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THE PHYSICAL STUDY OF ATMOSPHERIC LUMINOUS ANOMALIES AND THE SETV HYPOTHESIS Massimo Teodorani, Ph.D. ASTROPHYSICIST CNR - Istituto di Radioastronomia / Radiotelescopi di Medicina Via Gobetti 101 - 40129 Bologna (Italia) / E-mail : [email protected]
The Hessdalen lights. The eerie display of brilliant bursts of lights in the sky that has plagued Norway since the 19th century has the scientific world scratching their heads. For centuries, people around the world have witnessed a strange phenomenon - orbs of light hovering in the night sky. Some say the lights chased after them as they drove away in their cars, and military pilots have reported spotting the lights on secret missions. Many wonder if the lights could be ghosts, or visitors from outer space.
Leone: Rebuttal
These foundations require a careful attention to both the methodology of collection of eyewitness testimony and the issue of “objective” evidence. As regards the first issue, it is absolutely necessary to follow some minimal guidelines to avoid the risks of leading the witness, misunderstanding his words, doing wrong inferences from his testimony and so on. Since several years such guidelines are followed by the most serious civilian groups devoted to the study of unidentified flying object reports (Randles, 1976; SOBEPS, 1979; Fowler, 1983; Russo, 1993).
Journal of Scientific Exploration Vol 20; pp 72-74
Leone's claimed observation of a light-phenomenon caused by car headlights on a hill is no more than a personal anecdote since his telescope was not equipped with a camera. My collaborators and I could distinguish car headlights from the true phenomenon as a result of expertise acquired during 2 months of non-stop sky-watching at several spots in the area in 1994,2000,2001 and 2002. The road in the area was well known to me, thanks to prompt and precise information from our Norwegian collaborators (Teodorani, 2004a). Leone's observing experience in the area was limited to a few hours over several days, and he may well have confused the lights of a car with the true phenomenon that, by chance, was close in direction though not in distance. Therefore, his data analysis and interpretation are not well grounded.
Rebuttal: p 29
The motor vehicle headlamps illumination is regulated by rigid international regulations issued by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. In case of a single headlamp designed to provide a driving beam and a passing beam, the maximum illuminance (EM) – measured on a vertical screen set at a distance of 25 m in front of the headlamp – “shall in no case exceed 240 lux”4 (ECE Regulation, 2002, p. 18).
p73
Reliance on eyewitness testimony is fallible (Persinger, 2000). Leone quotes witnesses in Hessdalen but does not reveal where their statements are published.
Leone collected no documented photometric and spectroscopic data of his own that could be compared with mine.
For all these reasons, his critique fails to serve a constructive purpose.
Originally posted by BASSPLYR
The problem with the car headlights theory is that multiple people are seeing this phenomena. Often standing right next to each other.
People from all over the world are extremely familiar with car headlights. From a distance they can be deceiving in certain atmospheric conditions and may at first appear to be something other than car headlights. But after a while one of the observers is going to make the connection that they are observing car headlights. I don't see how 100 percent of the people can be fooled by car headlights.
I reject this scientists theory of car headlights outright.
Originally posted by reject
...or mineral deposit induced electrical discharge
Originally posted by reject
I think it is currently the most plausible theory.