Posted by bobdezonon 2010/5/26 20:10:00 (553 reads)
Generally, as a rule I dont like the subject of U.F.O.'s. There I said it, and yeah I went there, whatcha gonna do about it? The study of U.F.O.s, like the paranormal has yet to yield a single shred of evidence to support it's numerous and varied claims. It's supporters, or "Ufologists" as they allegedly like to be known, can be every bit as close-minded and rabid as "psychic junkies" in defence of their chosen hobby. They will lay claim almost any aerial phenomena to be Alien in origin, a bit like the Crack-Fox from the Mighty Boosh stealing Naboo's powerful Shaman juice.
Some of the better practitioners (you know who you are) will investigate to the best of their abilities, and are open to collaboration and peer review of their findings. However it would appear that quite a few (you know who you are), are completely unwilling to accept any evidence that is contrary to their original findings.
It can be a very interesting hobby I am sure, and there is nothing inately wrong with being curious about unknown aerial phenomena, and it's potential causes. I am sure Astronomy started off with a similar idea also. It does however annoy me greatly when people settle for the quick and easy answers to these mysteries, instead of studying a little further to determine the truth. A U.F.O. Spacehip, Alien, "insert the imaginary cause here" did it, simply isn't good enough for me (unless of course that is the real reason).
Now that we have covered bad practise, have you heard of the concept of "Journalistic Homeopathy"? It is an article with a microscopic amount of real news, vastly diluted by bullshit, and verified only by anecdotes. This is how The Sun presented this article, in a 200C solution (and probably also available from Boots The Chemist).
Spiral UFO puts Norway in a spin.
By Virginia Wheeler and Vince Soodin.
Quote:
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.
Theories ranging from a misfired Russian missile, meteor fireball, never-before-seen type of northern light, 'black hole' and even alien activity were all proposed.
Witnesses across Norway, who first glimpsed the space show at 8.45am, all described seeing a spinning 'Catherine wheel-style' spiral of white light, centred around a bright moon-like star.
So they jump straight into the lies and halftruths. We have "experts" cited but not named, claiming this is an "entirely new astral phenomenon". Some "unamed source" named this "Star-Gate", and the world's "top scientists" and "the military" claim to be "baffled". I would suggest that if any "real" scientist, or military personel made these quotes, then realistically they should be reassigned to duties befitting their ignorance and credulity.
Quote:
Norway's most celebrated astronomer, Knut Jorgen Roed Odegaard, said he had never seen anything like the spiral before.
Chief Scientist Erik Tandberg, at the Norwegian Space Centre, said that he too was "totally amazed" by the spiral.
This is where they try to create a mystery by quoting "baffled" scientists. When, infact both men suggested the actual cause. The article continues in a similar vein namely CONFUSION! WHAT COULD IT BE? MYSTERIOUS! (actual candidate, shhh! dont read this bit) EVEN MORE CONFUSION, OH GOD MAKE IT STOP!!!.
However my favourite quote was by Nick "It's a mystery" Pope. He is often used as The Sun's trump card in all matters U.F.O. related.
Quote:
Meanwhile, Nick Pope, former UFO analyst for the Ministry of Defence, yesterday added that the Norwegian sighting was a "real mystery". He said: "My first thought was this was a meteor, a fireball, or debris from an old satellite burning up in the earth's atmosphere. "But the spiral motion makes this unlikely. This is truly bizarre. It's a real mystery.
"A meteor or a fireball would simply travel in a straight line but for something to spiral in this way appears to go against the laws of physics. "Some may think it is the Northern Lights but they illuminate the sky with a green glow. "This is completely different from any image of the Northern Lights that I have ever seen.
Now I do not work for the M.O.D. but I know what this is. Perhaps they should have employed people like myself? I am sure that in the long run, would be good value for money. I don't suppose "it's a real mystery" would be a suitable conclusion to a section report for the government, especially if they allocated resources to determine the cause. However, I do agree with Mr Pope that this is bizarre.
Quote:
"It's ironic that something like this should happen the very week after the MoD terminated its UFO project. It just goes to show how wrong that decision was."
Perhaps the reason for it's closure is now self evident Mr Pope?
