UFO of sorts Oswego IL

Originally posted by Qcuailon
reply to post by Skywatcher2011

 

Oh, thank you so much for ensuring that everyone's reality is defined by your analysis. I've seen some "asteroids" do some interesting things that would be uncharacteristic of "asteroid" behavior.

I think he means that asteroids (hopefully) don't (often) enter the earth's atmosphere. They are by definition large rocks that orbit the sun. There are such things as "earth-crossers" which cross the orbit of the earth. If they collide with earth they tend to cause mass extinctions, etc.

The correct term for a space rock we see entering the earths atmosphere is meteoroid, which is a rock from the size of a grain of sand to maybe large boulder size that enters the earth's atmosphere. The visible path of the meteoroid is called a meteor. If a meteoroid reaches the ground, it is termed a meteorite.

I could be wrong but I don't think SkyWatcher2011 was trying to impose his interpretation on anyone, but was just correcting a (fairly common) misuse of terminology.

Originally posted by XtraTL
reply to post by dainoyfb

 

Yes, Astronomy picture of the day archive is what I was going to recommend.
Before you post on an astronomy archive (they won't be interested if it wasn't astronomical)....

You might be surprised at what they post:
APOD
APOD
APOD
APOD
I think this would be right up their ally.

Great catch OP.

Very interesting. I hope the mods move this to UFO section of ATS, it will get much more attention there.

Originally posted by Realtruth
Great catch OP.

Very interesting. I hope the mods move this to UFO section of ATS, it will get much more attention there.

Good call. The op could request a move .

reply to post by sparda4355


Really!? Well that's unexpected!

Then it's surely very unusual. I think you can (almost) rule out meteor and most likely space junk too if that is the case. That's a bit sad actually. It would be one of the more spectacular meteor photographs I can recall seeing!

For it to be a meteor it would have to have basically burned up before it hit the ground and somehow been pushed off course in the very final stages of its fall by a strong wind. Or its trail could have been pushed off course subsequent to creation?

I suppose that's possible, but a stretch. I'm not enough of an astronomer to know whether that's even possible. On an amateur astronomy forum you'd be guaranteed to get a variety of expert opinions on it. Might be worth a shot. You might at least be able to definitively rule something out.

Not sure what else I would do. Maybe contact the FAA? Local airport maybe, see if they saw it on radar. You could check webpages of nearby unis in case someone was doing atmospheric studies with radar equipment in the physics dept at the time it happened, i.e. someone may have radar data on this, which may help identify it.

Yeah, I know, contact the military. Absolutely certain they'll tell you exactly what you saw.

reply to post by dainoyfb


Yeah, having seen those photos, I totally agree. This is likely right up their alley.

Notice though that the photos there have descriptions of what is in the photo. A random photo with no story to go with it is possibly not of such great interest.

Even so, I say totally go for it. Maybe I'm impressionable, but I found the photo really striking and think it deserves much wider circulation. I'd be totally unsurprised if the press were interested in this, if only we knew what the damn thing was!

A rocket launch seems unlikely for two reasons. Its falling not rising, and it is clearly burning (or something is).

A failed rocket launch, as someone suggested, is certainly a possibility. But surely it'd already be in the press.

This lot:

www.foxvalleyrocketeers.org...

had a meeting about 60 km from you this evening. You could email them and ask if they know anything. It seems a little far...

reply to post by XtraTL


Oh look, even better. These guys launch rockets in Oswego!

www.isar-rocketry.com...

though their rockets look way too small for this to have anything to do with it. But you could email and ask them.

And here's a more complete list of rocket associations in Illinois.

www.rocketryplanet.com...

NASA launches from Florida and California, so rule them out.

About 100-200 pieces of space junk enter the atmosphere every year in the whole world. Most land in the sea. Even if this is what you saw, it's incredible that you did.

Originally posted by Realtruth
Great catch OP.

Very interesting. I hope the mods move this to UFO section of ATS, it will get much more attention there.

Yeah me too... I couldn't remember how to create a new thread and then I couldn't find the UFO section... Lol

reply to post by VenomVile.6


Good catch.
That is kind of what it looks like!

reply to post by XtraTL


You can virtually definitively rule out reentry of space junk:

reentrynews.aero.org...

