Photo #1a
Photo #1b (zoom) - I have to say, this one looks very like the first close-up from the previous sighting
Photo #1c (detail with enhanced contrast)
At lunchtime I went out for my walk/cloud hunt as usual. There were no clouds to speak of, although the sky was slightly misty. Still, I had my camera with me and I scanned the heavens hopefully. As I turned my gaze toward the southwest, I saw this shiny object flying at a fairly leisurely pace from left to right, seemingly not so far away. I did not hear any engine noise, but it did look very like a helicopter or perhaps a small airplane -- meaning it was elongate rather than round, and had a big front end and a thin little back end (more about this later).
This time, however, I did not hesitate to photograph it, just in case -- even though I was even more certain than I was the last time that this was a conventional aircraft. I should note here that the glare of the noonday sun and the smallness of the object conspired to prevent me from actually seeing the object in the LCD screen of the camera -- I had to judge the location of the target blindly, in relation to the condensation trail next to it; which is why I didn't zoom in any closer than a couple of clicks. I snapped off three shots, then lowered the camera to try and re-orient myself by sight, but by then the object was nowhere to be found.
This was odd, because at the rate the object was moving it would have required a much longer period of time to simply fly out of sight. And it could not have gone behind a cloud, because there were no clouds. The inevitable conclusion: it disappeared by some other means. In fact, photo #3 seems to show the object in the process of vanishing. Yes, that sounds weird.
When I checked the images in the in-camera review mode, I could not see the object. I was severely disappointed, but I figured the blind zooming caused me to lose my bearings, too bad. Still, I came home and downloaded the photos anyway, and well -- imagine my delight!
NOTE: Again, I strongly advise you to EXPAND these images for viewing
Photo #2a (zoom)
Photo #2b (zoom 2)
Photo #2c (detail with enhanced contrast)
Photo #3a
Photo #3b (zoom)
Photo #3c (enhanced close-up) - Looks like the object is kind of fading out here -- it's quite faint and the upper half of the 'outer ring' is gone -- but what the Sam Hill is that dark quadrangle next to it (just barely visible in the un-enhanced photo above)? Is it just a graphic artifact? It has the shape of a doorway or window; but it couldn't possibly be that, could it? That would literally be cartoony, like Wyle E. Coyote painting a tunnel on a boulder... yet that's just what it looks like. Or maybe that 2-D flying diamond thingy from the original Superman movie, that General Whatsisname -- Zod? -- and his cohorts were locked up in. Weird and preposterous... and Looney Tunes.
One thing I find strange is the fact that to my naked-eye vision the object had an elongate shape, yet the photos show a discoid or lenticular object. On the other hand, it looks like it could very well be the same shape as the previous UFO -- maybe even the very same object!
I am aware that reporting this sighting will probably cause some people to react negatively; after all, I imagine it's highly unusual for someone to make two UFO sighting reports, within a few weeks' time too, and involving what could be the same object -- I've already had a number of people insist that it must be a distant airplane or a speck of dust in front of the lens, or just laugh the whole thing off without even expressing curiosity(!). Yet I choose to disregard the prospect of doubt, ridicule and perhaps accusations of fraud, because everything I stated above is true, and I sincerely believe that UFOs represent a true, unexplained phenomenon that deserves to be investigated with the same dignity and curiosity scientists apply to other subjects.
P.S. I just realized that the appearance of this object follows the same pattern as that in the previous incident: in the first photo it appears as a bull's-eye shape (maybe a core surrounded by some kind of aura?), then it is seen as a fat discoid or shallow cone, followed by abrupt disappearance. Just a coicidence? I guess it must be...
EDIT: It is now the evening of April 8, three days later, and I have just uploaded photo #2c. While enhancing the image for better viewing, I noticed that there is what looks very like the beginning of the 'dark quadrangle' which is more clearly seen in photo #3c. It is in the same position relative to the object (which means it has moved with the object -- which implies that the object is its source), but the earlier version is smaller and less distinct, and its shape is not unlike that of the object itself, almost as if it were the object's shadow. Does this mean the dark quadrangle is really a kind of graphic artifact? My answer is no, since in photo #3c it does not resemble the object at all. What it does suggest, however, is that the dark quadrangle was caught in the process of forming. So first, the object is clearly seen and the dark quandrangle is small and faint (#2c), seemingly in the process of forming; then in the next photo (#3c), the relationship is reversed; the dark quadrangle has grown larger and more distinct, seemingly having formed more fully, while the object has become smaller and fainter, seemingly in the process of disappearing.
What this could possibly mean I cannot say, but it certainly is intriguing.
*
*
*
No comments:
Post a Comment