I guess both the unusually dark color and the fact that it didn't move/dissipate over about 5-6 minutes (at least that I could tell) felt weird to me.

The other contrails that were farther away might have still been in an area where the sun was still shining on it (at the altitude of the contrails). This one was in an area where the sun had set and was no longer shining on the contrail at that altitude.

I think this is pretty much the case, but although it appeared really close, I couldn't make out any aircraft (no lights or shape moving off the top point). Wouldn't whatever atmospherics caused the contrail tails to dip also pull/dissipate it over a short while?

originally posted by: Wayfarer

This is great, I was looking for something like this when I got home that evening to try and correlate a flight to match the position.

No problem. Thanks for the reply.