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make fun all you want, but, virtually every night, in northwest phoenix mountain area, we see several "unusual" lights/aircraft in the same general area of the sky; their movement is very erratic and non "airplane" like, moving quickly, stopping, then moving in a different direction.
we assume it military, but, there is no way of asking or finding out, plus, if we did try and get a real answer, we would be branded as "nutjobs", so why bother...
There is no doubt that out here, in the desert areas, there is weird aircraft flying around at night, either US military or alien, who knows!
.... virtually every night, in northwest phoenix mountain area, we see several "unusual" lights/aircraft in the same general area of the sky; their movement is very erratic and non "airplane" like, moving quickly, stopping, then moving in a different direction.
Those lights could be the refracted lights from a source beyond the horizon. That would explain the erratic and rapid movements of lights. This is what is called a Superior Mirage
Quote:
A mirage is a naturally occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky.
An example. This is a time exposure so the apparent movement of the lights gives a line of light. Notice the erratic movement?
i thought the same thing, but they are small, focused lights, the kind you would see coming from an aircraft of some sort..sort of like aircraft landing lights, so who knows..
I just called Luke AFB, to ask about some late night flyovers happening the last week or 2, and they told me they are doing some nighttime maneuvers this month, but I didn't ask about those lights, as they sure dont look like F35's flying around the sky..
i thought the same thing, but they are small, focused lights, the kind you would see coming from an aircraft of some sort..sort of like aircraft landing lights, so who knows..
I just called Luke AFB, to ask about some late night flyovers happening the last week or 2, and they told me they are doing some nighttime maneuvers this month, but I didn't ask about those lights, as they sure dont look like F35's flying around the sky..
That could be too. I wonder whether the mirage effect could make the lights appear erratic even though the source is approximately where they seem to be?
As the aircraft moves into a different mirage effect zone, the craft could appear to move at extraordinary angles and crazy speeds.
Those lights could be the refracted lights from a source beyond the horizon. That would explain the erratic and rapid movements of lights. This is what is called a Superior Mirage
An example. This is a time exposure so the apparent movement of the lights gives a line of light. Notice the erratic movement?
Good stuff! This kind of realistic, logical and reasonable explanation is much needed. Thanks. Sadly, few people make an effort to search for the truth through logical thought process.
The FAA is aware of military flights but that does not mean they are aware of classified aircraft or their flights. Frankly it does not usually matter because the military does not need, nor usually wish to, take classified aircraft into commercial airspace. I am not sure what was reported but I would not rule out classified aircraft. It would be very careless for the military to hand over information on classified aircraft test flights to so many people IMHO.
I agree that the FAA might not be privy to classified info.
I live in an area with very crowded airspace, with the natural barrier of the Colorado Rockies, including the 14,000+ ft Pikes Peak to the west. To the south is the massive Fort Carson along with the 235,896 acre Army Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site Which hosts 5,000 troops for training twice a year.
To the north is the USAFA. When I was a little girl I used to go on base with my dad & watch the new cadets wobbling through the sky in their gliders. Peterson Air Field is to the southeast, as well as the civilian airport.
NORAD is tucked into Cheyenne Mountain just to the south of Pikes Peak & the top secret Shriver AFB is to the northeast. All of the bases except Shriver have entrance gates that border right up to city limits.
Growing up here, none of us questioned lights in the sky, contrails, or the booms that would echo down the front range from Piñon, because those were everyday occurrences. In fact, there were many kids like me in my neighborhood, who had been born overseas on military bases. Most of them had been born in Germany, while I was born on Tachikawa AFB in Japan, because Dad was stationed at Fuchu with the PACOM ELINT Center (PEC) during Vietnam.
Speaking of; Dad was based out of the Pentagon during the last decade of his military career (he is now ret Colonel) & whenever I would ask him: “So what do you really know about UFO’s?”, he would just laugh at me & say “Nothing to know!”
I guess I’ve just always assumed there was good communication between the FAA & the military but classified would be a different matter.
Learjet: “Was there anybody above us that passed us like 30 seconds ago?”
ATC: “715 Papa Golf Negative”
Learjet: “OK”
Learjet: “Something Did”
Unknown: “Could Have Been a UFO”
ATC: “Yeah”
ATC: “American 1095, uh, let me know if you see anything pass over you here in the next uh 15 miles”
American 1095:” If Anything Passes Over Us?”
ATC: “American 1095 Affirmative, We Had an Aircraft Infront of You at 37 that reported something pass over him and we didn’t have any targets, so let me know if you see anything pass over you”
American 1095: “Alright”
Learjet: “I don’t know what it was, it wasn’t an airplane, but it passed us going to opposite direction”
American 1095: “American 1095, yeah something just passed over us uh”
American 1095: “Don’t know what it was, but it at least 2-3000 feet above us, but yeah, passed right over the top of us”
ATC: “Ok, American 1095 thank you”
ATC: “American 1095, could you tell if it was in motion or just hovering?”
American 1095: “Couldn’t really make out whether it was a balloon or whatnot, but it was just really beaming light or had a big reflection and it just really seemed to fly [inaudible] several thousand feet above us going in the opposite direction.”
ATC: “10-4”
Unknown: “Was it a Google Balloon?”
American 1095: “Doubtful.”
Unknown: “UFO”
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