B Star like object travels in a zigzagging pattern relative to other stars

[lbiskupec]

I have a question that must have logical answer and I just cant find one online.

Yesterday, around 11 P.M. me and my wife was sitting on our porch talking and casually watching the sky.
Suddenly, our attention was caught by a star like object that was traveling towards east.
Speed was like any satellite would have but it was ZIGZAGGING.
Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended. At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

I found a lot of testimonies about similar sightings but not a single one clarification.

I can explain sudden increase in brightness (probably increased reflection due to change of position) and fading (traveling east object moved into a sun shadow - high altitude object) but i just cant explain zigzagging.
I've found some explanations that states it is an optical illusion caused by eye-tracking or atmospheric effects but there is a problem with this explanation. Object was zigzagging relative to other stars.
Only object that can zigzag would be a drone, but no drone can zigzag instantly like that. It looked like it was jumping.

 

[Drakkith]

There's no telling what this is. I've seen many similar phenomena that ended up being an optical illusion, reflections off of some object, fireworks, drones, balloons, floating debris, etc. We had one several years back that ended up being the reflections of chandeliers off of glass. For every observation there's a thousand possibilities.

 

[Baluncore]

How long did you watch it for?
How many times did it jump instantly sideways while you were watching?
Were the jumps random or regular, every how many seconds?
Were the jumps all the same step size?

Were you looking through a window or a screen?
Do you have fireflies in your area?
Are you in a war zone, or where an aircraft might have dropped flare decoys?

 

[Nik_2213]

I'm 'situate' under glide-path for local airport when prevailing wind is 'not the usual'.
Big aircraft have remarkably bright landing lights with very narrow beam. Their apparent source position will 'jump around' disproportionately as attitude shifts minutely. IIRC, is similar optical illusion to how quasars appear to be FTL.....

 

[Ken_S]

I have a question that must have logical answer and I just cant find one online.

Yesterday, around 11 P.M. me and my wife was sitting on our porch talking and casually watching the sky.
Suddenly, our attention was caught by a star like object that was traveling towards east.
Speed was like any satellite would have but it was ZIGZAGGING.
Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended. At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

I found a lot of testimonies about similar sightings but not a single one clarification.

I can explain sudden increase in brightness (probably increased reflection due to change of position) and fading (traveling east object moved into a sun shadow - high altitude object) but i just cant explain zigzagging.
I've found some explanations that states it is an optical illusion caused by eye-tracking or atmospheric effects but there is a problem with this explanation. Object was zigzagging relative to other stars.
Only object that can zigzag would be a drone, but no drone can zigzag instantly like that. It looked like it was jumping.

I have seen StarLink, ISS, and other satellites that “appear” to do that. Look up autokinesis. Easy way to verify that they are not zig zagging is use a tripod to take a video. You will see it is traveling a straight line.

 

[lbiskupec]

How long did you watch it for?
How many times did it jump instantly sideways while you were watching?
Were the jumps random or regular, every how many seconds?
Were the jumps all the same step size?

Were you looking through a window or a screen?
Do you have fireflies in your area?
Are you in a war zone, or where an aircraft might have dropped flare decoys?

- for about 30 sec
- about 10 times (at first it was traveling in a straight line)
- regular every 1 sec
- yes, same steps
- we were watching with our naked eye (2 persons)
- definitely not a firefly
- not a war zone

 

[pinball1970]

- for about 30 sec
- about 10 times (at first it was traveling in a straight line)
- regular every 1 sec
- yes, same steps
- we were watching with our naked eye (2 persons)
- definitely not a firefly
- not a war zone

My friend recorded an hour of footage 11pm ish Thursday from his balcony in Manchester.
About 6 separate videos.
One light moving around then splitting up and coming back together and changing colours.
We were thinking lasers as they have gigs in Manchester at this time. Manchester City ground, Heaton Park.
We are checking if any events or other sightings.

