UFO Mystery Solved

[fishbait]

Fifteen years ago, I was driving North on I-95 near Fairfax, Virginia just before Midnight when I saw the strangest thing I have ever seen. Traveling West to East, on an apparent horizontal path, was a large, brightly glowing green object which was cigar-shaped and tapering at the rear.

The object, which was visible for at least 5 to 7 seconds, appeared to be several hundred feet in altitude and a mile or so in front of my car. It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline.

It was more than a bit unnerving and so unusual that I pulled off the Interstate to consider what I had seen. This thing looked to me like it was cruising along with a purpose. I wrote down some notes about the incident and made some inquiries to the local newspapers the next day but came up empty.

For 15 years I pondered this event and remained baffled until today. I believe, to a virtual certainty, that I have just now stumbled upon the answer and it's astounding. Well, astounding to me, anyway.

Before I reveal the solution, does anyone care to offer an explanation based on my description?

[Boo]

The Goodyear blimp?




Boo

[fishbait]

The Goodyear blimp?




BooGood guess. It would seem to fit the description except this object traversed the sky in 5 to 7 seconds. Much too fast for a blimp.

Thank you for playing!

[JoeEllison]

Some sort of light... like a traffic light from an odd angle?

Or, my immediate instinctive guess: your mom?

[madurobob]

Iridium flash?

Tho, 15 years may be too long ago...

[fishbait]

Iridium flash?

Tho, 15 years may be too long ago...
Iridium flares are sunlight reflected from the satellite when it changes orientation. My UFO sighting happened around Midnight.

The object I saw didn't flash. It was a steady glowing green object that traveled across my field of view.

[fishbait]

Some sort of light... like a traffic light from an odd angle?

I had seriously considered the roadside light possibility given that I was viewing the thing through a curved windshield with a green sun filter in the upper portion of the glass.

I discounted this when I recreated the scene at the same time and location to test the possibility. There were no roadside lights on that portion of the Interstate.Or, my immediate instinctive guess: your mom?Nope. Mom's not green.

[madurobob]

Iridium flares are sunlight reflected from the satellite when it changes orientation. My UFO sighting happened around Midnight.

The object I saw didn't flash. It was a steady glowing green object that traveled across my field of view.

Right - not likely at midnight. But, they can happen after sunset and the satellites can reflect a beam of light that crosses the sky quickly and is reflected in the clouds.

The real killer is the date... I think the first Iridium satellite was launched in 1999. Well after your "encounter".

So, I guess I have to fall back on.... swamp gas!

No, really, your description of cigar shaped, quick movement, tapered at the end sounds a lot like a beam of light reflected off a high cloud ceiling. Joe went with a terrestrial source, I went with a more heavenly source. Was it not light reflected off clouds?

[fishbait]

Was it not light reflected off clouds?I made notes after the sighting, which I still have, and noted that the sky conditions were "CAVU" so, no clouds. However, the temperature and dewpoint were within 2 degrees indicating that the air was saturated with moisture.

[krelnik]

How about an Army helicopter coming into to land at Fort Belvoir, which is right next to I-95 near Fairfax? The lights from the road may have slightly illuminated the paint on the chopper, creating the illusion of a glow.

[madurobob]

Was it a Monday night?

I suggest it was moonlight reflected off the odd mix of chemicals released into the atmosphere from the collective sigh of 70K Redskins fans as their team lost yet another Monday Night Football appearance.

[fishbait]

How about an Army helicopter coming into to land at Fort Belvoir, which is right next to I-95 near Fairfax? The lights from the road may have slightly illuminated the paint on the chopper, creating the illusion of a glow.That's a well thought-out idea. However, I'm very familiar with military helicopters having been a Crew Chief on a UH-1C gunship in Viet Nam.

At the time of the sighting in October of 1992, I was working as a commercial pilot for a private corporation and was very familiar with all types of aircraft.

Although the sighting had no connection to the several military and civilian airfields in the area, the location and precise time of the sighting was the key to unraveling the mystery.

[madurobob]

Seriously - Monday, October 12th, 1992?

(ETA: because I really want this to be somehow related to football)

[fishbait]

Was it a Monday night?

