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Gigantic Spiral of Light Observed Over Norway; Rocket To Blame?
Ch_Omega writes "A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night (more pictures) has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled. Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing display to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor to a shock wave — although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet. The phenomenon began when what appeared to be a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain. It stopped mid-air, then began to circulate. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its center — lasting for ten to twelve minutes before disappearing completely. The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm — which astronomers have said did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights, so common in that area of the world." The Bad Astronomer makes the case that a malfunctioning rocket spewing fuel is a parsimonious explanation, backed up by witnesses to similar events and a cool simulation (on video). An anonymous reader suggests that this Proton-M Carrier Rocket might be responsible for the display.
Odin's back. And he's pissed. The spiral is his wide brimmed hat. And he's finally got his favorite blue laser back from Loki. Unfortunately he can only use it on one person per night. Huginn and Muninn are doing surveillance right now so it's time to get those shrines up in the backyard, people! Raise your cups of mead and abandon Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc. The Norse were right, repent before it's too late! Finally, a reason to worship a deity I can identify with--Loki!
My work here is dung.
There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!
lol, maybe it was the LHC.
Sending Bogons back from the Future.
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BadAsstronomer seems to have picked up on a TV station's assertion that it was a russian ICBM test launch - it's certainly pretty, but unfortunately, not the black hole the LHC was supposed to bring us. Bastards.
Truck driver, plumber, Linux systems engineer.
All hands on deck: Swirly thing alert!
...I for one...
Welcome our now very dizzy alien overlords...
Laters Sol "Have you found the secrets of the universe? Asked Zebade "I'm sure I left them here somewhere"
Finally, we've found the entrance...
Except that multiple images from multiple angles show a circular phenomenon, which means that the source must be roughly spherical.
Also, there are no clouds in any of the images.
Also, you're an idiot.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
Damnit, apparently the earth is running OSX and somebody has tried to "undo" the last ten years; this has resulted in the spinning beach ball of death.
Do not spread "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0" over the internet, thank you.
Ob. Men In Black:
"The flash of light you saw in the sky was not a UFO. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus."
Comment of the year
It's just an experiment that the iRobot corp was conducting, where they cross a Roomba with one of their military devices. Apparently this is related to Bill Gates' theories that hurricanes can be controlled with the proper application of technology. Dean Kamen was not not available for comment on speculation that it was related to a Death Star marketing tie-in for his Luke "Skywalker" prosthetic hand project.
[
Theory #3: A sky-writer pilot was making an "@" for an email address, but passed out.
Table-ized A.I.
Ubisoft called it wants its logo back!
...I told you he was a liberal.
Table-ized A.I.
I suppose I could've left the cruise control bit out, but my thought process at the time was "I don't want friction to kick in so soon..."
The rest are necessary to remove any controlling aspect from the car. I could've said driverless, but someone would've chirped in "remote control!" for example, so I've found trying to rigidly define conditions a necessity for /.
it's like hearing loud creaking noises and banging and saying "oh, it's just wind" - disregarding the fact that wind isn't capable of producing such noise.
I think the people in New Orleans and Galveston might feel a bit differently!
This is my sig.
If it was an ICBM, wouldn't that ruffle some feathers?
I mean, I thought we all agreed that unless you're a very short Korean deity that you're not allowed to test these kinds of devices.
I distinctly missed the beginning of WWIII this morning, though to be fair it could have happened before my first cup of coffee.
Nothing to worry about, this is a typical time-mass interfence pattern caused by a trans-galactic class rift engine reaching its firing potential while the host craft skims the atmosphere of a planet with its anti-graviton containment field slightly out of phase alignment.
Considering that Sol33087-3 (Earth) is also on the blue-list ('keep your distance') due to the operation of your Hadron collider (whose output can cause short-duration dimensional microfractures in rift engine stern waves), as regional observer I have reported the incident to the appropriate authorities together with readings from the unique anti-graviton signature of the engine and you can rest assured that the pilot/primary officer of the craft will be identified and interviewed, with appropriate action taken.
Erm - posting AC for obvious reasons.
> - although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet
It's no fun buzzing Earth if there's no panic calling to authorities and calls for investigation of the subsequent coverup.
Bleezarp (from Alpha Centauri...)
I love you guys.
The article did say the launch had been delayed.
Gary Dunn
Open Slate Project
But once you call it a UFO, isn't now "identified"?
Though I disagree with you on your points, if I had mod points, I would have modded you awesome for the "Also, you're an idiot." There is a point to that.
I live in England. We once saw the Sun. That was unusual.
Always proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
It seems he has gotten the aliens to crash on another country besides the UK this holiday season...
Don't rush me, Sonny. You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.
I was attacked by a UFO once.
Then I identified the flying object. It was a stuffed animal thrown by my brother.
Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
I stared at that spinning little ball of light for like 3 minutes before I realized it was just waiting for the video to load.
-Arthur
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.
Exception Duck - may or may not contain chicken.