 

[Baluncore]

Are there any above-ground wires in your vicinity?
Headlights from vehicles can reflect from cylindrical power lines.

 

[lbiskupec]

There's no telling what this is. I've seen many similar phenomena that ended up being an optical illusion, reflections off of some object, fireworks, drones, balloons, floating debris, etc. We had one several years back that ended up being the reflections of chandeliers off of glass. For every observation there's a thousand possibilities.

Far-fetched but i’m leaning towards drone. Alternating navigational lights would produce zigzagging effect.

 

[MidgetDwarf]

UFO!!!

 

[DaveC426913]

Far-fetched but i’m leaning towards drone. Alternating navigational lights would produce zigzagging effect.

Interesting theory. Why not simply a plane then?

Width of your thumb is about 2 degrees, or 4x the apparent width of the Moon.
A 2 foot craft would appear that size at 20 yards.
A 20 foot craft would appear that size at 200 yards.
A 200 foot craft would appear that size at 2000 yards.
https://www.calculator.net/triangle...0&vy=200&va=&vz=&vb=&angleunits=d&x=Calculate

I'd say all of these raise the question of why you didn't hear an engine.



Note that this theory re-opens the question of the drastic increase in brightness and the fading away. (A change in orientation shouldn't cause this to happen - the whole point of omnidirectional navigational lights is to be easily visible from anywhere in the appropriate quadrant - although it's still conceivable.)



Anyway, in retrospect, would you say what you saw was a light(s) was alternating from side-to-side, as opposed to travelling from side-to-side?


I ask because I am currently involved in some UAP analysis elseweb, and optical illusions are always of interest.

 

[Tom.G]

Around a year ago, I was visiting a neighbor on his patio. He exclaimed "look at that!" and pointed to the sky. He was rather emphatic that he had spotted a UFO.

To me it looked like a police helicopter with its Search Light on, circling over the central city about four miles away.

Biases and Limited Data → Unreliable Conclusions

 

[lbiskupec]

Interesting theory. Why not simply a plane then?

Width of your thumb is about 2 degrees, or 4x the apparent width of the Moon.
A 2 foot craft would appear that size at 20 yards.
A 20 foot craft would appear that size at 200 yards.
A 200 foot craft would appear that size at 2000 yards.
https://www.calculator.net/triangle...0&vy=200&va=&vz=&vb=&angleunits=d&x=Calculate

I'd say all of these raise the question of why you didn't hear an engine.



Note that this theory re-opens the question of the drastic increase in brightness and the fading away. (A change in orientation shouldn't cause this to happen - the whole point of omnidirectional navigational lights is to be easily visible from anywhere in the appropriate quadrant - although it's still conceivable.)



Anyway, in retrospect, would you say what you saw was a light(s) was alternating from side-to-side, as opposed to travelling from side-to-side?


I ask because I am currently involved in some UAP analysis elseweb, and optical illusions are always of interest.

Yeah. I'm grasping at straws with drone theory.
UFO/UAP can be anything not yet explained. But, in general, it is associated with aliens.
That I will eventually accept only when I max-out on all of the earthly options.

Planes have rules and standards when it comes to navigational lights. There should be one red and one green on the tip of the wings. And a high-beam on landing (landing light).
Those were both white/yellowish.

As for the drone:
we are living directly on the approach path for the major airport.
During the summer season there is a plane landing every each minute. They all have standard navigational lights.
As an air transportation engineer by education, and software developer by profession I should be able to recognize a plane and should not have trouble with logic.
To send a drone directly on the approach path of a major airport would be insane. A few days ago an idiot scrambled a drone to shoot a video of a Canadairs putting off a forest fire and ended up in jail.

If it was a high altitude drone, as it should be to produce fade-out effect going east (shadow of the sun) and have zigzagging amplitude like that, it should be of size of the football field. Or even lager.

