Off Topic~UFO and aircraft buffs come read..what is this anyone? Socal

[Anonymous]

Just putting out the tra***onite and looked up in the sky and saw a few planes, and then this other "plane" came into view maybe 4 miles south of me heading south east, it had no strobes but kind of a glow. It moved at a reasonable rate and then things got weird, it already had some kind of trail behind it, but then it all of a sudden left behind this V shaped cloud pattern in the sky. It was whitish.
It continued on south like a bug, not a straight path. And the vapor stayed in the sky long after, white and reflective from the setting sun, all the other clouds were grey and dark and didnt reflect the light. Could it have been a helicopter dumping something like fuel?? What kind of chemical gets reflective in the sky?
Reflective meaning...it seems like it has its own light source. Anyway, hope i didnt offend by posting something off topic, just wanted your opinion. It was just one of those weird things in life i had to tell someone, even if my story gets debunked. thanks for listening, bnsf97

[Master of Big Sky Blue]

I find your description somewhat vauge.

But if the plane was expereinceing an emergency It very well could have a slightly eratic flight pattern. If it had to dump fuel it very well could have left a strange looking "vapor" trail.

What did you see? I don't really know as I was not there and I am not going to say something was this when I was not there. However I seriously doubt that it was an Alien Space Craft from the Planet Purple.

James

[tomikawaTT]

Since you're in the vicinity of Eddie's Airpatch (Edwards AFB, if you have to be formal) it's entirely possible that you saw some NASA or Air Force test project vehicle - which could be almost anything.

The odd cloud does sound like a high-pressure fuel dump, but could also be the exhaust of a reaction control system.

I wouldn't expect to find an explanation on the local news channel.

Chuck.

[jeffers_mz]

If the plane was leaving a vapor trail already then all you really mention is the fact that the trail split into a V, and that it was reflecting sunlight when other clouds weren't.

Clouds at 36,000 feet, the normal cruising altitude for commercial aircraft are relatively rare, so vapor trails will reflect sunset when lower clouds don't.

I've never seen a stable straight vapor trail suddenly split, but I have seen lots of them that angle out like V shapes for as long as they are visible.

The too, it might have been swamp gas or a weather balloon.

[Anonymous]

If the Air Force was still conducting their "high lift" testing program out of "Area 51" - I know, I'm not supposed to know what goes on out there but I was in computers in the Air Force and, as was true then and is, I suspect, true now, most "classified" material has nothing whatsoever to do with national defence but an awful lot to do with Let's-classify-this-so-the-Colonel-is-not-embarrassed. I was on Active when they transfered the "high lift" program to Area 51 - and, if you read between the lines, its been moved to Utah someplace.

What did you see?? I don't know but I know what you didn't see - or, at least, what it is unlikely you saw!!!

[Anonymous]

If it was a plane over Edwards it could have been conducting some kind of countermeasures tests. Most military aircraft have the capability to release chaff ( small bits of shreaded aluminum to reflect and confuse tracking radar ) and flares ( burning white phosphorus to confuse heat seeking missiles ). The flares would be my best possible explanation of what you saw, as when they are deployed they shoot out from the sides of the aircraft into the slipstream leaving a "V" shaped patern. White phosphorus burns hot , bright and leavs a white cloud. In this post 9/11 world some tests have been going on to retrofit commercial airliners with some kind of countermeasures. Just a thought.

[ericsp]

Vandenburg AFB was schedule to launch a satellite on a rocket sometime between 1900 and 2100 on 06/27/06 (Unfortunately, I did not get around to reading the ppaer until almost 2200, so I missed it). The description sounds like the one I saw.

[MisterBeasley]

"Mulder, it was something man-made. You shouldn't always assume anything you don't understand is from outer space."

"No, Sculley, a satellite launch would have a straight trajectory when viewed from almost any ground position. This guy was wandering all over, like he was searching for something. In southern California, that can only be one thing: a place to park. They're here, Sculley, I can feel it. And the first thing they're going to do is go after the Moderators so that forums will fill up with OT posts like this one, spreading the hysteria."

[Anonymous]

Seen that did you? You should of kept quiet, the MIB we be by to see you today. Bergie, please erase all records of this thread. Now everyone look at the image below.

[BigBlueConrail]

Was most likely a jet,rocket or Edwards AFB test aircraft. Or even a weather baloon. I am aware Edwards is testing a vertical lift jet named the F-35. Mabe that was your culprit?

[vsmith]

UFO??????????????

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

WRONG!

Vandenburg AFB launched a top-secret satelite last night ...they annouced the launch this morning on the radio.

What you saw was likely the vapor train from the rocket, it can be quite spectacular under the right atmosphereic conditions. They usually launch spy satelites into polar orbits so they lift off to the south. I've seen the same exact phenom you mention during a announced scheduled launch of a weather satelite that also went into polar orbit from Vandy.

[vsmith]

found a notice posting...

http://spaceflightnow.com/tracking/

a little down the page, apparently a Delta4 rocket, looks like their will be another in October

heres a neat site that post lift off pictures from Vandy
http://www.dosgatos.com/vafb.htm

Heres a good idea for those who never get to see this stuf


heres a good pic of the V-trail you mentioned..

[beegle55]

Who knows, but please DO NOT USE THE WORK DEBUNKIFY OR "DEBUNKED"!!!! THAT IS SO F*$KING STUPID!! Thanks!

[vsmith]

I prefer "Debunkolification" myself...

Debunk: (dee-bunk) noun; used to describe when ones finds themselves being pushed out of the upper berth of a bunk bed by their older sibling.

[Anonymous]

Well Im glad i didnt get too blasted from my thread.
It was probably the sattelite. Thanks alot guys, I never said it Was a UFO, but technically it was,, Unidentified Flying Object is what i saw, extraterrestrial or not, that is what it was. That first picture you posted vsmith is like what i saw, except only the bottom half of the trail, just the white part and like i said, a V shape, so good job. Heck, maybe it was the XF-35,? But I doubt it would be flying over LA suburbs in twilight. It didnt look too high, it was hard to judge altitude, Anyway,

[nucat78]

Here's a train AND UFO story for you:

http://www.nuforc.org/webreports/049/S49934.html

[tomikawaTT]

BTW, bnsf97 used the term UFO correctly - UNIDENTIFIED flying object. Once ID'ed, it is no longer a UFO.

The heartburn comes when some individual or group tries to claim that some UFO has actually been identified as something totally improbable (like an alien-staffed space probe) and then gets all pushed out of shape when someone else says, "Oh, yeah? Prove it!" It's a lot easier to attack the unbeliever than it is to demonstrate the truth of their claims.

As for me, I believe that all flying objects are unidentified until proven otherwise.

Chuck (ex-USAF)

[mtrails]

I've seen flying discs before. They are metallic in color, and can have erradic flight patterns: I wasn't able to identify the particular CD that flew out of a car window on the street one day. As far as I'm concerned, that was a UFO. But I guess I could have gone back to identify it.

Regarding the basis of the topic here, I have seen twilight rocket launches, and they look exactly as previously described. Pretty spectacular!

Jeremy