Do you survey the skys at night?

Came across this video on youtube...this is a perfect example of what I see up there...the common type.

note the end also..how it blinks out
www.youtube.com...

These are the common ones I see, not sure if he got any of the ones that change course, have to poke through the rest of his stuff


This guy is seeing the same things I am...seen someone also report a flashing caught on film that I seen last night
www.youtube.com...
has some nice examples of satellites also which gives for a good comparison...(the tumbling satellites may explain the flash I seen..a quick sharp reflection of the sun off the surface of a satellite creating a sudden sharp flash)


in response to the above stuff...yes, I have seen some turn extremely bright, then back to dim...maybe touching the atmosphere or something causing a slight atmospheric disturbance? who knows...

Will read that 27 pager in a little bit...for now, I gotta get to best buy and see if I can get a charger for my cam battery...lost it and a dead cam isnt going to help anything.

yeah, so I did not get a chance to read all the replies to the OP, but I wanted to share with everyone my stories with checking out the sky at nighttime...
Okay, so first of all, I live in Hawaii, and I have a story to share of unexplainable things I have seen in the skies. One time, I was with 2 other people, and we were... cuddling in a bed. Yeah, I'm a guy and yes it was 2 girls. stoked. But anyway.... we are all laying there looking out this huge glass door on one side of the room. That is when I point out seeing a strange bright object in an area of the sky I have never seen before. We all sit there watching, and all of a sudden, 2 more of these bright lights come into formation with this first one to make a perfect triangle! at this point we are FREAKING out. We have never seen anything like this before. So we all look away because we can't even watch anymore. The way the second 2 lights flew in was unbelievable; i have never seen any aircraft move like that before. So we are looking away, holding on to each other, scared as hell, when a huge flash of light coming from the direction of the triangle flashes into the room and lights it up. At this point we are like, okay, we'll watch you! So we watch in utter astonishment and fear as we see several more UFOs come into view. Then we keep watching, and they start doing these very very strange movements that I will never forget. They start flying extremely fast in very tight circles, going around and around. They were spinning so fast and there was so much light blur they looked like tiny golden rings in the sky. We call our other friends from the other room and they see them too. We are all in complete shock, and it was truly a traumatic experience for me. After that point, I can't remember anything else from that night. So yeah, a pretty mindblowing experience. I have never seen anything like that in the sky since then, but I still bring that story up with that group of friends and we all remember it very vividly. So my question to all of you is, have you seen anything like that before in the sky? bright golden lights that fly into formation and then start spinning very fast in the sky and doing little circles? If you have, please let me know. This incident happened about 8 months ago.

I remember when i was a kid i saw a big red meteor like a comet passing by slowly in the sky, i told my parents but they didnt see anything like i did. It was beautiful, this i cant forget.

reply to post by watchZEITGEISTnow


Hey wZn - i have seen one of those "objects" light up - it lit up in a yellow/white/orange kind of color, then returned to its normal color (whiteish yellow), and took off and dissapeared. When this happened, two of those lights just appeared at the same spot, then one took off south, the other took off norht, and the one heading north was the one that lit up. I've also seen two of these objects take off and do a swooping pattern across each other, unfortunately, i didnt get that on tape, but i do have about 8 different sightings on tape of these objects, i just dont have anyway of uploading them now. As soon as i can, it will be up!

reply to post by watchZEITGEISTnow


Hey wZn - i have seen one of those "objects" light up - it lit up in a yellow/white/orange kind of color, then returned to its normal color (whiteish yellow), and took off and dissapeared. When this happened, two of those lights just appeared at the same spot, then one took off south, the other took off norht, and the one heading north was the one that lit up. I've also seen two of these objects take off and do a swooping pattern across each other, unfortunately, i didnt get that on tape, but i do have about 8 different sightings on tape of these objects, i just dont have anyway of uploading them now. As soon as i can, it will be up!

My friend and I were out observing the skies last night from about 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. We saw more...I think I'll call them "travelers", lights way up there. But we also saw something else, which is kind of disturbing...

This thing couldn't have been over 3 miles away from us to the North. My friend said "What is that?", I looked and saw something that was glowing/illuminated (constantly...no blinking lights) very brightly lift straight off the ground, then it started heading Southwest, and about five to ten seconds after it started heading Southwest, it quit glowing so brightly and started blinking like a normal airplane. We are going to return to the same field soon to see if we can get a telescope on the thing...IF it is there again.