I suggest it was moonlight reflected off the odd mix of chemicals released into the atmosphere from the collective sigh of 70K Redskins fans as their team lost yet another Monday Night Football appearance.It was a moonless Friday night. Skins were 9-7-0 that year after beating Buffalo in Superbowl XXVI in 91.

[krelnik]

I thought briefly it might have been the aurora borealis, but google doesn't find much evidence of aurorae that far south near the end of 1992.

On second thought, was the event on 29 September 1992 (https://listserv.unb.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9209&L=canspace&T=0&P=10985)?

ETA: Oh, that was a Tuesday and now you've said Friday.

[fishbait]

Seriously - Monday, October 12th, 1992?

(ETA: because I really want this to be somehow related to football)Alas, Friday, October 9, 1992.

However, the object could loosly be described as sort of an elongated, glowing green football-like shaped object sort of kinda without laces or NFL logo. Maybe.

[fishbait]

I thought briefly it might have been the aurora borealis, but google doesn't find much evidence of aurorae that far south near the end of 1992.

On second thought, was the event on 29 September 1992 (https://listserv.unb.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9209&L=canspace&T=0&P=10985)?

ETA: Oh, that was a Tuesday and now you've said Friday.Good one! The aurora never occurred to me. After checking some images of the aurora borealis, I see the green color was quite close to the color I saw but not nearly as bright.

What I saw was nearly as intense as a full Moon, though the night was moonless.

[madurobob]

OK, I'm left with only one other explanation and its one you would have recognized immediately given your background.

I have seen rockets fire at night and leave a pretty blue-green football-shaped flame behind them. I have occasionally seen jets under heavy acceleration do something similar.

Since I'm stumped, I await your revelation!

[Starrman]

Was it something that was actually reflected from the inside of your car? I once thought I saw a UFO, only to realize that a light from my cell phone was being reflected in the window of the car.

[krelnik]

Alas, Friday, October 9, 1992.

However, the object could loosly be described as sort of an elongated, glowing green football-like shaped object sort of kinda without laces or NFL logo. Maybe.

It was the fireball associated with the Peerskill, New York meteorite (http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znppeekskill.html) that happened that day. (Or another fireball from the same meteor shower).

What do I win?

[drapier]

OK, I'm left with only one other explanation and its one you would have recognized immediately given your background.

I have seen rockets fire at night and leave a pretty blue-green football-shaped flame behind them. I have occasionally seen jets under heavy acceleration do something similar.

Since I'm stumped, I await your revelation!

This is what I was thinking. Once while visiting my parents in New Jersey, I saw a large blue-green ball in the sky. I found out later that it was some sort of rocket launched from Virginia. At least that's what I remember. I thought my experience was from about 20 years ago.

[fishbait]

It was the fireball associated with the Peerskill, New York meteorite (http://www.meteoritearticles.com/znppeekskill.html) that happened that day.

What do I win?We have a winner!! I was hoping for some more interesting suggestions based on the description but you won fair and square. You win my unflagging admiration for your superior ability to Google a date!:p

The astounding part of this is the 15 year mystery being solved when I happened to see the "Peekskill Fireball" mentioned in this issue of eSkeptic. Just out of general interest, I Googled Peekskill Fireball and viewed some of the fantastic videos which looked strangely familiar. More research revealed the exact trajectory, date, and time of the meteor. I dug through a lot of old personal papers and found the notes I had made that night and everything matched. Case solved!

Take a look at the 16 videos that were taken of the meteor (http://aquarid.physics.uwo.ca/~pbrown/Videos/peekskill.htm)from various locations along the NorthEast U.S. and pictures of the Chevy Malibu that was struck by the meteorite in a driveway in Peekskill, New York.

This revelation makes my one and only UFO story much more interesting now that it is solved.

[TX50]

So one of the few UFO sightings that actually did involve a visitor from
outer space.

[fishbait]

So one of the few UFO sightings that actually did involve a visitor from
outer space.Yep. The chunk that landed on the car in Peekskill was described as looking like "a loaf of pumpernickel bread". No doubt from some cosmic deli in the Pastrami nebulae.:p

[JoeEllison]

The Peekskill meteorite?

