Saturday, October 04, 2003
The Night of UFOs
Friday night was the first night I tested my new digital camera with night shots. After the
weekly D&D game I set up
the camera and tripod in Bob's (the GM driveway and took some pictures of the homes across the
street. Little did I know that the camera was able to catch something
streaking across the sky.
After the game, I headed over to Mark's house to hang out. We watched
Kung Pow:
Enter the Fist even though I went over there not in a movie watching
mood; it was more amusing than I expected it to be.
We then moved outside to talk a bit when Mark pointed out this bright light just above the horizon. It was cycling between red, white and blue. Mark at first thought it was a plane, but it wasn't moving, and planes don't cycle their lights like that—white in front, red on one side, green on the other (no blue). Mark then suggested it might be a star shining through some atmospheric turbulence but the shifting colors were a puzzling factor. I grabbed the camera and started taking pictures.
It then disappeared.
It then came back, in the same place. I then scanned the skies and found yet another point of light cycling through red, white and blue. We then looked carefully at Orion, and though less active, the stars in that constellation were twinkling and shifting color too.
We both then figured it was a very turbulent upper atmospheric conditions causing the light to cycle like that. What star it was we were viewing but it was south east of Orion.
And I'm pleasently surprised at the sensitivity of my new camera.