To repeat:
- Observed by 2 persons by naked eye.
- No glass/windows, no monoculars or telescopes, no swinging chandeliers, no fireflies, no flares, no baloons… Just naked eye.
- The rest of the stars were very polite. They stood still while that thing was zigzagging.
- No egine sound
This is a PhysicsForum. Not the Conspiracy Theories Forum.

 

[DaveC426913]

UFO/UAP can be anything not yet explained. But, in general, it is associated with aliens.
...
This is a PhysicsForum. Not the Conspiracy Theories Forum.

Indeed. In case I wasn't clear, my involvement is in dismantling such outlandish claims with careful analysis and critical thinking. I'm a skeptic, not an enthusiast.

 

[DaveC426913]

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/727834-slow-moving-blinking-satellite/

Perhaps it was two of these MEOs side-by-side? That's quite a stretch though. The timing and proximity would have to be implausibly coincidental.

 

[Higgs Boson]

I have a question that must have logical answer and I just cant find one online.

Yesterday, around 11 P.M. me and my wife was sitting on our porch talking and casually watching the sky.
Suddenly, our attention was caught by a star like object that was traveling towards east.
Speed was like any satellite would have but it was ZIGZAGGING.
Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended. At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

I found a lot of testimonies about similar sightings but not a single one clarification.

I can explain sudden increase in brightness (probably increased reflection due to change of position) and fading (traveling east object moved into a sun shadow - high altitude object) but i just cant explain zigzagging.
I've found some explanations that states it is an optical illusion caused by eye-tracking or atmospheric effects but there is a problem with this explanation. Object was zigzagging relative to other stars.
Only object that can zigzag would be a drone, but no drone can zigzag instantly like that. It looked like it was jumping.

Cataracts ;)

Been there, seen that.

 

[russ_watters]

To me it looked like a police helicopter with its Search Light on, circling over the central city about four miles away.

These days we have so many great tools to identify objects in the sky that as long as one can give a halfway decent report it should be possible to get a clear positive ID for most objects. For a suspected aircraft; flightradar24.com

 

[davenn]

For a suspected aircraft; flightradar24.com

my fav. aircraft app for many years

 

[AyaanKhalife]

I have a question that must have logical answer and I just cant find one online.

Yesterday, around 11 P.M. me and my wife was sitting on our porch talking and casually watching the sky.
Suddenly, our attention was caught by a star like object that was traveling towards east.
Speed was like any satellite would have but it was ZIGZAGGING.
Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended. At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

I found a lot of testimonies about similar sightings but not a single one clarification.

I can explain sudden increase in brightness (probably increased reflection due to change of position) and fading (traveling east object moved into a sun shadow - high altitude object) but i just cant explain zigzagging.
I've found some explanations that states it is an optical illusion caused by eye-tracking or atmospheric effects but there is a problem with this explanation. Object was zigzagging relative to other stars.
Only object that can zigzag would be a drone, but no drone can zigzag instantly like that. It looked like it was jumping.

I have seen something very similar and have the recording too present

 

[DaveC426913]

I have seen something very similar and have the recording too present

We would very much like to see that.

 

[gtypestar]

I have a video and some still frames of zigzagging objects (unexplained, so far).

 

[gtypestar]

I have a question that must have logical answer and I just cant find one online.

Yesterday, around 11 P.M. me and my wife was sitting on our porch talking and casually watching the sky.
Suddenly, our attention was caught by a star like object that was traveling towards east.
Speed was like any satellite would have but it was ZIGZAGGING.
Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended. At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

I found a lot of testimonies about similar sightings but not a single one clarification.

I can explain sudden increase in brightness (probably increased reflection due to change of position) and fading (traveling east object moved into a sun shadow - high altitude object) but i just cant explain zigzagging.
I've found some explanations that states it is an optical illusion caused by eye-tracking or atmospheric effects but there is a problem with this explanation. Object was zigzagging relative to other stars.
Only object that can zigzag would be a drone, but no drone can zigzag instantly like that. It looked like it was jumping.

