i cant find anything on it, i have looked all on the news, google and stuff, but i cant find anything

are there any folks in MN with a telescope and camera?
I'd love to see a clean picture of the object!

jammerman, what is the radio station broadcasting this discussion?

GOD, knew there would be talk of this here. I have been watching the bright spot in the sky. I tried to video tape, but it didn't turn out. All that showed up was a bright spot on the tape, nothing clear. However using a 12X binocular, you could see a not quite square shape, with a grey, V shaped shadow in the middle of it. It did not appear to rotate, and it did move very slowly in a southwesterly direction. As the sun went down in the horizon, it went from a bright white light to an orange haze, similar to what a full moon rising in the East appears. Then as the sun set, I could no longer find it. sorry, I have viewed this web site a lot, but have never offered anything in text. BUT, this is really weird!! I keep checking the news, but nothing yet. ONly the text that was posted earlier from a news station web site. I definately would like to hear any thoughts. The light itself was so bright, but you could tell it was not a star, because it was close enough to make out some detail via the binocs, but as a plane flew into view, you could tell it was way up there. All I can say is that I have never seen anything like it before....

Does anyone know what the winds aloft speed was today?
(hint) FAA or Flight Weather reporting would have this.
Possibly the air was still at that altitude so if it is a balloon it would have stayed put until the winds started again.

[edit on 19-8-2004 by Chuck Stevenson]

Not sure about the winds. From the neighbors I have talked to, they saw it at 9:00 this morning, and basically didn't move. What I could tell using the binoculars, it had the shape of, well, the state of Alabama. Kind of an elongated square. Does that match with a weather balloon? Don't know what current weather balloons look like. I thought they had more of a tear drop shape? It was very bright, and I assume that since it changed color and disappeared as the sun went down, it would have to have been very reflective. The brightness of the light reminded me of a Mecury Street Lamp. Per my earlier response, I'm a newbie at this. If I am stepping on toes or out of line, would appreciate constructive criticism.

Originally posted by Chuck Stevenson
Does anyone know what the winds aloft speed was today?
(hint) FAA or Flight Weather reporting would have this.
Possibly the air was still at that altitude so if it is a balloon it would have stayed put until the winds started again.

[edit on 19-8-2004 by Chuck Stevenson]

ah doubt it, its very hard to stabilize anything, especially, balloons in mid air for that period of time.

Did you mess with the first picture at all? Can you see the little red dot maybe 60 NE of the white object? what is that? Zooming in on the object, the balloon, it kind of looks as if its got a hanging part coming off the southwest side. strange...i wonder if anyone has photoshop and can play around the contrast/exposure things

Jammerman,
When you have time, could you write up a complete narrative for ATS?

You mentioned that people saw this thing at a softball game. Is this when people first started to notice it? Is this when the radio calls began?

Basically, I think it would help if you could write a timeline of how you found out about this. Was it still light out when you first saw it? Where is your ballpark located? What was the sequence of events that led up to your initial post? How much time elapsed between the first time you saw it and your ATS post? Did the direction of the object from your vantage points change and, if so, when did they change (if this might be a balloon, it;ll be necessary to compare the location changes with winds aloft)?

I know that's a lot of writing... but it would really help if you could write down all of the minute details as soon as possible.


Also, is it still there?

Looking at the first pic, there does appear to be a secondary reddish object at about 60 degrees nne of the object (about 1 0'clock position), also the object appears to have another part jutting out from the bottom left, as you look at the pic. Interesting. You said it had been there all day, the local stations confirm no weather balloon activity in the area. I've been thinking about the movie 'Signs' since you said it. I wonder if any other major cities have anything in their skies right now, or earlier today?

Interesting. Didn't know this was an exclusive club........ Will continue to 'lurk' but not comment. Sorry to waste your time.

Muckwa, we aren't ignoring you. Heck, I'm pretty new myself. Many of these threads have many, many comments never responded to, but nevertheless contribute to the whole understanding of the topic. Such was the case here. While noone immediately responded in the thread to your post, we all take it into consideration (as well as the posts of others) when contemplating our take ont he given situation. please continue to post as you have here in an intelligent manner. it's much more than many i have seen and some of the posts I have made in recent days.

BTW, Welcome to ATS! (have I earned enough points to say that yet?) lol

Originally posted by Muckwa
Interesting. Didn't know this was an exclusive club........ Will continue to 'lurk' but not comment. Sorry to waste your time.

Muckwa,
Sorry, I (and the rest of us) weren't ignoring you. I should have addressed my questions to you as well... I just was thinking about jammerman because he started the thread.

So... all the questions I had for him also apply to you. You've given many details, but it would be nice if you could give a minute by minute narration and record as many details as possible before they begin to fade in your mind.

Also, can you still see it?

I used to live right by the Metrodome. Exactly where is/was the object in relation?

Muckwa,


Stick around, we're happy to have you
It helps to have a sexy Avatar, like mine LOL...

Keep us informed on what you know, we all appreciate it..!