Spiral UFO puts Norway in a spin

[L. Coyote]

Source: The Sun

By VIRGINIA WHEELER
and VINCE SOODIN

Published: 09 Dec 2009

A MYSTERIOUS giant spiral of light that dominated the sky over Norway this morning has stunned experts — who believe the space spectacle is an entirely new astral phenomenon.

Thousands of awe-struck Norwegians bombarded the Meteorological Institute to ask what the incredible light — that could be seen in the pre-dawn sky for hundreds of miles — could possibly be.

The phenomenon has been dubbed 'Star-Gate' — as the world's top scientists and the military lined up to admit they were baffled.

Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2764647/Spiral-UFO-puts-Norway-in-a-spin.html

---

Reminiscent of spiral petroglyphs.

[Ineeda]

1. Great pics and explanation of Rachel last night. It was a Russian rocket launch.

not a natural phenomena. It was beautiful and very spooky.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. Well, that's what they TOLD us.

:tinfoilhat:

[surrealAmerican]

40. An out of control ICBM is scary enough.

No tinfoil required.

[azmouse]

2. It was a Russian rocket that went out of control.

Still pretty cool though!

[HeresyLives]

3. If it 'stunned experts' then they're not experts.

Missile test failure, the spiral is the giveaway.

[Deep13]

5. I suppose the missle must have been spinning, then.

That could have been the cause of the failure.

[omega minimo]

6. What causes the spiral?

[greyl]

9. Spiraling. nt

[omega minimo]

14. What cause the greyl?

greyling

[greyl]

37. I don't think that's what my parents called it.

I'll ask 'em right away.

[A HERETIC I AM]

11. Failure of the engines gimbal or control of the gimbal.

Rocket engines generally use a "Gimbal" to control the direction of thrust. If the device controlling them failed or the units failed outright, the thrust the engines are producing could cause all sorts of erratic behavior.



The above .gif is from;

http://exploration.grc.nasa.gov/education/rocket/gimbaled.html

[omega minimo]

12. Wonder why the spiral looked so perfectly regular.

[L. Coyote]

39. "The peculiar spiral shaped light pattern comes from reflection of the sun in the leaking fuel."

posted below

[RaleighNCDUer]

21. And the mome rath's outgabe. nt

[anigbrowl]

26. An imbalance in the rocket output

Say you have 3 rocket nozzles on the bottom of a missile and one is putting out more power than the other two, or you have a single nozzle that's damaged on one side. That's going to give you a kind of corskscrew trajectory, ie a spiral. It's obvious.

[omega minimo]

28. Why is the spiral in the image so even and regular, genius?

:popcorn:

Can you manage for once to not be an ***? "It's obvious." Try putting on your rational beanie.

[SidDithers]

29. Would you expect it to be something other than a regular spiral?...nt

Sid

[omega minimo]

32. Would you expect it to be a remarkably uniform, even spiral?

[SidDithers]

33. Knowing what's causing it, yes...nt

Sid

[anigbrowl]

34. What's remarkable about it?

You seem to assume it should be chaotic and messy. But if the imbalance in the direction of thrust is due to poor configuration (of guidance systems) rather than some unexpected physical flaw (like the rocket nozzle falling to pieces) then yes, a uniform even spiral is what you'd expect. Essentially it's just tracing out a sine wave... http://leebor2.100webspace.net/sine.html

When you're working with big forces such as those of a rocket engine, then you'll get big results. Bear in mind that since a rocket is basically shaped like a tube one direction is as good as another as far as aerodynamics are concerned.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. This is far too regular to be man-made.

Obviously it's a flying saucer with a broken gumbo that's spinning wildly out of control.

[MilesColtrane]

45. They are pissed that we blew up their moon.

[anigbrowl]

31. If the imbalance in the output is consistent, you'll get a regular deviation

When I say it's obvious it's not to be an ass, but because it is obvious to most people (once you know it's a rocket). You could model it with high school math (just add two vectors together), or figure it out from practical experience if you'd ever played with a bottle rocket.

[Lorien]

13. The "balloon" at the end was the givaway to me. I live 40 miles from NASA

and when a rocket is heading away from the mainland it creates a huge "balloon" of light behind it if the sun is low in the sky or just under the horizon. Very weird, but very cool!

[xiamiam]

4. at this point, a blue beam from the skies may be the only thing that can help us..nt

[greyl]

8. That would be alright

"Like Evian and the deep blue sea
You and me got different taste
You like it in the dark but I like a
Blue light
Can you turn on a Blue light
Then cuddle up to me so tight
Just you and me all night
Alright,Blue light
Can you turn on a Blue light
Then everything will be Alright
Oh, Blue light"

-PRN

[omega minimo]

15. Thought maybe it was a visual for Perot's Giant Sucking Sound off planet ...

[Q3JR4]

7. It was a Russian rocket, which makes it an

Identified Flying Object (IFO).


