Re: [meteorite-list] Mystery Lights Observed Over England

[GeoZay]

>>IWell, I can only talk about my personal experience. I have been an amateur astronomer for more than 20 years now. I have been watching the sky for an additional 10 years or so, and even now, when I am outside at night without a telescope (I owned several over these years), I am skywatching as much as I can.<<   My personal sky watching experience is thus: I've been watching the skies for over 40 years now. During most of the 90's though, I was one of the most active meteor recorders in the world...3 or 4 years the most active. I plotted meteor activity onto star charts on any night of the year along with other data. I know all the visible constellations at a glance. On each night I also operated guided cameras to record anything unusual...but mostly looking for fireballs. To which I've recorded over 350 fireballs along with accompanying data. During my observing nights, I had numerous opportunities to witness unusual sightings. To date, I have yet to see anything that I haven't been able to explain. On some occasions it was puzzling at first, but usually not before sunrise. The biggest puzzlers were a  numerous variety of satellites. Some were very bright in the -8 range for several seconds. Other solved puzzlers were long distance airliners with landing lights on. These appear near stationary for a few minutes and usually low to the horizon. Also seen closer aircraft which seemed stationary, because the plane is coming towards you. The typical classic is to have an aircraft with landing lights on flying towards you, then turn left and again turn back to the right. To the observer, this could appear at first a stationary light that moves to one side and then back on itself. Once right after sunset, I seen twice very bright stationary lights low on the horizon. This was my most puzzling until I got out my 14X100 binoculars and could barely see a very distant airliner flying almost away from me. The contrails appeared very short from this perspective,  for the same reasons meteors near the radiant will appear short. Anyhow, in this case the airliner and near point contrails was being highlighted by the sun while it was well into darkened twilight for me. The magnitude was about -6...easy to get peoples attention. On several occasions I've seen the flickering lights of green laser lights produced by the military from Mt. laguna. Get a kick on hearing UFO stories about these. On aroduced by the military from Mt. laguna. Get a kick on hearing UFO stories about these. On another morning I witnessed the jettison of gases from the WIND satellite over florida  high into space. I was in s. california at the time. It produced a dimly glowing ball about the size of the full moon with an approximate magnitude of +3 that lasted about a minute. I could only guess what the average person would suggest these were? :o) Anyhow, I feel quite qualified  in giving my opinion based on visual experience, about seemingly unusual sightings. If I didn't say anything, I would be perpetuating a myth. And if it's not a myth, these explanations should help weed out the chaff in search of any grains of truth.     >>I wrote down every observing session in one way or another. And believe me, in these 30 years of skygazing, I have seen more strange things than you can even think of. I have seen several extremely (!) bright meteorites - amongst them one that was reddish/blueish/whiteish, one that was pale and exploded into may sparks, one that was as green as bruning copper. I have observed weather balloons, I have seen Mir with a tail of objects following, I have seen head on meteorites, I have seen meteor showers, I have even experienced a meteorite whizzing by close, so close that I was able to hear it flying and hear the clonk when it landed (I didn't find the object, though).<< You seen a head on meteorite? That must have hurt some? :o) If you are referring to head on meteors, After awhile these seem common. During my meteor observing sessions, it was guided by strict rules of data recording. Such as recording how dark the sky is twice an hour, how much of the sky is blocked or cloudy and when breaks are taken.  Also recorded is the time you miss looking up while drawing onto star charts a meteors path as well as the data recorded. It's pretty regimented. You probably are right that you've seen more strange things I can even think of. The difference is that I know what I'm looking at. :o) If you heard the clonk of a meteorite when it landed, I don't think I would left the area without walking every foot within reason to find it. If it was big enough to hear a clonk, it's big enough to find.     >>If this person has been an amateur astronomer for a long time, he won't be unable to identify landing lights of an aeroplane, believe me. He will have seen them a gazillion times.<< The typical amateur astronomer is busy looking thru a telescope eyepiece....very little time is actually looking upwards in a dedicated fashion. As for aircraft landing lights, most will be recognized for what they are, but on occasions, the perspective changes slightly and those are the one's that will spook the unfamiliar. >> My guess is that he has seen a pair of head-on meteorites (meteorites that are flying towards the observer. This isn't too uncommon.<< My guess he didn't see a pair of meteorites...maybe meteors, but not likely. George Zay