Wednesday, November 16, 2022

More UFOs explained (so it seems)

I recently posted about some pilot sightings of so called "racetrack" UFO lights - lights which were distant, high, and seemed to circle around each other.   

However, that Mick West, who debunked some of the famous military recorded videos, has identified these sightings are almost certainly satellite flares from Starlink.   I think the idea is also that the "racetrack" aspect (of them seeming to move around each other) is a misidentification of separate satellites moving in different paths - so that one fades, and then a new one turns up in the other direction, but it's not the same satellite changing paths (in the way that satellites don't move). 

I think this is a pretty plausible explanation - the problem being that Starlink is really filling the sky with so many satellites it is easier than ever to see them crossing paths, flaring, etc.

However, if there was a pilot sighting (and video) which definitely did show one apparent satellite doing a substantial change of course (without fading first), that would be different.   I am not sure that we have that currently, though.

I should also add that one reason I found these reports interesting was because they sparked a memory of a subtle UFO report that I probably read about in one of J Allan Hynek's books, and dates back to perhaps the 1960's or 1970's.  It involved, (as far as I can recall) a star gazer seeing two high altitude lights which he assume were two satellites, but which then abruptly changed path and started silently circling each other - really ruling out the satellite explanation.  I think they were watched for some time, too.  Of course, high altitude aircraft might do something similar, but they really did just look like satellites until their path changed, making it a pretty peculiar sighting.  (I mean, aircraft lights also usually are going to be flashing, and not be constant like a satellite.)

Anyway, here's the Mick West video:

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