Originally posted by Mkoll
I watched the video and didn't notice anything odd. Then I went to the points outlined in the OP and I realized I didn't notice anything odd because
these UFOs were the rocket flying past stars as the camera pans to follow it.
That's my interpretation, but it is counter-intuitive and the same 'illusion' has shown up as 'UFOs following missiles' for decades. I went and
checked Heavens-Above for the launch site and the brighter star may be Capella, with a liftoff track heading east of north out of Baykonur.
I expect the video to show up as 'UFOs following Soyuz' on youtube shortly, but my point is that it's an honest mistake, and especially with aerospace
events, we're faced with a torrent of videos that if we interpret them in earthside terms, WILL look really weird.
But good comments from all.
Mods, you probably need to move this to a different category, unless somebody does come forth claiming they are UFOs.
Beautiful launch -- folks who were there said the rocket lit up the snow-covered steppe for miles around as it rose into a clear sky, 0 degrees F,
full of stars.
edit on 21-12-2011 by JimOberg because: typos...