Is it Possible To see a Star Fall from its stationary position?

Originally posted by Dr Expired
Thanks for the detailed and interesting reply, I can see how the atmosphere could play a part , sort of put the star out of focus like a telescope can, but just one problem, the sun was stil there , this star dissappeared , and it was at least 60 degrees above the mountainous horizon.
Yes it may have been posted before perhaps.

If it was at least 60 degrees above the horizon, then it wasn't an atmospheric reflection. But if you're misremembering the elevation, it could indeed disappear. Let's say the star's actual position is behind the mountaintop, then when the star's reflected image disappears, you may not see the original image of the star since it's behind the mountaintop.

And I'm not sure you understand the effect with your "out of focus" comment. That's not a good analogy at all, it's really nothing like that.

But if you're right about the elevation of 60 degrees above the horizon, then you have to look for another explanation. You mention the mists of time as one possible factor causing distortion, but humans optical observation capabilities are rife with flaws so some time of real-time misperception is just as possible, it happens all the time to normal people and doesn't necessarily mean that your vision is any worse than anyone else's. If I were you I'd research things like autokinesis, confabulation, etc.

The only other thing I can think of that might do something like that is a flare, they are often dropped attached to parachutes, and if it because detached from the parachute it could quickly fall and disappear, but flares don't last that long like your sighting apparently did.

I found your other threads posted under your other name, posting this about once a year it seems, these posts are from you, right?

Ghost Falling Star? April 2009
Real Falling Star May 2010

Originally posted by Dr Conspire
Ok I cannot remember if I have posted this subject or not

My memory isn't perfect either, but I remembered seeing this topic posted before. But if you're having trouble remembering what happened a year ago, misremembering some details from 1974 has got to be near the top of your list of possible explanations.

Then you start this thread out with

Originally posted by Dr Expired
My memory is getting worse so I apologise if I have asked this question before

Well, you can keep posting this once a year I suppose, but I doubt you're going to get any answers you haven't already gotten. There's nothing in actuality that will do exactly what you say, but there are some natural things which could have been misperceived and/or misremembered that would be close and people have offered some explanations for those, defcon5's answer last year was pretty good I thought. A bolide can cross the path of a star and it could create the illusion that it was the star that fell, but yes the star would still be there. That doesn't mean our brains would always recognize that fact, especially if we saw it disappear, when we looked back up we might think it's something else. We try to make sense out of what we see but the result of that process doesn't always end up being a correct perception, even in real-time.

reply to post by NorthStargal52

I hope you get your Telescope , and you discover the Universe is always there for you.
If you see something really rare and strange may you hold it inside close, and only share it with friends.
Remember some can only mock and destroy in this beautiful world , but some just dream.

Dr Expired, I too had an experience of stationary stars suddenly "falling" when I was 8 years old.
My bed was next to the window, and I would wake before dawn, sit up and look out of the window. I would see what appeared to be ordinary stars in the sky at about 45 degrees and I would watch them for a while. Then suddenly one would rapidly "fall" and disappear behind the horizon. If I watched for a while longer, another would do the same, then another.
This happened several nights in succession. Waking about 4 am, sitting up and looking out the window, and watching the stars suddenly "fall". I have not seen that again since. I am now 55 years old.
I have no idea what they were. They certainly were not stars or shooting stars.