In reply to David Roberson's message of Mon, 30 May 2016 21:56:46 -0400: Hi, [snip] >One would think that the astronomers have cataloged enough stars during the >original research project to know how the variable ones behave. Of course it >is entirely possible that what they are seeing is a rare form of variable star >like you are suggesting. > >I wonder what would happen if a large field of dark bodies much closer to the >earth were passing in front of the star? Once, I suggested that it might be >possible to detect 'UFO' type objects by observing as many of the background >stars as possible while looking for variation to the intensity of the light >arriving from them. This concept is a bit like radar in reverse. Even a >craft with a stealth coating would be visible using this scenario. > >For my concept to work it would be necessary to figure a way to ignore the >twinkle of the stars caused by atmospheric variations. I assumed that a local >craft would blank out a region in space that is much larger than a star >appearing behind it from the earth's surface. This should be apparent to the >observer in most cases. The location and motion of the craft could be >determined by following the series of blanked out stars. > >Dave While this is true, note that the drop in intensity in this case was only about 15%. While, as you note, an object close to Earth would block out 100%.
BTW another possibility is that the comet shower which has already been proposed as an explanation may have been triggered by a massive object (rogue planet, brown dwarf, or small black hole) passing through the "Oort cloud" of the system in question, thus disturbing the orbit of thousands of orbiting objects, and sending them into the inner system. Regards, Robin van Spaandonk http://rvanspaa.freehostia.com/project.html