[fishbait]

So one of the few UFO sightings that actually did involve a visitor from
outer space.Yep. The chunk that landed on the car (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061119.html)in Peekskill was described as looking like "a loaf of pumpernickel bread (http://uregina.ca/~astro/mb_5.html)". No doubt from some cosmic deli in the Pastrami nebulae.:p

[Alice Shortcake]

Yep. The chunk that landed on the car in Peekskill was described as looking like "a loaf of pumpernickel bread". No doubt from some cosmic deli in the Pastrami nebulae.:p

A message from the FSM? :jaw-dropp

[fishbait]

The Peekskill meteorite?That's the one.

Another interesting thing about this meteor business is that my home is located on top of another meteor impact site.

Panther Mountain Meteor Crater (http://www.catskillcenter.org/panther/)
One of the oldest visible craters on the Earth is located in New York's Catskill Mountains, only 150 kilometers (100 miles) from New York City.

[Skeptic Guy]

Now this is how a critical thinker does it! Instead of seeing something that couldn't immediately be identified and jumping to the conclusion that it was "one of them", you did some research and came up with a rational explanation. I love it! If only the Hills were still alive.

[Paulhoff]

The object, which was visible for at least 5 to 7 seconds, appeared to be several hundred feet in altitude and a mile or so in front of my car. It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline.
So, you don't know what is was but, you know its altitude and its distance, HOW.

Paul

:) :) :)

[fishbait]

So, you don't know what is was but, you know its altitude and its distance, HOW.

Paul

:) :) :)Good question. My description says the object appeared to be this altitude and distance. That was my best estimate at the time under those conditions based on prior experience observing aircraft at known altitudes and distances in airport traffic patterns. Obviously, my guess was grossly under-estimated which serves to illustrate how mistaken even an experienced observer can be under those conditions.

Interesting to note that in my flying career, I more than once took evasive action to avoid a collision with the planet Venus. On a crystal clear night, while flying above the ever present haze layer at 3000 feet above ground level, Venus is so big and bright in the evening sky that it is regularly identified as a landing light from a nearby aircraft.

[Starthinker]

Didn't that car get a high price at an auction?

[fishbait]

Didn't that car get a high price at an auction?1985 Chevy Malibu I think. It went on world tour and was then auctioned for 10 grand.

[Explorer]

Fishbait

You said

"It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline."

No disrespect intended, and this will seem arrogant I know, but having seen the videos, my first reaction would have been that it was most certainly a meteorite falling through our atmosphere. It has no characteristics of being a "craft" of any kind. It looks like a fiery ball that is disintegrating with bits dropping off behind as it breaks up. I have seen many of these in England and in Europe. Superb videos, by the way!

[Reeco]

The Peekskill meteorite?

Is that your guitar in your avatar? Looks like a beauty.

[Starrman]

Fishbait

You said

"It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline."

No disrespect intended, and this will seem arrogant I know, but having seen the videos, my first reaction would have been that it was most certainly a meteorite falling through our atmosphere. It has no characteristics of being a "craft" of any kind. It looks like a fiery ball that is disintegrating with bits dropping off behind as it breaks up. I have seen many of these in England and in Europe. Superb videos, by the way!

I disagree with your disagreement. :)

Looking at the Newbury, Ohio video - it does look like something other than a meteor during the inititial seconds, before it starts breaking apart.

http://aquarid.physics.uwo.ca/~pbrown/Videos/peekskill.htm

[Patricio Elicer]

Fishbait

You said

"It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline."

No disrespect intended, and this will seem arrogant I know, but having seen the videos, my first reaction would have been that it was most certainly a meteorite falling through our atmosphere. It has no characteristics of being a "craft" of any kind. It looks like a fiery ball that is disintegrating with bits dropping off behind as it breaks up. I have seen many of these in England and in Europe. Superb videos, by the way!


I agree in principle, seems clear on all videos that it is a meteorite. But let's not forget that ours is an "after the fact" assessment, and that Fishabait witnessed an unexpected and very short-duration phenomenon.

This is another example of how fallible an eyewitness testimony can be.

