I Just Saw a HUGE Comet/Meteor tail Accross Sky In PNW. (pictures!) 5/31/13 update: A Missile?

So it was just before midnight Pacific time when my husband (who just went back outside to sit at our patio fire) called me outside to see something. I glanced up and saw a huge, white undulating ribbon of light. I immediately thought it was the northern lights even though the direction was wrong, and ran back inside for my camera. (of course) As is guaranteed whenever you are in a hurry, I had to switch out lenses, find the memory card, etc. I ran back outside and immediately laid down in the wet grass to try and take some pictures.

I realized right away then that this was NOT the northern lights. It was a MASSIVE meteor or comet tail. It spanned the entire width of the sky from horizon to horizon and was traveling from SE to NW. To tray and give it some perspective, the ribbon was almost as wide as my house, seemed rather low in the atmosphere and was literally waving....with what must have been water vapor/crystals fanning out and evaporating. It was amazing.

Being a newer camera, I fumbled with the settings, trying to get the exposure long enough for it to show up well. By the time I got it figured out in the dark the tail was light enough that my images are not that great.

About a half-hour later, it was still visible to the naked eye but faint so I took some time-lapsed images and then tweaked the contrast so you can see it where it originates from the SE behind the trees. It also gives you an idea of the size.

Here are the first shots I got. SO disappointed they aren't better:





These are the very tweaked images, so you can see how big it was (even though by this time it was not even half its biggest size)...you can see the house/city lights lower down that come through as red and the meteor tail as whitish-green.



A little better distinction here:






So far, one other person here in my county (Skagit County, WA...same County with the bridge collapse on I5) has responded to my FB post that they saw it too. I posted my info on the local Seattle news site, but am waiting to see if there are any official reports. It HAD to have shown up on radar, whatever it was, because I am telling you this was HUGE. I have never seen anything like it. My husband was even excited about it and that takes a lot.

Anyone here know where to look to find out if this was picked up anywhere??


ETA: I should also add that the first two pictures I took laying on my pack looking straight up. The last two were taken later, while standing, looking to the SE where it seemed to have originated from. It was still brightest here because that was the darkest part of the sky.

Originally posted by westcoast
It was a MASSIVE meteor or comet tail.
About a half-hour later, it was still visible to the naked eye

It wont be a comet. Comet tails dont behave tlike that, nor do comets just appear out of nowhere to people in one place.

It wont be a meteor. Any meteor that left a trail that lasted half an hour would be globally newsworthy. Even the big one in Russia wouldnt have been big enough for that.

I'm going with either an usually straight cloud, or a aircraft contrail.

Good catch
How come I never see one like that?
All the ones I see are little bitty things

Thanks for sharing the pics.

Originally posted by alfa1

Originally posted by westcoast
It was a MASSIVE meteor or comet tail.
About a half-hour later, it was still visible to the naked eye

It wont be a comet. Comet tails dont behave tlike that, nor do comets just appear out of nowhere to people in one place.

It wont be a meteor. Any meteor that left a trail that lasted half an hour would be globally newsworthy. Even the big one in Russia wouldnt have been big enough for that.

I'm going with either an usually straight cloud, or a aircraft contrail.

Green ? Really ? Green contrail or cloud ?
I hope to heck you are wrong !!

reply to post by alfa1


It absolutely, 100% was NOT a cloud or contrail. NO WAY.....

It behaved and looked like a massive, low comet tail. But anything that big would have been known of, right?

Its hard to get the proper perspective here, but traveled the WHOLE distance of the sky from horizon to horizon, was about as wide as my house as it spread out and was waving, or undulating and fanning out like glowing, bright mist. My husband is 20 yr retired navy...he's never seen anything like it before.


ETA: To the naked eye it was white...very bright, glowing white with maybe a little bluish tinge. The green affect is due to my changing the contrast and brightness.

reply to post by westcoast


Great now don't I look like a fool ?

