What was I seeing over the skies above Arbroath (Scotland) 0000 21/3/12

So i was walking my trusty dog around 11pm on Wednesday night and wemt to Victoria Park, for those not in the know this is a park between the town and the shore that is very dark so perfect for stargazing.

As i was walking in an Easterly direction i saw a single flash up to my left, about the size of a star and white, in a relatively dark but of sky. I stopped and watched the area and, sure enough, around 20 seconds later there was another flash, it was like a star switched on for a split second, then off again.
Just after that that, as i was watching to see if there was going to be another flash there was an orange or green object, mush fainter than a star, slowly moving up the way, just away from where i spotted the flash. My dog started eating something so my attention was drawn and when i looked up again i had lost my bearings.

So i continued on my walk, i looked out out across St Andrews as i walked down the stairs, towards the water, to turn West and walk towards the Harbour. I spotted something I see fairly regularly, a solid orange (or possibly green, i'm colourblind) moving really quite slowly above the town of St Andrews towards Leauchars air force base (so maybe a helicopter on this one). Then i also noticed another thing i have spotted fairly recently. to the South East, a dull glow in the sky above the clouds.

I walk these areas very often and get a good view of the sky and if you look at my posting history you will find a few other things i have spotted, one thing different about last night is that, although i have never really seen them before, I spotted Libra, Scorpio, Sagitarius and Virgo, which struck me as odd as i normally only see Orion, the Plough or the Seven Sisters. The stars were incredibly bright last night, much more than normal were visible and I thought something looked different but can't put a finger on why

Doesn't look like much to be honest.

Would love to know what ??????????????

Reply removed - OP since amended - Cheers

Grey skys??

Not really surprising in jock land

Hmm...I guess nothing.

Sorry folks, i press the wrong button on my Netbook often as it's really quite small

*anti climax*

There was me expecting a picture....

reply to post by djz3ro


Walk the dog next with some device to capture what you are seeing , we need pix ha ha . Good on you for posting.

There is nothing wrong with this thread.
I think it was a unique experience and
certainly strange enough to be shared.

OP just get a pic of what you think it looked like
or shoot find a public domain UFO and add it.
They'll quiet down about there being nothing
but get loud about it being a lens flare and CGI.

reply to post by Droidinvoid


i took a pic on my Blackberry, i got a great pic of darkness! will i post it?

Originally posted by CaLyps0
I see nothing but a major fail

I don't see why you replied with that. The OP was just sharing on ATS what he saw on his walk, obviously unsure at what he is seeing. Maybe he thought someone on here can shed some light on what he is seeing whether it's something self explanatory or not. Replies like this wind me up if you got nothing better to say then don't say anything. The OP is doing what we all do on this forum, sharing experiences and discussing them. This site is a great site for learning and understanding and replies like that are pointless you can't say the OP has done anything wrong for posting this he just sharing like most of us on here something odd he encountered

As for 'pics or it didn't happen' not everyone carries a camera that unables you to take pictures in darkness. I have a camera on my iPhone but even then pictures come out poor even when there is low levels of light. Ok so the guy hasn't got a picture of anything, read what they have got to say, decide if it sounds interesting and add your views. If not move onto the next thread

Originally posted by ThePeaceMaker

Originally posted by CaLyps0
I see nothing but a major fail

I don't see why you replied with that. The OP was just sharing on ATS what he saw on his walk, obviously unsure at what he is seeing. Maybe he thought someone on here can shed some light on what he is seeing whether it's something self explanatory or not. Replies like this wind me up if you got nothing better to say then don't say anything. The OP is doing what we all do on this forum, sharing experiences and discussing them. This site is a great site for learning and understanding and replies like that are pointless you can't say the OP has done anything wrong for posting this he just sharing like most of us on here something odd he encountered

Thanks for living up to your name on here but i made a mistake to begin with, i typed my title and hit enter, posting a blank thread so the first few posts are a response to that

Ah I see I saw the thread when you completed it. Sorry if I jumped to conclusions but you do see alot of these replies and it really bugs me. People come here to share and get trolled or ridiculed all because the person has no pics. My apologies

Hello. Sounds very interesting, especially this part:

Originally posted by djz3ro
As i was walking in an Easterly direction i saw a single flash up to my left, about the size of a star and white, in a relatively dark but of sky. I stopped and watched the area and, sure enough, around 20 seconds later there was another flash, it was like a star switched on for a split second, then off again.
Just after that that, as i was watching to see if there was going to be another flash there was an orange or green object, mush fainter than a star, slowly moving up the way, just away from where i spotted the flash. My dog started eating something so my attention was drawn and when i looked up again i had lost my bearings.