[fishbait]

Fishbait

You said

"It appeared to be a craft of some type although it did not have a sharply defined outline."

No disrespect intended, and this will seem arrogant I know, but having seen the videos, my first reaction would have been that it was most certainly a meteorite falling through our atmosphere. It has no characteristics of being a "craft" of any kind. It looks like a fiery ball that is disintegrating with bits dropping off behind as it breaks up. I have seen many of these in England and in Europe. Superb videos, by the way!Good point. I had the same reservations as you initially. Further research indicate some facts which account the inconsistencies.

This video, taken at Anne Arundel County, Maryland (http://aquarid.physics.uwo.ca/~pbrown/Videos/Peekskill/Peekskill_AnnMA.mpg), NorthEast of my position show that the fragmentation took place after the main fireball crossed my location. The map below, from this site (http://uregina.ca/~astro/mb_5.html), shows the track of the meteor. My location was a few miles West of Alexandria, Virginia. The video I am referencing was taken several miles NorthEast of Alexandria.
http://uregina.ca/~astro/Peek_path.JPG
The object in the Maryland video appear to be what I saw with the exception of the tail. The absence of the tail in my observation may possibly be explained by the fact that I viewed the object through the upper portion of my car windshield which was tinted green as a Sunshield.

[kittynh]

too cool!

So you weren't visited by the men in black?

No probing?

Oddly I am one of the few people that has seen swamp gas (on the Eastern Shore of Maryland) and lit up by my car headlights its pretty darn cool. But not a UFO type cool, just a ghost type cool.

[fishbait]

Is that your guitar in your avatar? Looks like a beauty.That's my blues guru in the avatar. The great Reverand Gary Davis. Not sure what the guitar is but he played a big honking Guild often.

BTW, I'm retired now and building guitars at my shop up on Panther Mountain which is, coincidentally, a confirmed ancient meteor impact site.

[fishbait]

As an experiment, I'm going to try to find out the specs on the windshield tint for the type of car I was driving, get a filter of the same specs , and view the several videos of the meteor. Could be interesting.

[sthomson]

Interesting.

You know, "cigar-shaped" UFOs are pretty regularly reported. I honestly never thought of "fireball from a meteor" as an explaination. (although sometimes, those cigar-shaped UFOs are said to be travelling slowly, not quickly).

[fishbait]

Interesting.

You know, "cigar-shaped" UFOs are pretty regularly reported. I honestly never thought of "fireball from a meteor" as an explanation. (although sometimes, those cigar-shaped UFOs are said to be traveling slowly, not quickly).I'm aware of the "cigar-shaped" descriptions frequently found in UFO reports. My description is based more on the notes I took at the time than on my memory. My notes say "cigar-shaped" but my choice of this term at the time is suspect, or seems so to me now. I had read a few Project Blue Book books years before and perhaps the term sort of stuck.

As for speed of the object, my prior experience observing meteors was limited to the occasional "shooting star" variety which seem to zip across the sky in a second. As can be seen from the several videos, this meteor was moving at what could be by comparison a relatively leisurely pace. I recall thinking at the time that the object seemed to be "cruising" along at a constant altitude; something I had never seen a meteor do. I had the distinct impression this object was on a purposeful track. Based on all that I saw at the time, a meteor fireball did not occur to me.

[UnrepentantSinner]

Now this is how a critical thinker does it! Instead of seeing something that couldn't immediately be identified and jumping to the conclusion that it was "one of them", you did some research and came up with a rational explanation. I love it! If only the Hills were still alive.

I did the same thing myself when I saw a magnificent Iridium flare.
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=89754

Fishbait, working nights and being a smoker I'm outside all the time and see meteorites at least monthly, but I've never seen one that actually struck. All of my sightings have burned out in the atmosphere, though there was one which lasted a couple of seconds and my mind immidiately turned to the dinosaurs. :)

[fishbait]

I did the same thing myself when I saw a magnificent Iridium flare.
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=89754

Fishbait, working nights and being a smoker I'm outside all the time and see meteorites at least monthly, but I've never seen one that actually struck. All of my sightings have burned out in the atmosphere, though there was one which lasted a couple of seconds and my mind immediately turned to the dinosaurs. :)I recall reading that thread. I was interested because I've tried to see Iridium flares from published pre-determined locations without success.

