[meteorite-list] Mystery object in photo

From: Marc Fries <m.fries_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Dec 8 10:36:39 2004
Message-ID: <1108.10.17.14.1.1102520194.squirrel_at_webmail.ciw.edu>

> Folks hereabouts on the List seem to like the "Bug" theory. Too bad.
> There
> are lots of reasons why the bug theory is wrong, but here's the most
> concise
> one. In the frame that shows the "terminal flash" (which, in the bug
> theory,
> is the bug itself only inches away from the camera and caught by the
> camera
> flash unit), when compared with the before and after frames, the waters of
> the
> inlet between the pier and the camera brighten very noticeably, as if
> reflecting the "flash" from the pier, and the near sides of the adjacent
> light
> posts brighten to a lesser degree also. The flash is a real source of
> illumination and is located in the vicinity of the pier. No bugs.
>

Or... The camera is focused at infinity. The bug is within a few 10's of
cms of the camera. The "light reflected off of the water" is actually an
out-of-focus bug.

> I think the streak is about 2 meters across and 160 meters long; he
> thinks
> 205 meters long, and so forth. I make the velocity of the streaking
> "object"
> ~2700 meters per second (Mach 8). This velocity calculation is an average
> speed and assumes the streak moves for the full 1/20 second; it could be
> faster; it could be slowing down from a greater velocity. It obviously
> halts
> at the flash.

I'll take your numbers over my eyeballed estimates, though it might be
worth another look using the 20m-tall lamppost as a guide rather than the
car. In any case, assuming that the object is distant and fast requires
that the object move at hypersonic speed, producing shock waves and a
considerable sonic boom (and perhaps a lot more light than we see here).
A bug, close to the camera, moving at bug-speed, is still the simplest and
most likely answer. I'll still vouch for the "It's just another bug hunt"
answer.

Cheers,
MDF

-- 
Marc Fries
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Carnegie Institution of Washington
Geophysical Laboratory
5251 Broad Branch Rd. NW
Washington, DC 20015
PH:  202 478 7970
FAX: 202 478 8901

Received on Wed 08 Dec 2004 10:36:34 AM PST