[edit on 23-6-2009 by Vyncent]

Good topic.

As someone who started doing some nite skywatching a few months ago, I like the idea of people sharing what they are seeing at nite... just reading through this thread, it is good to know that others are seeing the same or similar things as I am. Strength in numbers.

There may already be one but... what about an ATS forum where skywatchers can compare notes on a regular basis and discuss their observations??

I had another story to tell. So I was driving down the road with my friends up in the mountains at about 3 am in the morning, heading back home. Two of my friends were passed out, and one was keeping me company. So we are just cruising and we see this strange bright red dot in the night sky, it wasn't as bright as Jupiter, but still pretty bright. This red dot was to the left of my car in the sky. As we comment on its strange appearance, it starts to move! this was not a plane or helicopter. At first it just moves up and down, and then it starts moving right while still ascending and descending across the sky. So it is doing this, and then it changes color to orange! It was really weird. We watched it move across the sky for about 5 minutes; by that time it was already to the right of my car. Then it dissapeared behind some mountains. That was a cool experience.

reply to post by ziggyproductions05


So are they consciously showing us themselves (if it is ETs)? or do we just fluke seeing these 'lights' that travel in our skies? and I'd love to see your video!

After reading the posts here, i've gone outside tonight (it's past midnight here in the Uk at the moment) and sat looking at the night sky. It is a beautiful clear night, and lots of stars are out.

I can see a few of these things moving across the sky, they look like the ones in the videos posted here. They look as high as the stars, they look as tiny as the stars, and they are not flashing.

Could they not just be aircraft very far off though?

Is this more likely to be satellites? The one thing i do notice about them though, they seem to move a lot faster than normal aircraft. Nothing spectacular like shooting stars, but as though it was a military jet up there zooming across the stars.

Interesting stuff though, i'm off out to look at more.

CX.

[edit on 23/6/09 by CX]

reply to post by watchZEITGEISTnow

Just wonder if you've seen one "light up" while it's on its path - then go back to the same dim light and continue on its way?? (Not a 'shooting star')..

* also do satellites "blink" and what about ones that just disappear?

I think I have seen something similiar..

Last week I was watching the night sky and saw a satellite moving north to south. A few seconds later I noticed close beside it, what appeared to be a pulse of light and then gone. I followed the satellite and again, a few seconds later a pulse of light appeared in the same position beside the satellite. The pulse appeared to be travelling parallel to the satellite and at the exact same speed. I was able to watch this for what must have been close to 20 seconds.

A couple of nights later while doing the same thing I saw this same pulsing light for about 20 seconds but no satellite nearby this time and it was heading in the opposite direction.

Originally posted by wakinup13
Good topic.

As someone who started doing some nite skywatching a few months ago, I like the idea of people sharing what they are seeing at nite... just reading through this thread, it is good to know that others are seeing the same or similar things as I am. Strength in numbers.

There may already be one but... what about an ATS forum where skywatchers can compare notes on a regular basis and discuss their observations??

This is an awesome idea...an ATS journal of people who watch the night sky. I will start watching more avidly with pen and paper, and a watch nearby to note the time and the places where I see them, my back door is only about seven feet from my computer, so I can have stellarium open and note which stars/constellations they are passing through.

If other people start doing this, we might be able to track some of them.

We would need to collaborate our efforts though...for instance, I live in Central Illinois.. and I can only track the Western hemisphere from where I live. We would need 'spotters' all over the place to effectively track them.

Also, a theory on why they might flash...if these objects are traveling a straight line throughout the sky, it would make sense that they appear dim at first, then at some point across the sky (might be different each time depending upon location) they 'flash' or 'illuminate' while reflecting light from...somewhere...might be the sun, it might be internal...who knows?...but since most of them appear to just 'fade out' ...it might be because they are flying in that straight line and/or they WERE flying in a straight line to a certain point.

reply to post by Vyncent


I agree. Hopefully something like this will get some legs on ATS.

This past winter, it was a clear, very cold night and I stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. I'd been out there a few minutes, my natural night vision had recovered, and I was just staring intently at some of the lower stars in the Orion constellation, trying to pick out more and more of the fainter stars.

I actually ducked - startled - as this "thing" went overhead.

No lights, and absolutely no noise, which is what startled me the most. The fact that it was right there and I didn't detect it was what startled me the most. I don't like being surprised like that.