Q3JR4
Not surprising since (even though it has that connotation) "UFO" should not imply any kind of alien origin.

[L. Coyote]

10. How the world reacted before it was an IFO is the news here, I think.

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/12/09/what-was-the-norway-spiral/

Just what created the big blue spiral in the sky over Norway in the early morning hours of Dec. 9, 2009? Time traveling Borgs? Psychedelic aliens? Most likely, it was something much more terrestrial and much more boring. Many reports say it was the failed launch of a Russian rocket, probably a Bulava ICBM, a problem-plagued Russian missile that reportedly had several test launches scheduled. Although Russian officials haven't confirmed this (and in fact one official denied there was any rocket launch in the area) an anonymous Russian military source said it actually was failed launch from a submarine in the White Sea early Wednesday morning.

....... In what seems to confirm a rocket launch, yesterday, a message from NAVTEX was issued message warning airplanes not to fly, and ships not to sail in that area: ......

a researcher at the Tromsø Geophysical Observatory (where they observe auroras) Truls Lynne Hansen is certain that the light was caused by a missile launch. "The missile has probably come out of control and exploded," Hansen was quoted in the Barents Observer. "The peculiar spiral shaped light pattern comes from reflection of the sun in the leaking fuel."

[Richard D]

16. You have to admit . . .

. . . . it looks pretty friggin amazing:

[Warpy]

17. Great shot, but the spiraling in the blue trail

indicates what eventually happened when the flaw opened enough that there was no more forward thrust.

It aint there no mo.

[Ineeda]

24. Gorgeous, but it would freak me out, for sure. n/t

[comrade snarky]

25. Just Beautiful

We get weird looking things in the sky sometimes sitting here on the surface of a sphere, the exhaust looks like it's glowing in the evening sky because up there it's still fully lit by the sun.

It throws perspective off too, it's almost impossible to tell scale or distance in the night sky. That's why the moon looks bigger near the horizon. It's next to something our eyes can use to give it proper scale.

Love that blue trail, though it's probably small comfort to the builders that their rocket made such a cool boom.

[FormerDittoHead]

30. I gotta say, if it was year 0 and you saw this, you'd think something "Godlike" was going on...

Merry Christmas.

Oh, I know that Russian rockets didn't exist back then, you smartass ready to type a reply...

[SoCalDem]

18. Greetings from Planet KMart n.t

[Jeroen]

19. NYT: Russian Missile Fails, Visible In Norway: Reports

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/10/world/international-uk-russia-missile-failure.html?_r=1

Damn...wish it was a UFO

[Freddie Stubbs]

22. Damn Vorlons trying to open a jump point!

;)

[spanone]

23. Russia admits missile caused UFO lights

MOSCOW - Russia admitted on Thursday that its much-touted Bulava intercontinental missile failed another test, after unusual lights were spotted in Norway across the border from the launch site.

The submarine-based Bulava (Mace) missile has been billed as Russia's newest technological breakthrough to support its nuclear deterrent, but the repeated test failures are an embarrassment for the Kremlin.

The missile failed in its 13th test on Wednesday morning, Russia's leading economic dailies Vedomosti and Kommersant reported on Thursday, quoting sources in the military-industrial complex.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34362960/ns/technology_and_science-space/

[anigbrowl]

27. Must be a cover up :-)

[Dover]

35. Did Russia time it to coincide with Obama's trip to Norway?

It was twice-delayed. Originally it was supposed to launch in October, then toward the end of November. And now...they launch it with spectacular results as seen over Norway. Hmmmmm....

[slackmaster]

36. Dry-cleaning bags filled with marsh gas

Or maybe a birthday candle hot-air balloon.

[Octafish]

38. Mass Insanity

Apart from the trace cases... and the radar-visual cases... and the electromagnetic effect cases...and the photo cases...

[tridim]

41. It's not that I don't believe the explanation..

What is stunning to me is that there are apparently NO other photographs of similar phenomenon.

If true, sights like this should be a regular occurrence.

[anigbrowl]

43. Most missile tests take place during daytime

Although there are plenty of pictures of missiles spinning out of control...

[W_HAMILTON]

42. What caused it to look so strange?

I've never seen other missiles look like this. It was a pretty incredible sight. I've never seen a missile create a trail like that, and I've never seen a missile create "darkness" when it blows up, or whatever caused it to make that dark circle that kept enlarging.

[W_HAMILTON]

46. Any answers?

I watched it some more last night, and was still amazed by it. What kind of missile creates a site like that?

[anigbrowl]

47. If it starts spinning outwards from the center...

then as the vapor trail dissipates it will also do so from the center, ergo you get the appearance of a hole in a donut.