Out of curiosity would you skim through the opening of this thread i posted a while back, and come to a conclusion if your sighting could be the same phenomenon?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The "turning on and off" description you mentioned sounds exactly like the strange objects i have seen many times now. These star-like flashes seem unnatural, i have still not found a logical explanation for what they could be ever since looking into it. To be honest, i haven't seen this oddity since about a week after i posted the thread i mentioned, but only up until last week i have started seeing them again (by chance, when i am outside sometimes). Seen 3 of these in the past 2 weeks or so.

If it is the same thing as what i have seen, i'm glad someone else is also noticing it.

I also keep hearing lately of people witnessing strange objects, just as you described (green/orange light) commonly appearing around the vicinity of this spontaneous flashing phenomenon. Many reports i have been reading about these kinds of sightings, they don't sound as fascinating as one would expect, maybe that's a good thing? There's definitely something odd about these flashes, and it is rather spooky.

Originally posted by InsideYourMindOut of curiosity would you skim through the opening of this thread i posted a while back, and come to a conclusion if your sighting could be the same phenomenon?
www.abovetopsecret.com...

The "turning on and off" description you mentioned sounds exactly like the strange objects i have seen many times now. These star-like flashes seem unnatural, i have still not found a logical explanation for what they could be ever since looking into it. To be honest, i haven't seen this oddity since about a week after i posted the thread i mentioned, but only up until last week i have started seeing them again (by chance, when i am outside sometimes). Seen 3 of these in the past 2 weeks or so.

If it is the same thing as what i have seen, i'm glad someone else is also noticing it.

I also keep hearing lately of people witnessing strange objects, just as you described (green/orange light) commonly appearing around the vicinity of this spontaneous flashing phenomenon. Many reports i have been reading about these kinds of sightings, they don't sound as fascinating as one would expect, maybe that's a good thing? There's definitely something odd about these flashes, and it is rather spooky.

I actually read that the day you posted it and forgot all about it and yes, i would say the two phonemona are incredibly similar and could very well be the same thing. I have also noticed that there are a helluva lot more flickering stars around than normal too.

The flashes I've seen are a bright white, almost a blue-white, like a camera flash, and that quick.
But small like a star.

Most flashes I've seen are very far out there but one time when I thought I was looking at a
small light on a plane and all of a sudden a big white light flashed around
8 to 10 thousand feet.
It was like looking at a cops mag light flash on/off at about 50 yards.
Had me saying "what the??"

Smokies

Originally posted by djz3ro
As i was walking in an Easterly direction i saw a single flash up to my left, about the size of a star and white, in a relatively dark but of sky. I stopped and watched the area and, sure enough, around 20 seconds later there was another flash, it was like a star switched on for a split second, then off again.
Just after that that, as i was watching to see if there was going to be another flash there was an orange or green object, mush fainter than a star, slowly moving up the way, just away from where i spotted the flash. My dog started eating something so my attention was drawn and when i looked up again i had lost my bearings.

There are many thousands of objects in orbit, both operational satellites as well as junk. It may well be that you saw one of them that was rotating and glinting in the sunlight.

This gif-animation consists of 2 CCD pictures showing the trace of an artificial satellite. The satellite crossed suddendly the field of view while I was ptotographing an asteroid.

Every image lasted 60 seconds. During the 11 seconds of the downloading time between the first and the second image the satellite traveled the distance between the first and the second trace. The first trace is upper right; the second trace is down left.

In the second image the satellite showed a brilliant flash. I didn't see the flash with the eye because I was not watching the sky. I calculated that the flash lasted for only 0,8 sec!

I also estimated the magnitude of the flash: roughly 4mag. The mag of the satellite-trace is about 10. It is not rare to see these flashing events because of the rotation of the satellite on its own axis.

Source: Astronomical Image Data Archive

Whilst most reports of flashes I have come across describe the colour of the flash as being white, at certain angles, the light from the sun that hits the satellite will travel through earths atmosphere, which can have the same effect as seeing the sun at sunset - the lower the sun's angle in the sky the more atmosphere the light from it must travel through, and the more orange or red the sun looks.

Related reading on the subject:
All-Sky Camera Captures Mysterious Flashes
Flashing satellite ID? - Satellite Observing Forum