Now there are many theories as to what caused this phenomena. There have been suggestions of Wormholes/Blackholes caused by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Aliens, U.F.O.s. 2012 related warnings, Laser Projections onto the clouds to mark the Nobel Awards, Portals and First Contact etc, etc, all very silly I'm sure you will agree.
Suprisingly, The "Dail Fail" ran a similar story, except (and It pains me to admit this), was this time, not incredibly dumb (and the title was better). So Kudos to the Mail, and try this sort of thing more often.
The real reason for this phenomena however is quite mundane (although spectacular in appearance). Last week, The Russian Navy contacted the Norwegian Defense, prior to the launch, and warned them they were testing a missle when the next window to launch became available. This is good practise because it does help avoid a flashpoint, and perhap potential war.
The missle in question was the new ICBM codename "Bulava" (NATO designation SS-NX-30), which has been determined by intelligence reports, and journalistic inquiry, to be fraught with technical problems. Infact it has failed 7 of its 13 test launches so far. Chief of the Russian General Staff, General of the Army Nikolai Makarov has previously stated:
Quote:
Production flaws could be to blame for the unsuccessful test launch.
I suspect after this failed launch Nikolai Makarov will be flipping burgers, or perhaps serving borscht in a downtown Moscow Cafe.
This particular missle was probably launched from the TK-208 RFS Dmitri Donskoi, Akula class (NATO designation Typhoon) strategic nuclear powered submarine in the White Sea (northwest off Russia’s coast) It's target is most likely to be the Kura (Klyuchi) Test Range in Kamchatka (57°20'0'N, 161°50'0'E).
This being a potential aerial and shipping hazard, Rocket Station "F" in Archangelsk Russia, posted a navigation warning at 16:54:55 GMT
Quote:
'ROCKET'Station F - F Archangelsk,RUS 2009-12-08 16:54:55 (GMT+0) Signal quality 100 Message number 79 Type A (Nav warning)
ZCZC FA79 031230 UTC DEC 09 COASTAL WARNING ARKHANGELSK 94 SOUTHERN PART WHITE SEA 1.ROCKET LAUNCHING 2300 07 DEC TO 0600 08 DEC 09 DC 0200 TO 0900 10 DEC 0100 TO 0900 NAVIGATION PROHIBITED IN AREA 65-12.6N 036-37.0E 65-37.2N 036-26.0E 66-12.3N 037-19.0E 66-04.0N 037-47.0E 66-03.0N 038-38.0E 66-06.5N 038-55.0E 65-11.0N 037-28.0E 65-12.1N 036-49.5E THEN COASTAL LINE 65-12.2N 036-47.6E 2. CANCEL THIS MESSAGE 101000 DEC= NNNN
It has been reported that the Russian Defence Ministry deny this was a launch of a Bulava missle, and a Moscow news agency quoted the Russian Navy as "denying any rocket launched from the White Sea". The Bulava missle is Russia's newest ICBM, and a lot of time, money and effort have gone into it's production. It's 50% (approx) failure rate must be galling to the Russian military. Russia's military like any other military force in the world (except they now have socks), are quite vocal when something works, but notoriously tight-lipped when something fails. Is this conspiracy? Not really, it is most likely just embarrasment.
The problem is, this test was seen by a lot of people and the world's media, so plausible deniablity is not really an option here. Infact, at the time of writing this article The Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed that a Bulava ballistic missile test had failed.
Quote:
"It has been established ... that the missile's first two stages worked as normal, but there was a technical malfunction at the next, third, stage of the trajectory,"
So there you have it. It was a missle, not anything Extraterrestrial or Paranormal. Will that stop the "tru bleevers" jabbering about how close we came to "insert bullshit here"? Probably not. They will just attach their attention to the next shiny thing that catches their eye. The next time you see an article like this, do a little research for yourself. It's amazing what you might find if you don't fill your mind with a quick and easy answer.
Doug Ellison from unmannedspaceflight.com Posted a very nice explanation of why you see a spiral effect, and the mechanism behind the phenomena, so hat's off to Doug, he saved me quite a bit of time in 3D SMax making a similar mockup.