I have observed objects flying in the sky that show a zigzag pattern when viewed in a 2-second exposure photograph. I have a video with all the details. It is a video on YouTube, so I hope I am allowed to post a link here in this forum.

Link to YouTube video that contains video and still photographs:


All the details are in the YouTube "details" section below the video. I have referred to the objects as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP). Here is some of the text details on the video:

January 1 and 2, 2025, Sierra Vista, Arizona. Looking west towards the Huachuca Mountains.

Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), points of light, are visible. The UAP make subtle zig-zag patterns or "stairstep" patterns. This is clear when stepped through and examined frame by frame.

There are photographs that captured the "zig-zag" patterns in 2-second exposures.

What kind of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), drone, aircraft, or satellite can make this zig-zag pattern, at this speed?
Not conventional aircraft.
Not UAVs (or “drones”).
Not satellites. Not meteors.
Not rocket boosters. Not space junk.
Not solid metal structures.

Therefore, UAP.

Could they be plasma UAP? Plasma craft? Plasma craft following helical magnetic field lines, therefore, seen as "zigzag" patterns from a side projection.

If you know, or have any ideas, please comment. Thank you.

 

[Baluncore]

Mostly satellites illuminated by the Sun, then they move into Earth's shadow.
Tumbling cylindrical space junk, getting close to re-entry, can flash like that.

If you get enough predictions of space junk, and look for the objects, then every so often, you will see things like that. Next time, have someone run an aircraft tracking, and a satellite prediction program, while you watch the sky, so you will know exactly what the objects are.

The weight of the evidence is insufficient to be conclusive. It is also insufficient to justify further analysis. With insufficient evidence, anything is possible. You are free to believe what you want, and let your imagination run wild. Get better evidence next time.

As scientists, we do not need to hypothesise unlikely scenarios. Given insufficient evidence, scientists are happy to be uncertain, even when other observers obsess, and cannot let it go.

 

[renormalize]

If you know, or have any ideas, please comment. Thank you.

Your images most likely depict large research balloons that are driven in random directions by varying winds as they move through different layers of the stratosphere.
In June of 2020 a camper in southern Utah near Gunsight Bay took a 5 hour sequence of time-lapse photos of the night sky looking toward the southwest. The images clearly show an object akin to yours moving in a zig-zag pattern across the sky. Seeking an explanation, the photographer sent the raw frames to Corridor Digital. Using the precise coordinates, direction, date and times of the photos they were able to identify the object to be that of a specific research flight launched by Google Project Loon to test balloon-borne wireless internet delivery. Although Project Loon was shut down in 2021, it's plausible that other private ventures and government agencies continue to launch their own stratospheric research balloons in the western USA and that they're sometimes visible to ground observers like yourself.

 

[russ_watters]

Not conventional aircraft.
Not UAVs (or “drones”).
Not satellites. Not meteors.
Not rocket boosters. Not space junk.
Not solid metal structures.

How, exactly, have you eliminated these possibilities? My guess is that you have zoomed-in so far that your cameras software and bayer filter have produced the zig-zag effect for a satellite*. So, have you eliminated satellites as a possibility?

*Others mentioned a tumbling satellite. Possible, but not my first choice. Either way, "satellite" needs to be ruled-out.

 

[gtypestar]

Mostly satellites illuminated by the Sun, then they move into Earth's shadow.
Tumbling cylindrical space junk, getting close to re-entry, can flash like that.

If you get enough predictions of space junk, and look for the objects, then every so often, you will see things like that. Next time, have someone run an aircraft tracking, and a satellite prediction program, while you watch the sky, so you will know exactly what the objects are.

The weight of the evidence is insufficient to be conclusive. It is also insufficient to justify further analysis. With insufficient evidence, anything is possible. You are free to believe what you want, and let your imagination run wild. Get better evidence next time.