Sorry I was so snarky alfa1
Didn't know the pics had been manipulated

Definitely not a comet or meteor. Comets don't fly across the sky in a short space of time; they "sit" in the sky and move a slight distance from night to night, over the course of days or weeks. A meteor to leave such a large and long-lasting trail would have been extremely bright, like that Chelyabinsk meteor.

My guess is that it was a trail from some kind of rocket or spacecraft. They sometimes leave an expanding / undulating trail that glows in the air. Here's a video to illustrate what I mean:



Speeded up x8 times.


And then there's of course the "Norway spiral" which was also caused by a rocket lanuch.

reply to post by wildespace


I agree that it couldn't have been a comet, for your stated reason. It was WAY too low in the atmosphere for one, too.

In your first video, when the vapors are whitish/blue and spreading out in the end, is similar....put this was in a straight line. It definitely was NOT a jet....so if that's the case, I am hoping it was a massive meteor that crashed out in the ocean.

Keep in mind, my husband spend years on Navy ships and saw many a weapon fired. He stated he'd never seen anything like it.

Okay...now I am a bit concerned.

The pictures in this article, (if straightened out) looks very much like it.

What the heck??!!!

So that would mean that either the missile came from the East and went over the pacific...or came from the pacific headed east. It looked to be traveling to the west, based on how the trail was fanning out.

reply to post by westcoast


Nice.

I have been fortunate to witness one of these things, out of the corner of my eye.
Once focused, it broke up into small streaks of umm - welding slag - for want of a better descriptor.

The biggest ' stick ' was the fact that I heard the fizz !

Must have been close too ! ( though I do appreciate; it may have been the size of a cherry pit )

I love looking up, whenever I step outside at night !
It makes you think ...

Originally posted by westcoast
Okay...now I am a bit concerned.

The pictures in this article, (if straightened out) looks very much like it.

What the heck??!!!

So that would mean that either the missile came from the East and went over the pacific...or came from the pacific headed east. It looked to be traveling to the west, based on how the trail was fanning out.

I can see your concern here.
Yet, I am not convinced that it is nothing more than a " 2D " perspective, being misinterpreted.

I have been in "big sky" country* ... Venus can appear as a "UFO"

Yes - seriously !

* Too often.

I changed the settings on my monitor, blew up the picture, barely saw the outline. I agree with Alpha...

Either that or Chinese Lantern.










Kidding about the lantern.

reply to post by boncho


Speed - distance - atmosphere - perspective - feel free to add more variables ...

Is this related ... www.abovetopsecret.com...

I think it is safe to say that it's a UFO

Any private space industry or launch sites near you? Could it be a private company putting up sats?

Originally posted by Timely
reply to post by boncho

 

Speed - distance - atmosphere - perspective - feel free to add more variables ...

Is this related ... www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 1-6-2013 by Timely because: (no reason given)

Yeah, I saw that too. Perhaps it's just the exposure time and it was a meteor.

reply to post by westcoast

I immediately thought it was the northern lights even though the direction was wrong,

That was my thought looking at the pictures and maybe it was .
Aurora Borealis Forecast for Saturday, June 01, 2013
Possible ?

Originally posted by boncho

Originally posted by Timely
reply to post by boncho

 

Speed - distance - atmosphere - perspective - feel free to add more variables ...

Is this related ... www.abovetopsecret.com...

edit on 1-6-2013 by Timely because: (no reason given)

Yeah, I saw that too. Perhaps it's just the exposure time and it was a meteor.

or a drunk pilot !

Someone on Facebook did some digging, and it might be a Chinese "Long March CZ-2C" rocket stage gradually re-entering the atmosphere: www.facebook.com...

The trail might be due to the leftover fuel venting out of the rocket.

reply to post by westcoast


Westcoast, I have been watching this site lately. G7IZU Radio Reflection
It seems that there is a lot of 'things' entering the atmosphere of late, not sure of the historical, the size or direction of the lines or how close to real time this is, but it may be that you did see a meteor/fireball trail. I wouldn't discount anything these days. The activity does seem to pick up in the evening hours. I have screen shots but there is a disclaimer on the website and I am a little leary of posting them.