Author Topic: Unexplained (Read 717 times)

Hawklore · « **Reply #15 on:** May 24, 2005, 10:20:59 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Toad
St. Elmo's, not ball lightning.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elmo%27s_Fire

We didn't touch it directly. As I said though, if you put your finger to the plexiglas and move it along, thin tendrils would follow the trace.

That's as close as we got.

Ball lightning makes more sense though..

St.Elmos wouldn't move..

St.Elmos are basicly constant firing of electrodes..

Toad · « **Reply #16 on:** May 24, 2005, 10:23:11 PM »

Yah, probably so..... nobody in the squadron ever called it ball lightning though.

I didn't ask it for a biz card.............

Hawklore · « **Reply #17 on:** May 24, 2005, 10:24:00 PM »

I mean.. st.elmo is a good nick.. but wrong nickname..

Balllightning as just as cool though..

I wouldn't want to touch it though..

It's probally more of a staticball..being so small.

Leslie · « **Reply #18 on:** May 24, 2005, 10:47:14 PM »

Room mate and I saw something that looked like a bright blue star above a corn field at night. Out walking the dog. This was back in 76 in Prattville, not too far from Maxwell Field. Before we saw it, I had noticed what looked like a falling match in the field about 20 ft away. Five minutes later the blue star appeared. Thing acted like it was following us (or looking) and we hit the deck and hid from it. Even held the dog down we were so concerned.

It was approaching overhead and we thought we were about to take a ride anyway, so what the heck, we jumped up and yelled at it and shined the flashlight at it. We said "We're here. Take us with you! We wanna go with you."

It stopped and shot directly into the sky til it looked like another star. A la Steve Martin's album,

"What the hell was that thing?"

Les

NUKE · « **Reply #19 on:** May 24, 2005, 10:54:52 PM »

Leslie, what you saw was a weather balloon

Ack-Ack · « **Reply #20 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:02:05 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Toad
RC-135, way up North of the USSR near the Pole.

Nightime. Big 2 foot ball of St. Elmo's forms on the end of the radome and sits there for a while. Slowly, ever so slowly, it starts rolling towards the windscreen. We're thinking this is pretty cool.

It gets to the center bar dividing the two front cockpit windows and hangs up for a few minutes. Put you finger to the window and spidery lines trace out to your fingertip.

Then it starts to roll inside. Hmmmmmmmmmmm... what's this going to do. Rolls across the glareshield, down over the fire T-handles, drops to the center stand, rolls over the throttles and down the center stand to the floor.

At this point, the Pilots and Navs are all shrunk back away from it as far as possible. It's rolling aft, towards the cockpit door.

We ring up the EWO's (sitting on the other side) of the door on interphone and tell them to watch the bottom of the cockpit door and they'll see something pretty neat.

Ball hits the doors, eases through and disappears on our side. We wait. Nothing from the EWO's. A few minutes pass, EWO calls up and says "what are we looking for?"

The ball just disappeared as it sank into the door. Never showed on their side, didn't see any more St. Elmo's that flight.

Didn't bother the aircraft/instruments/anything as far as we could tell.

FOO FIGHTERS!

ack-ack

Leslie · « **Reply #21 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:16:59 PM »

Could have been a helicopter, but it was completely silent, didn't stir up wind, and the blue star looking object didn't have or display any search beam like lights. It moved too fast for a balloon when it left, unless it had a completely silent jet engine.

It might have been some ball lightning or St. Elmo's Fire.

There had been other sightings of something strange in the area for about three weeks prior to when we saw it.

It was very convincing to us at the time that it might have been other worldly. Made the whole experience more adventurous.

Les

Chairboy · « **Reply #22 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:22:00 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Golfer
Chairboy got his pilot certificate.

Ha!

Enduro · « **Reply #23 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:42:03 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Golfer

After giving some thought I'd like to know this. I've had an autopilot quit on me twice. Both times I was in cruise and both times I was in IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions...clouds for ya non-flyin' types) and rain.
Why do autopilots only die in clouds

I think that's a question for the beneficiaries on your life insurance policy.

NUKE · « **Reply #24 on:** May 24, 2005, 11:47:22 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Leslie
Could have been a helicopter, but it was completely silent, didn't stir up wind, and the blue star looking object didn't have or display any search beam like lights. It moved too fast for a balloon when it left, unless it had a completely silent jet engine.

It might have been some ball lightning or St. Elmo's Fire.

There had been other sightings of something strange in the area for about three weeks prior to when we saw it.

It was very convincing to us at the time that it might have been other worldly. Made the whole experience more adventurous.

Les

I was just teasing you. Seems like the standard answer to things like you saw is to dismiss it as a weather balloon.

Actually I thought it was a good read.

Leslie · « **Reply #25 on:** May 25, 2005, 12:10:49 AM »

Thanks NUKE.

I knew you were teasing. It makes a good story cause that's what I saw. Whatever it was, it scared me ****less.

Gotta remember, those were the days of Close Encounters and Star Wars when they first came out.

Les

cpxxx · « **Reply #26 on:** May 25, 2005, 03:43:46 AM »

Only one thing unexplained. Flying from Jackson TN to Memphis on a severe clear day. Radar told us of contact closing on us below our altitude. We couldn't see anything. It came very close but we saw nothing. It made for a nervous few moments. Maybe it was a glitch on the radar. Who knows.

There was the time we were mistaken for a missile over the Irish Sea and other aircraft were told to take avoiding action.