Your mentioning being a smoker brings up an interesting thought; a correlation between smoking and UFO sightings! Since smoking is now banned in most bars and restaurants forcing us hard-core smokers (yes, I'm one) outside like second-class citizens, there would be more smokers than non-smokers reporting UFO sightings due to time outside at night.:D

[UnrepentantSinner]

I recall reading that thread. I was interested because I've tried to see Iridium flares from published pre-determined locations without success.

From the description, you can see it was a 1 in a million lucky shot for me.

Your mentioning being a smoker brings up an interesting thought; a correlation between smoking and UFO sightings! Since smoking is now banned in most bars and restaurants forcing us hard-core smokers (yes, I'm one) outside like second-class citizens, there would be more smokers than non-smokers reporting UFO sightings due to time outside at night.:D

That raises another interesting variable - whether, despite the nights being longer, there are more sightings by smokers going outside during the summer because it's too damn cold to linger and stargaze during the winter.

[fishbait]

too cool!

So you weren't visited by the men in black?


.No MIB.:cool:
No probing?
No probe.

Nothing extraordinary.

However, I was distracted by the meteor so much that I almost runned over the Bigfoot on the side of the road. :boggled:

[Skibum]

Fifteen years ago, I was driving North on I-95 near Fairfax, Virginia just before Midnight when I saw the strangest thing I have ever seen. Traveling West to East, on an apparent horizontal path, was a large, brightly glowing green object which was cigar-shaped and tapering at the rear.



I saw the same meteorite, I was coming back to Fredericksburg from UVA after dropping a patient off.


Less than a week ago I saw another green meteorite, though it was nowhere near as bright.

[Elphaba]

My first thoughts were: something shot off from Wallops... or aurora: there were aurora watches put out that weekend... seems that activity was going on at least 24 hours before the 10/9/92 watch was posted. But nothing indicates that our area (VA/DC/DC) would have been in the viewable range. Then you have the annual Draconid meteor shower... it peaks along that 8th & 9th of October, annually. It's one of those kind of hit-and-miss meteor showers that doesn't get a whole lot of attention because some years it makes a showing (low-key in nature)... some years it doesn't.

Link to the Aurora Watch bulletin for 10/9/92:
https://listserv.unb.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9210&L=canspace&T=0&P=3915

[fishbait]

My first thoughts were: something shot off from Wallops... or aurora: there were aurora watches put out that weekend...

Link to the Aurora Watch bulletin for 10/9/92:
https://listserv.unb.ca/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9210&L=canspace&T=0&P=3915
Thanks for the link. It's amazing how much information is available with a simple mouse click.

That so many people still persist in magical thinking with this vast repository of facts and knowledge is a disgrace.

[fishbait]

I saw the same meteorite, I was coming back to Fredericksburg from UVA after dropping a patient off.


You were close to my location then. Did you see it before or after it had fragmented? What were your impressions of the observation?

[The Bad Astronomer]

A few years ago I gave my Bad Astronomy talk at a museum in Pittsburgh. I showed the video of the Peekskill meteor, and a lot of folks in the audience immediately perked up. They had seen it themselves! That was the first time that had ever happened to me. Pretty cool.

[Skibum]

You were close to my location then.

Fairly close, I suppose, about 75 miles.

Did you see it before or after it had fragmented?

I think I caught a glimpse of it before fragmenting, but I'm not 100 percent certain.


What were your impressions of the observation?
I was fairly certain it was a meteor as soon as I saw it. i didn't realize it hit a car though, I figured if it landed it would have landed in the ocean.

[fishbait]

A few years ago I gave my Bad Astronomy talk at a museum in Pittsburgh. I showed the video of the Peekskill meteor, and a lot of folks in the audience immediately perked up. They had seen it themselves! That was the first time that had ever happened to me. Pretty cool.Thanks for checking in Phil. Since I solved my 15 year mystery, I've mentioned the Peekskill Fireball to several long time residents of the Hudson Valley. Strangely, no one remembers it except a vague recollection of a car getting pranged over in Peekskill.