Strange sighting...

Hi all.

I wasn't really sure where to post this so mods please feel free to move it to where you think it belongs..

A work colleague of mine is a keen photographer and last Tuesday night she was in her garden taking photo's of the moon with her camera mounted on a tripod and at 9.48pm she saw what she belived at the time to be a "worm like thing moving across the sky".

My immediate thought was a rocket but on closer inspection I could find no trace of the actual rocket and as it was such a clear night and the moon was so bright I would have thought "something" would have been captured on camera.

What was also strange was the way the "trail" moved across the sky staying in form until it had moved into the darkness.

The whole thing lasted a little over a minute.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

i279.photobucket.com...


i279.photobucket.com...


i279.photobucket.com...


Edited in photoshop with brightness and a lot of sharpness applied:
i279.photobucket.com...


Then she flicked over to video to try to record some of its movement which unfortunately was pretty short lived.



We live in Cambridgeshire, UK

[edit on 6-5-2010 by nevets]

I took some very similar pic's on the 27th of April,there was an Aura around the Moon and it picked up the plane trails,just as in these pic's.
I'm in the UK too.Plane trails in my opinion....cool pic's though

Surely if it were a plane then you would be able to see the plane? Especially in the first image when it is closest to the moon.

I do agree that the trail looks like that though...

Is it passing behind the moon? Can plane trails do that? It is very interesting footage, wanna hear from some of the "experts"!
S+F 4 Ya!

From where i was standing,i watched 3 separate trails.As they drifted to the right of the moon,the trails became lighter in colour against the night sky....the Moon's glow plus the Moon 'aura' gave the trails that smokey grey look.My kids and hubby came to have a look too.I took some pics but my cam is utter archaic crap and didn't pick the trails up properly.
I'm in Bedfordshire to be precise,so the sky would've looked pretty similar for us,we're practically neighbours

My only problem with the images is not knowing the position of the moon. To me it looks like the trails go directly up.

It's a shame you don't have your photo's to compare with as I was hoping that would be the way someone would have been able to prove what it was.

Also as I have already said, with the moon that bright and the trail being directly beside it then surely it would have created the same silhouette of whatever it was creating the trail?

I was actually planning on catching a pic of the trails but they'd already drifted somewhat by the time i got back to them....NOT that my stoopid camera would've picked them up
Took a couple of nice pics though,posted one on the dreaded Facebook actually,as a couple of my friends had mentioned the 'aura' too.
The trails themselves were very wide and didn't fade out....there were lot's of trails that night come to think about it,but it was the ones near the moon that stood out most just for their sheer weirdness......if i knew how to upload a pic on here i would

The trail only appears to be going behind the moon, because of the brightness of the moon. It is definitely a plane IMO, as you can clearly see the con trails behind the plane separate as they leave the jet, and then seeming to come together shortly after that. If you watch planes during the day you will notice this is common. Also, you likely cannot see the plane due to its height in the sky, but the trail is catching the light of the moon and lighting it up. Sometimes, the most simple explanation is the best, and I think this is one of those times. Nice photos though!

What ever it is. The moon is hollow and I believe it flew right through the center of the moon.

I SAW ON THE NEWS THAT A ROCKET WAS LAUNCHED IN TEXAS SOMEWHERE EARLY MORN 7:30AM est. IT WAS A SHORT RANGE TEST

Its my thought thats this is a moth.

A long exposure, (not sure what it was, maybe 5 seconds?), causes these kinds of effects. The across the moon disapering act is backlit over-exposure.

I think also the gap is explainable as the point where the wings meet the body.

Somthing similar to a Poplar Hawk moth, found throughout the UK, has large wings.

Hang on, I may retract my above post. I wonder why there are multiple images showing a similar curve, I think this counts out a moth. Nevermind me, have not had my coffee yet


EDIT:- On further review, its deefinately contrails from a plane as a poster above me said. There is egg all upon my face.


[edit on 6-5-2010 by Qumulys]

[edit on 6-5-2010 by Qumulys]

Lol at moth theory!

Yes it is going in front of the moon, although I do like the idea of it going through it.

I spoke to my colleague today regarding the placement of the moon and she said it was not directly above, it was more to the south and the trail was perceived to be going directly up.

I am still not 100% convinced it was a plane due to the movement and the lack of any such visual evidence of an actual aeroplane even after trying various things in photoshop.

I can not find a single photograph that looks remotely similar showing it to be a plane.