Only the outline was distinct - a triangle shape - enough to be clearly seen. The underside seemed to blend with the background night sky.

What surprised me the most was that it was so well "camoflaged" that had I not been staring intently in one spot, and had this thing not flown directly in my line of sight - I'd have never seen it.

Moving from east to due west, approximately 40-60 feet wide, and at an estimated altitude of 400-600 feet, if it continued, it would have flown directly over the northern part of the runway at Hurlburt airfield, just a few miles away.

Now, I don't look at the sky the same way. Whatever we/they have, it blends almost perfectly in with the night sky background, and almost impossible to scan and see.

I do recall my hair standing straight up during the incident, and immediately after for a few minutes.

It rattled me that something that concealed, could be so quiet, so low, and be so hard to make out.

Just a heads up.

Hope it's ours.

Yeah, So the idea being brought up about keeping a journal on the night sky sounds perfect for ATS! We can make a group, and every night collaborate and share our experiences to see if anyone else saw it. Great idea, hope it comes to fruition.

Originally posted by CaninE.G
Yeah, So the idea being brought up about keeping a journal on the night sky sounds perfect for ATS! We can make a group, and every night collaborate and share our experiences to see if anyone else saw it. Great idea, hope it comes to fruition.

So do I...but unfortunately, I am not able to do much tonight, it's mostly overcast and only a very few stars are visible...hopefully it clears up at some point.

I suggest that this can be the temporary thread in which to post what you see while surveying the stars.

reply to post by SaturnFX


Hiya Saturn

The "Father's Day Orbs" on your youtube video....... I really don't see anything there that is inconsistent with satellites. They had a consistent speed and direction. Satellites also "wink" into view and back out; it's the curvature of the Earth, and a function of when and how the sun reflects off them.

If you look at www.heavens-above.com and click on the map for whatever obeject you're trying to view, you'll see a directional arrow and the line is dotted and solid. The dotted area is where the satellite isn't reflective (for your area) and the solid line is where you can see it easily.

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion; I surely don't want to take the wonder out of it for you. A sense of wonder is a good thing.

One other thing: sometimes I've seen bright flashes in the sky, usually early in the morning. Many of these are Irridium flares.

Also, sometimes satellites tumble, giving the appearance of flashing.

I too want to see nonterrestrial objects or creatures. I want to be critical in my thinking, though, and be as certain as I can what I am seeing.

Guys, what you're seeing are satellites and junk in orbit.Depending on your latitude, during the summer, objects in orbit can be seen throughout the night as the sun never gets too far below the horizon. During winter, the sun dips much lower below the horizon, so satellites and junk are usually only seen a few hours after dark, and a few hours before light, when the sun is not too far below the horizon.

"Leap-frogging" and wavering motions are due to your own body movement. If you film the objects you will see that they move along a straight path.

Flashes are caused by junk glinting in the sun. In rare cases, you may have seen a point-meteor, which is a meteor that heads directly towards you, so there is no motion, only brightening and dimming. The "camera like flashes" are most probably junk though. You can usually catch more than one flash if you scan the area close by where you saw the first flash. They often flash at regular intervals, but not always.

Satellites appearing to stop is probably due to the satellite moving into earths shadow. When they do so, they disappear from view, and the eye latches onto a star that was not noticed before, since the brightness/motion of the satellite distracts from dimmer objects in the sky. The effect is worse the more light polluted your sky is I think, since contrast is low, and your are less likely to spot stationary dim stars/objects while your eye is roving.

If you film these, you will see that this is the case.

Someone previously mentioned that they had to sit with a friend in order to be able to observe the whole sky. I had to chuckle! You can cover the whole sky, from horizon to horizon with a single pair of eyes. Get yourself a reclining lawn chair or sun bed that can go fully horizontal (or just use a blanket/ground sheet), lay down flat, and face straight up.

This way your eyes will pick up motion in the sky all the way down to the horizon, and everywhere else in the sky. This technique has been used successfully for many decades to observe meteors, and is very effective.

I personally have been looking up at the sky and observing meteors for over a decade, and many of the observations posted in this thread are common occurrences, seen by amateur and professional astronomers/observes all the time. They are well documented, and I have seen them with my own two eyes. There is so much junk in orbit that it's impossible not to see them if you look.

I try but unfortunately this is the UK and it's usually cloudy , and or raining, plus I live under a flight path to both Gatwick AND Heathrow so is a bit pointless, not that I don't try when conditions are favourable.