*
*
[Post begins]
ANOTHER ODD LITTLE THINGY IN THE SKIES OVER DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA
Possibly. Or it might be just an unusual kind of kite, or maybe even some balloons tied together; however, I don't think either of those possibilities is likely at all, for reasons stated below.
Today I went out for my afternoon walk as usual; almost as soon as I stepped outside the front door I saw this object or group of objects making somewhat erratic tracks in the sky to the northeast (click on image to enlarge):
Here's a close-up detail:
Another shot, followed by a close-up:
The photo below is what convinced me this is not a fancy kite or a bunch of balloons: the closeup clearly shows the topmost of the three objects has changed its shape dramatically; all three were round before -- now one has metamorphosed into a thin line segment; it also seems to be longer, although that isn't quite clear.
One might propose that it is perhaps a flat disc (as it would be if it were part of a three-part kite) that has turned sideways and is now presenting a profile view; but in that case how could the strange condition of one part of a kite having made a full 90-degree turn while the rest have not turned at all (that is, still facing me more or less full-on) be explained? -- three discs joined together as a kite would catch the wind in the same way and turn as a unit; and even if one were partly disconnected and turning haphazardly, it would be just plain odd for three ordinary discs, randomly blown about by the wind, to present only either a perfect profile or a full-on view to someone observing from a particular spot on the ground -- (although not impossible in principal). O.K., I just reminded myself of last year's 'Most Amazing Photo (Shot Out of a Toilet Window)' post (August 16, 2010).
Another argument against the 'kite-hypothesis' is that a kite consisting of three discs would normally have them stacked one on top of the other, not arranged as the corners of a triangle (however, I confess this objection may simply reflect my ignorance of the subject, since I know next to nothing about kite-making).
And of course, a balloon would not deflate to a straight, flat board and then re-inflate to a spheroid. The conclusion? This is neither a kite nor a group of balloons.
And another thing: why the constant change in illumination level from photo to photo? They all started out equally bright (at least when I first snapped them), but in the closeup below, for example, the leftmost object is a good deal dimmer than the other two. To my eyes it certainly looks like a change in intrinsic brightness, not in external lighting conditions (I mean, what could be up there to selectively shade those things?) -- in other words, they were flashing on and off.
And here is the last of the clear shots:
I kept the object in sight for a good minute and a half or so, until it literally disappeared into the distance. It retreated fairly quickly (which probably means that if I had come out even a single minute earlier, I probably would have been able to snap some really good shots, dang!) and the later photos don't show anything but a vague little spot, so the four posted here are the best of the lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment