coulthamst Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 On three occasions over the last five years or so whist idly scanning the night sky with one or other of my telescopes I have witnessed something I can't identify. A "fleet" of about eight - ten objects, travelling at around satellite speed or perhaps slightly faster, pass through the field of view. I would describe the formation of objects as a flattened triangle, (hypoteneuse trailing) and the individual members of the group are of more or less the same shape, but appear to be "winged".I am not a UFO believer, just interested in finding out what it was that I saw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kai Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Flock of birds i would suggest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hi Kai, I hope that my observing skills are a little better than that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foundaplanet Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Not much else flies in triangular formation with wings..The Red Arrows don't fly at night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parus major Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Hi Kai, I hope that my observing skills are a little better than that!It's not your observing skills that are being called into question but your birding skills. Lot's of birds move by night, and in formation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 To amplify a little, the group was absolutely geometric, and perhaps better described as a flattened pyramid, not a "vee", whereas the individual members were of "Vee" form, again geometrical, with flat ends to the wings at ninety degrees to them.And the wings did NOT flap.I got the impression that this was some sort of satelite or "drone" plane group, but was hoping someone could positively identify the phenomenon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony69 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 just a thought i live by the sea and the other night i was taken photos through my scope when a large flock of terns flew across my fov and this is not the first time this has happend to me do you live by the sea ? and they were very high at least they looked high just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig20264 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Geese Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony69 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 we have also seen military aircraft flying in formation late at night but not since the libya conflict has ended? and they looked like shinny objects was thinking ufo the first time until a mate told me iam under a flight path . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parus major Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 To amplify a little, the group was absolutely geometric, and perhaps better described as a flattened pyramid, not a "vee", whereas the individual members were of "Vee" form, again geometrical, with flat ends to the wings at ninety degrees to them.And the wings did NOT flap.I got the impression that this was some sort of satelite or "drone" plane group, but was hoping someone could positively identify the phenomenon.At altitude very few birds flap their wings and I can think of quite a few birds that have quite artificial looking triangular profiles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 I need to clarify what I saw. The individual objects were stand-alone pairs of wings, with the leading and trailing edges parallel to each other. The "ends" of the wings were dead straight and along the line of the hypoteneuse. The included angle was of the order of 120 degrees. No bodies or tails. (or heads or beaks....)The formation itself was also at about 120 degrees , but in rows - which I did not have time to count, as the passage took me by surprise, by the time I had got over my initial "what the..." the event was over.The general impression was of some sort of early Atari game..... but I was observing at considerably over sixty degrees elevation, and in any case I don't think that such prehistoric consoles would survive in working order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwatkins Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 UAV fleet? They do long transits in formation to save fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I have finally identified what I saw that prompted my original post here several years ago. Having today seen pictures of B2 Spirit bombers, I am convinced thatwhat I saw a small group (around 8-10) of these planes on three separate occasions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakalwe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Geese.They fly extremely high (they have been spotted higher than Everest!). They fly in triangle formation. They have wings. They also have light coloured plumage which can reflect a lot of light.http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/238885-ufo-spotted/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakalwe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I have finally identified what I saw that prompted my original post here several years ago. Having today seen pictures of B2 Spirit bombers, I am convinced thatwhat I saw a small group (around 8-10) of these planes on three separate occasions.I believe that there are only 76 operationally active B52s in the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I am finally able to identify what I saw that led to this thread. Today I have seen pictures of America's B2 Spirit aircraft, and am convinced that my sighting was of a small grouping of these planes. They have unmistakeably the shape of the fleet I witnessed, and unless anyone can show me pictures of similarly arranged airborne objects I will consider that I have achieved a satisfactory identification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakalwe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I am finally able to identify what I saw that led to this thread. Today I have seen pictures of America's B2 Spirit aircraft, and am convinced that my sighting was of a small grouping of these planes. They have unmistakeably the shape of the fleet I witnessed, and unless anyone can show me pictures of similarly arranged airborne objects I will consider that I have achieved a satisfactory identification.Could be, but it's pretty unlikely given the low operational numbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 B2 Spirit, not B52 Zakalwe. Google the pictures and you will see what is so distinctive about these planes, and how it is unlikely to mistake them for anything else that is not man made. Your reponses were so quick I thought I had failed to post my first effort, hence the reworded second post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakalwe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 B2 Spirit, not B52 Zakalwe. Google the pictures and you will see what is so distinctive about these planes, and how it is unlikely to mistake them for anything else that is not man made. Your reponses were so quick I thought I had failed to post my first effort, hence the reworded second post!My apologies. My eyes were seeing "B2" but my mind was seeing B52. :BangHead: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince1963 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 More to the point...What are they doing over leeds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornelius Varley Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 I doubt it would be 8-10 B2s flying over Leeds. There are only 20 operational B2s in existence so that would make it about half the fleet. They also normally operate out of Whiteman AFB Missouri. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zakalwe Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 So, we are back to geese? Maybe they are stealth geese! :grin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 I am sure that what I saw was man-made. The outline of the objects was all straight lines and clearly defined angles. As an engineer for 38 years whose remit included assessments of shapes and forms my mind is certain and clear as to the defined shape of the objects I saw. I cannot accept claims that what I saw was a flight of birds. If a similarly shaped mechanical object was put forward as a more likely subject I would happily capitulate, but no way were these living creatures.By the way, the sightings took place in 2011. I have no knowledge of whether there were then more extant operational B2s, but I understand that upwards of 75 were originally constructed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulthamst Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Thanks for the wikipedia link Peter. The view of the underside of the aircraft to be seen on that page is precisely what I witnessed on three separate occasions in 2011. My info on the total number of aircraft built must be faulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathalferris Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 Birds flying at night are surprisingly bright against the night sky, especially to a dark-adapted telescopic user.Occam's razor comes into play here - unless you have specific reasoning against birds at altitude, it's by far the most likely answer.You cannot easily determine range at night, especially with a single aperture instrument, and the difference in focus distance would be small enough to be ignored. You also won't see much in the way of movement of the bird wings when they are cruising - especially at altitude in stable air - there are Youtube videos showing this quite clearly.Birds fly at about the same speed relative to their body length as planes do, so it's very hard to distinguish between avian and aviation unless you have specific training in this area, which very few have. In other words, a bird cruising at a few thousand feet shows a similar flight and movement profile to an observer as an aircraft at a few tens of kilometres distance.Given that the behaviour that has been described is more easily satisfied by a flock of birds than a rare multiple flight of rare military aircraft, I'd me more inclined to say it was birds.Something to note, that was brought out in the recent Russian flights near EU airspace, is that military aircraft performing permitted overflight of Europe are in general supposed to have the nav lights on at night.A question for the OP - what would it take to persuade you that what you saw was not in fact man-made? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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