At this stage, I'm still hoping it turns out to be a meteor.

Take a look at this page:

fireball.meteorite.free.fr...

Note in particular the examples of meteors brightening more than once.

Here is another site worth submitting to:

www.spaceweather.com...

reply to post by FoJAk


Looks like... wait, what did I say it did?

I say, maybe its some kind of missle going after a flare ???

reply to post by sparda4355


This was forecast for yesterday and today. It is a bunch of asteroid debris forecast on, I think it was Nasa site or one of the astronomy sites I frequent. Great shot!

reply to post by Komodo3


It would be very interesting if the OPs photo turned out to be a daytime meteor and the chances of that would seem to be higher if meteors were expected today.

Can you please check your browser history and see if you can find a link to the meteor info you mentioned. I've just been searching concertedly for an authoritative source for this info. I can only find one site on the whole web that mentions this, and it is definitely not authoritative.

I am really interested in this, also for reasons unrelated to this thread.

On the following site there is no mention of a shower expected tonight:

earthsky.org...

If it's not a meteor it makes the OPs photo even more interesting (though meteors can occur any time of the year).

reply to post by XtraTL


Thats actually really interesting! Thanks for that info! I'm still trying to wrap my head around that...I can imagine that as it looses mass, that it would lose inertia. Still I'm not sure how that would cause to to actually change direction, unless it hit a patch of turbulent air or something. If you find some info, or a link describing this phenomenon in more detail, I'd be really grateful if you could pass it on to me! Thanks!

As for something bouncing off of the atmosphere, yeah, I have heard of that....still, of course, as you already said. that wouldn't describe this event. I'm not sure if that would even be readily visible from the Earths surface or not. I can see how that might explain a couple of the NASA videos where objects change direction though...not all of them, of course, but maybe one where something changes right as it gets close to the atmosphere.

What we have here is a UFO, and no I dont mean a little gray-coloured man on his spaceship, I mean an actual UNIDENTIFIED Flying Object. None of us know what it is, however being presented with evidence that it was under controlled flight I think leaves out asteroids or other space junk that might have gotten pulled into the earth's atmosphere. Awesome pic though OP.

reply to post by XtraTL


Ah...ok...I just came across this post you made. Yeah, that does seem to make sense. Of course it would only explain changes in direction downward. I'd still like to see an video of one doing this....I'm curious as to just how abrupt this change is. This reminds me of a really great clip I saw, that was really mysterious, but which was eventually explained. (if I find it, I will post a link....its been a while though, so I'm not sure that I can). It was of a shooting star that suddenly started zig-zagging all around the place! If you would see it you would be really baffled. There actually was an explanation though. There was a another couple of cameras set up in the same city, which caught the even too...except without the zig-zag. Only one camera seemed to show it. What had happened was just a freak optical illusion. The camera with the zig-zag was in Infra Red(I think....that was it) And because of this anything living would show up brightly. Well it just so happened that at the exact moment of the shooting star, a bug happened to be flying very close to the camera at the exact same trajectory (at least as viewed from the camera)....it blended in perfectly with the shooting star, and just as the shooting star faded the bug took off in a zig zagging pattern through the sky! It was a one chance in a million optical illusion. I really can't do it justice with my explanation...You really have to see the clip to believe it!! .I'll try to find it..but it was months ago that I watched it, and I don't remember where I found it, so I can't promise that I will find it....but I'll try!

I apologize beforehand, this is slightly off the topic, but it was mentioned in the thread, and I am a newbie here, so cannot start a thread yet!

It was mentioned that meteors are expected at this time?
Could anyone post a link on that for me?

I just watched one outside, until it burned up. It wasn't green, but then it is full daylight, so that may only apply to nightime observations of them?

But the photo here is fascinating, by the way!

reply to post by coquine


Certainly:
Link to Green Fireball Thread and Source Article

By the way, welcome to ATS!

reply to post by b0sanac


Thank you, it seems very few people actually read and reply to not only the pic but the "experience" as explained... I know only I was there, but it's funny that some people just ignore half the details, give an answer, and move on. Lol

No matter what, this was a fun experience for my daughter and I, and quite frankly I'm glad it happened regardless of what it actually turns out to be.