Huge Spiral UFO Seen Over Eastern Australia.

[cyclonic]

The UFO was seen by thousands of people moving through the sky just before Saturday's sunrise in New South Wales, Queensland and the ACT.




A privately-owned rocket launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida on its first test flight is believed to be responsible.

But Doug Moffett from UFO Research NSW says he has a few problems with this theory.

"Firstly, the time of the launch was 18.45 GMT, which translates to 4.45am EST, the duration of the flight was 9 minutes 38 seconds - this is a full hour before the reported sightings," he said.

"Secondly, where was the glow from the boosters or from the friction created by the craft moving through the atmosphere, where was the tail of the rocket?

"Thirdly, why would anyone launch a rocket on a maiden test flight with a trajectory that would take it over the most heavily populated parts of Australia?

"And how big must this rocket have been to be seen so clearly, at the same time, over such a vast distance?"

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/05/2919095.htm


What was it?

13 photos

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/glance/1064452/spiralling-ufo-over-australia

 

[CyberCecil]

It was definitely due to the Falcon 9 launch. Here's a link that has a good breakdown of the facts of the sighting from The Bad Astronomer.

 

[cyclonic]

It was definitely due to the Falcon 9 launch. Here's a link that has a good breakdown of the facts of the sighting from The Bad Astronomer.

Thanks CyberCecil that makes sense, just find it incredible that it was seen over such a vast area.

 

[DC]

IFO's are so disappointing

 

[FramerDave]

Thanks CyberCecil that makes sense, just find it incredible that it was seen over such a vast area.

It was big, well-lit and way up high. Not so incredible.

 

[cyclonic]

It was big, well-lit and way up high. Not so incredible.

If it was 200 km above brisbane that would make it 934 km from sydney, i doubt any one could see the rocket from 200 km away.
can astronauts see the sears tower or the eiffel tower from space? i don't think so.
but maybe the rockets actions had an effect on the ionosphere like a ship leaving a wake and thus giving us a light show similar to aurora australis.

 

[Astrophotographer]

"Firstly, the time of the launch was 18.45 GMT, which translates to 4.45am EST, the duration of the flight was 9 minutes 38 seconds - this is a full hour before the reported sightings," he said.

And it probably took that much time for the booster to reach Australia in it's trajectory.

"Secondly, where was the glow from the boosters or from the friction created by the craft moving through the atmosphere, where was the tail of the rocket?

Booster was no longer in a boost phase.

"Thirdly, why would anyone launch a rocket on a maiden test flight with a trajectory that would take it over the most heavily populated parts of Australia?

Nothing impacted in Australia that I am aware of. That path was selected probably because of safety concerns during launch. Booster rockets in low earth orbit pass over populated areas on a fairly regular basis.

"And how big must this rocket have been to be seen so clearly, at the same time, over such a vast distance?"

Well, one can see satellites from much farther away and they are smaller than the booster rocket. Just check Heaven's above. Being seen at the same time over a vast distance is indicative of something very high up, which agrees with the booster rocket explanation.


Sometimes, I wonder why UFO proponents like Moffett do not do any kind of research before they open their mouths. It makes them sound incompetent. I guess they have to come up with these excuses to make it appear that it is a "genuine" UFO and can not be explained. Hmmmm.....sounds like a thread I have been participating in for some time.

 

[Correa Neto]

How long untill Hoagland jumps in to this?

 

[Toke]

Ok, a bit from a rocket is high up there in the sunshine, and rotating.
In order to make a spiral for the sunshine to reflect off it must be spewing something, like unused fuel.

Did it malfunction somehow or is it routine to carry extra fuel into orbit?
I have not heard of any catastrophic failure where the payload got into the wrong orbit.

 

[Astrophotographer]

How long untill Hoagland jumps in to this?

Not long. I am waiting for him to declare the recent video of a potential impactor in Jupiter's atmosphere was a super secret space probe meant to nuke the monilith. Of course, now he can relate these two independent events.

 

[cyclonic]

You can't see satellites up that high, you see the sun reflecting off the satellites that high.
unused fuel? no way there was so much unused fuel to make the spiral that big.
from the abc article: "Those who saw the object say photos do not reflect how large it actually was."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/05/2919095.htm

I thnk my aurora rocket theory makes more sense.

 

[Limbo]

How many spirals is that so far this year? There was one in Norway, one in Russia, one in China, and now this one? Does that sound right?

 

[Sledge]

You can't see satellites up that high, you see the sun reflecting off the satellites that high.

Er, what? Isn't that how we see everything?

 

[Correa Neto]

@ Astrophotographer:

My woo-O-matic simulator must be malfunctioning because I failed to forese someone finding such a "connection"...

An ehxaust plume lightened by the Sun and an impact in Jupiter... Everything is connected, man, there's no such thing as coincidences...
Hey, pass me that bottle, will you?

ETA: maybe these spirals will change UFO lore, just like the Belgium triangles.

 

[Stray Cat]

How many spirals is that so far this year? There was one in Norway, one in Russia, one in China, and now this one? Does that sound right?

Don't forget the hoaxed one in Canada too.

 

[Astrophotographer]

You can't see satellites up that high, you see the sun reflecting off the satellites that high.
unused fuel? no way there was so much unused fuel to make the spiral that big.

A. I don't understand your comment about not being able to satellites that high. You can satellites in geosynchronous orbit if they catch the sun just right.

B. How do you know how much fuel was left in the rocket? Rocket boosters venting fuel have been seen before over the years. Why would this be any different.

 

[Astrophotographer]

@ Astrophotographer:

My woo-O-matic simulator must be malfunctioning because I failed to forese someone finding such a "connection"...

Trust me, they will find a connection.

 

[Cuddles]

I thnk my aurora rocket theory makes more sense.

In what way does it make sense? Aurorae involve huge numbers of charged particles hitting the atmosphere and ionising and exciting the atoms in it, which emit light when they regain electrons or drop back to the ground state. Man-made rockets, well, don't.

Thirdly, why would anyone launch a rocket on a maiden test flight with a trajectory that would take it over the most heavily populated parts of Australia?

Maybe they just don't like Australians?

 

[ugot2bekidding]

from the abc article: "Those who saw the object say photos do not reflect how large it actually was."

I think this statement just reflects the fact that people make awful eye witnesses.

 

[Marcus]

Sometimes, I wonder why UFO proponents like Moffett do not do any kind of research before they open their mouths. It makes them sound incompetent. I guess they have to come up with these excuses to make it appear that it is a "genuine" UFO and can not be explained. Hmmmm.....sounds like a thread I have been participating in for some time.

This thread would have been more fun if the explanation had been withheld until our resident UFO creduloid had time to lecture us on how he had eliminated mundane explanations for this event, therefore it was alien.