As scientists, we do not need to hypothesise unlikely scenarios. Given insufficient evidence, scientists are happy to be uncertain, even when other observers obsess, and cannot let it go.

Satellites do not fly back and forth level to the horizon.
Tumbling space junk does not fly level and upwards at 30- or 60- degree angles.
We looked at flightradar24 dot com and there was no transponding air traffic in this fairly remote area at the time of observation.
I agree that better evidence is needed, but when you see unexplained objects for yourself you will obsess over finding some logical explanation that satisfies your scientific curiosity. In 2 seconds, the "zig-zag" light trail shows forty zigs-and-zags, therefore 40 zigzags divided by 2 seconds gives the object about a 20 Hz oscillation. This oscillation made the objects appear to have a "shakiness" to their flight which would be nearly impossible for metallic objects of any type. You can see the zigzag or stairstep patterns in the videos and photos. That is why I made a hypothesis of "plasma," which could conceivably oscillate at 20 Hz, and which also could follow magnetic field lines.

 

[Baluncore]

I agree that better evidence is needed, but when you see unexplained objects for yourself you will obsess over finding some logical explanation that satisfies your scientific curiosity.

With incomplete or contaminated data, I would remember the incident and watch for more with those characteristics. I would certainly not obsess over unreliable data that should be eliminated statistically.

This oscillation made the objects appear to have a "shakiness" to their flight which would be nearly impossible for metallic objects of any type. You can see the zigzag or stairstep patterns in the videos and photos.

Did you see it zigzagging by eye, or only through the camera?
Your camera expected a point of light, so it stabilised the image. It corrected the position of the point every couple of frames, generating the zigzag path. Are there any reference points in that recording that remained stable while your camera stabilised the image?

At some point its brightness increased drastically just before it faded out completely.

Get ISS and other predictions from here: https://www.heavens-above.com
Set up your time and location.

Looking West from latitude 32°N, in the evening, I would expect satellites to rise steadily and steeply, then finally extinguish in less than a second.

Brightness will change as solar panel angle gradually changes, until the orbit takes it into the shadow of the Earth. The moment before the satellite enters the shadow, the solar panels, aimed at the Sun, will be closest to reflecting sunlight directly at you.

 

[russ_watters]

Satellites do not fly back and forth level to the horizon.

What does that mean? You didn't mention "back and forth" in your first post, you only mentioned "zig zagging". Is that the same thing or are you now describing something completely different from what you said in your first post?

Tumbling space junk does not fly level and upwards at 30- or 60- degree angles.

What does that mean? You think based on the track that what you saw was ascending in altitude? Satellites can appear to be traveling in any direction in the sky, and when you are looking at solid lights in the sky you can have absolutely no idea of their distance and therefore true direction of motion. Anyway, did you check a satellite tracker app to verify if there was a satellite in the area at the time of your sighting, or did you just discard the idea that it's a satellite without checking?

We looked at flightradar24 dot com and there was no transponding air traffic in this fairly remote area at the time of observation.

I agree it doesn't appear to be an airplane: but it does appear to me to be a satellite.

That is why I made a hypothesis of "plasma," which could conceivably oscillate at 20 Hz, and which also could follow magnetic field lines.

Is that a known phenomena?

 

[gtypestar]

These objects were not satellites, in my opinion. I observe satellites frequently, being a citizen astronomer. I use satellite tracking apps such as NASA ISS tracker and Heaven's Above. I can also identify most terrestrial, conventional aircraft, such as airplanes, jets, UAVs, and drones, having worked for decades in the aerospace industry.

I was observing with binoculars (8 x 42, 6.5 degrees Field of View) and at certain points saw five objects moving at once in the FOV. These objects would fly back and forth, level to the horizon, then would fly upwards at around 30 or 60 degree angles to the horizon. Their observed flight dynamics was unusual because you could see "shakiness" in their flight path, that is, not an exactly smooth flight as you would observe from a satellite. This "shakiness" or "stairstep" pattern was revealed further in the 2-second exposure photos.

