If you have ever tried to capture pictures in the dark sky from a phone camera, you can imagine how hard it is to focus and snap a shot with any clarity. These were taken on July fourth in McKinleyville.
I wouldn't have thought too much from the first report that took the pictures but I got another eye witness that said they saw the same thing and I found out they both live in McKinleyville.
Granted, it was the fourth of July and there were many sky rockets. Both parties told me that this came down above the approaching fog bank and went back up. The second picture looks like a signal flare like they use on ships in distress. You can see a trail behind it as it was going up at the time. Problem is they both said it went up and down fast, without sound and did it more than once without touching the ground. Also the top picture clearly shows 3 lights.
Correction: The bottom picture was actually supposed to be sideways so the (what ever) was moving right to left in the photo, not up and down. Also it would stop and pause for a while and then move again according to photographer.
Not sure what is was but if anyone else saw it, please chime in and tell what you saw.
The "object" did, indeed move up and down several times. At first I thought it was a flare but there was no sparks dropping from it like one. I watched it ascend then it paused, hung there for a moment, moved in a left to right movement a couple of times then moved up above the fog bank. After several minutes, it came back down through the fog then slowly started the process over again. The shots were taken on the second pass. It came down one more time after that (that I saw) but I didn't bother to take more pics because it didn't look like I caught anything. This morning I looked at the pictures again and used the expansion feature on my phone to see if there was anything there. There was.
ReplyDeleteA red light that seemed to be a small plane came in low from the ocean side, the West, over the bay towards Eureka shortly before the fireworks began at 10pm on F street. Didn't think much of it but was wondering what a plane might see below had the fireworks begun. It veered Northeast as if heading towards Murray Field. Nothing unusual was noted.
ReplyDeleteWhat time was your observation?
It had been a warmer day than usual and a slight fog bank was offshore. Atmospheric air disturbances can cause lights to seemingly 'bump', shift, or shimmer to the viewer below, similar to a mirage on a hot desert road.
Your pictures and what I saw are different. I saw one light, not three, and no unusual movement seen as the 2nd picture appears to show.
Firework embers can be pretty damn scary. We might have to learn how wind currents work.
ReplyDeleteI guess the cats out of the bag, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteI was going to write a column about my interview with aliens visiting McKinleyville on the 4th of July, but you had to post this!
Now my column will be old news Sunday. Sigh...I guess I'll have to write about something else.
It was just some swamp gas that got caught up in the wind currents and collided with a weather balloon. Now if I can have your attention, please look over here at this flashy thing I am holding. (flash)
ReplyDeleteIve seen this guy flying around over Trinidad before. Not sure if its an ultralight or what, but he's slow and quiet, and usually
ReplyDeleteputs some wild lights on his contraption.
We saw something strange that night, too, and again tonight. On the 4th there were odd shapes, similar to your picture, slowly ascending from the direction of central Arcata. I figured they were from the pyrotechnics event at the Crabs Ballpark. Also that night there was a weird green, white and red light that moved around like a small plane. The lights occasionally turned off then on again. Do people fly model airplanes at night?
ReplyDeleteSaw some sort of red and green flying thing... slowly wobbling and flouting... then jetting up, down and side to side at sharp angles... blinking in and out.. spinning... making small circular movements... for about half an hour about a mile and a half from Guintoli towards the ocean between 10:30 and 11:00 PM. At that distance, musta been about the size of a small helicopter but they don't move like that... no noise either... It's been popping around all week. Really seems to want to be noticed... especially since it started showing up the day before the fourth of July, very spot I mentioned. Saw it on the fourth too... from Manila it looked like it was over the fields toward Arcata. Always seems to be between 10 and 11PM.
ReplyDeletePut on quite the show.. I like when it would get real bright green... then slowly fade out completely. Hologram?