I am posting here on the Physics Forum because I am looking for new or leading edge thoughts that can be explained with known physics for phenomena that do not fit into any of the more "conventional" explanations, such as metallic satellites, aircraft, drones, UAVs, space debris, or meteors.

Lens stabilization was turned off. However, the camera (Canon R5) performs stabilization internally, which could be a partial explanation, but not satisfying, because I have many, many other long-duration photographs and have never seen the zigzag or stairstep pattern. What I am seeking from the Physics Forum is any knowledge of plasma or plasma phenomena that start to explain linear zigzag patterns. In other words, these observations seem to be more based on technology than a natural phenomenon.

For example, lightning is plasma, and a lightning bolt follows a random path which at times follows zigzag or stairstep patterns but not in straight lines. What plasma phenomena could follow a zigzag pattern but in a more linear mode is my question, and my conjecture is that it could follow magnetic field lines. There are helical magnetic field lines in near-Earth space, if plasma phenomena followed these helical field lines, maybe they would appear as zigzags from a side projection. Alternatively, could we create a helical magnetic field with a device and then cause some form of plasma to follow that helix? (The "inverse" of this is done in fusion research.)

 

[Baluncore]

I am posting here on the Physics Forum because I am looking for new or leading edge thoughts that can be explained with known physics for phenomena that do not fit into any of the more "conventional" explanations, such as metallic satellites, aircraft, drones, UAVs, space debris, or meteors.

We are conservatives. As the available data increases, we increase our analysis. Your analysis has gone far beyond the available data.

You need to gather more evidence of those phenomena. You need fixed control pinpoints in the same images, that will confirm camera stability. I note that the other point sources in your picture show the same triangular shape as your zigzag track. That suggests you had a vibrating mount for the camera, and that a regular mechanical vibration, from a fan motor, or AC unit was shaking the floor.

I expect you will find that the zigzag is an artefact of the mounting, the camera or the process. If you can prove it is not an artefact, you will be well on the way to analysing the evidence, to demonstrate that it was probably just a satellite.

 

[weirdoguy]

I observe satellites frequently, being a citizen astronomer. I use satellite tracking apps such as NASA ISS tracker and Heaven's Above. I can also identify most terrestrial, conventional aircraft, such as airplanes, jets, UAVs, and drones, having worked for decades in the aerospace industry.

And so are/does/can hundreds of people. If it was something connected to plasma and magnetic field it would have been observed long time ago, since you are not using any super-duper new, never seen before observational equipement. Be rational, please don't go the crackpot route.

 

[DaveC426913]

These objects were not satellites, in my opinion. I observe satellites frequently, being a citizen astronomer. I use satellite tracking apps such as NASA ISS tracker and Heaven's Above. I can also identify most terrestrial, conventional aircraft, such as airplanes, jets, UAVs, and drones, having worked for decades in the aerospace industry.

No one doubts that these behaved unlike satellites as you've seen them in your broad experience.

But the ways in which an otherwise mundane events can take on unusual and unprecedented characteristics is myriad, even if rare.

(I'll bet most members here surmise that virtually all historical UFO/UAP reports are, in reality, mundane objects, seen under unusual circumstances.)

At the risk of further speaking for other PF members: We are going to look for mundane explanations and rule every one of the them out before we start looking at exotic ones. If you're looking for plasma-esque phenomena, this may not the be place for you.

 

[russ_watters]

These objects were not satellites, in my opinion. I observe satellites frequently, being a citizen astronomer. I use satellite tracking apps such as NASA ISS tracker and Heaven's Above.

But did you use it in these cases? Sounds like no. I looked at your video and all of them look like satellites to me. Given that you've seen a lot of satellites as an amateur astronomer (as have I), aside from the zig-zag, what features do these have that you think satellites don't? And along those lines, given that these were all taken at 800mm, you did not see the zig-zag with your naked eye, correct?

Where are you observing from? A deck attached to a house? Or on the ground?

I was observing with binoculars (8 x 42, 6.5 degrees Field of View) and at certain points saw five objects moving at once in the FOV. These objects would fly back and forth, level to the horizon

That's a different sighting and without a video or a lot more information we can't really help you with it.

I am posting here on the Physics Forum because I am looking for new or leading edge thoughts that can be explained with known physics for phenomena that do not fit into any of the more "conventional" explanations, such as metallic satellites, aircraft, drones, UAVs, space debris, or meteors.....What I am seeking from the Physics Forum is any knowledge of plasma or plasma phenomena that start to explain linear zigzag patterns. In other words, these observations seem to be more based on technology than a natural phenomenon.

Please reread our terms of service. PF deals in mainstream science only. We're not developing alternative theories to explain UAP sightings.

https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/physics-forums-global-guidelines.414380/

 

[russ_watters]

I note that the other point sources in your picture show the same triangular shape as your zigzag track.[/B] That suggests you had a vibrating mount for the camera, and that a regular mechanical vibration, from a fan motor, or AC unit was shaking the floor.

The zig-zag track also doesn't vary as the objects move or from object to object. If they were a real motion in a moving object(s) you'd expect the pattern in the image to get wider as the objects moved toward the observer (if they were observed long enough) and for different ones to have different widths based on distance and aspect.

Also, image stabilization seems unlikely to me for the ones that are long exposures. There's nothing for image stabilization to do. A forced vibration from a fan or other motor would fit.

 

[Tom.G]

Another possibility is a mirage. See:
https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/7140653

And my follow-up post to the above:
https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/7140787

Cheers,
Tom

 

[DaveC426913]

Another possibility is a mirage. See:
https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/7140653

And my follow-up post to the above:
https://www.physicsforums.com/posts/7140787

Cheers,
Tom

Sorry, a zig-zagging satellite-like point of light, crossing the sky - at night - will be explained by ... a mirage?

 

[Tom.G]

Yup, plausible...
If there is turbulance in the air near or where the temperature inversion is.

 

[DaveC426913]

Yup, plausible...
If there is turbulance in the air near or where the temperature inversion is.

Oh. You mean twinkling.
That's a bit different from a mirage.

 

[seanhill1974]

It's a Sky Lantern

 

[Tom.G]

Oh. You mean twinkling.
That's a bit different from a mirage.

Yes, a bit different, though similiar effects,
Twinkling is caused by cells of air with different densities acting as a randomly oriented lens, causing the image to move around.

A mirage is a when air layers of different density act as a mirror. If there is turbulance at/near their interface, it deforms the reflecting interface like a Fun House mirror.

 

[DaveC426913]

I know.

The OP describes what sounds much more like twinkling than a mirage.

 

[256bits]

So what happens if one photographs, video tapes, looks at a lit object through a mesh such as a window screen.
Does the object appear to zig zag as view cuts across the screen wires at an angle?

 

[DaveC426913]

Lateral motion was instant and had an amplitude of the width of my thumb with my arm fully extended.

- for about 30 sec
- about 10 times (at first it was traveling in a straight line)
- regular every 1 sec

Thus sounds a lot like navigation lights on a plane

 

[Braunie]

I was fortunate enough to see something very similar over Australia a few years back. I would describe it as a 'sawtooth' motion, smooth motion forward then an apparent jump backwards, then smooth forward motion again. This was almost certainly not one object but a train of satellites, probably starlink, recently deployed so still in a string, but separated enough to be a few seconds apart in orbit. What I saw was light reflecting from one satellite for a couple of seconds, then it disappeared, then another satellite appeared behind it. That one did the same thing, visible for a few seconds then winked out, and another appeared. This went on for a while. With the angles and timing just right, it could easily appear that the same object jumped backwards in its orbit as you described.