UFO's in Geelong - Maybe

[ubeaut]

Was in the spa at 05:20 this morning looking up at an almost clear sky when I saw an object that looked like a star or planet begin to move quickly across the sky in an East North East direction. i figured it must be an aeropalne but very, very, high in the sky as there was no sound at all.


It took around 20+ seconds to move across the sky and out of sight. Another 10 - 15 seconds later I saw another following in what looked to be the exact same path as the first. Then there were about 12 more all around 10-15 seconds apart and all going in the same direction.


This started at around 05:35 (no watch so just a rough guess) and continued for maybe 15 or more minutes. Then another lot started coming through travelling North East around another 12 of them all on the same flight path and all spaced out about the same distance apart. As one left my view another would come into view some 10 seconds later.


They had no flashing lights/twinkle that I could see but they were so high up that the flashing lights may have been almost impossible to see anyway. Looked more like a planet than a star because of this.


They were subsonic as there was no noise. No I hadn't been drinking and they weren't meteors as there were no tails. There was also no vapor trail that I could see when the night sky started to lighten to blue and the last of them disappeared from my view.


I'm guessing there could have been more than 20 as I wasn't counting, just being fascinated by what I was seeing. Pity I didn't have a camera with me but I wasn't leaving the hot water to get one, only to find they'd all disappeared by the time I got back after soaking the carpet with chlorinated water dripping off me.


Anyone got any bright ideas what it might have been. Redeployment of Air Force or commercial planes maybe. Don't reckon it was little green or gray men, or an invasion force. Again I had not been drinking, I don't do drugs, I wasn't seeing things, I don't hallucinate and was fully awake.

Cheers - Neil :dunno:

[ubeaut]

Just had a look at meteor dates for 2020 and next one is 22nd April:

Shower name: Lyrid, predawn from the South 10 meteors per hour and coming from the Comet Thatcher.

So it could be s few early ones from that but highly unlikely as the objects were without tails and coming from slightly wrong direction.

:sad3:

[poundy]

Judging by the Lyrid calc I've seen, its probably them, but very late running. Lyrids Meteor Shower 2020 (https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/lyrids.html) Set date to last night/today. You can see the table showed that around the time you spotted them they were at 17* above horizon.

[taz01]

Might be this Neil:

Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites are interfering with astronomy. It’s just the beginning. - Vox (https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2020/1/7/21003272/space-x-starlink-astronomy-light-pollution)

Elon musk's starlink satellite network

[RossM]

Starlink is most likely

Here are the satellites you may have seen - change date and select Morning
Daily predictions for brighter satellites (https://www.heavens-above.com/AllSats.aspx?lat=-38.1499&lng=144.3617&loc=Geelong&alt=0&tz=AEST)

[woodPixel]

These are starlinks.

There will be thousands. Quite a few astronomers are a bit upset about them.

[PJM16]

They would have been satellites. Quite easy to spot any time of the night once you know what to look for.

[RossM]

These are starlinks.

There will be thousands. Quite a few astronomers are a bit upset about them.

Well - hundreds at the moment :D. Only 362 Starlinks have been launched to date - another 60 due on 23 April and then 60 more sometime in May. Ultimately there will be thousands, and many thousands more when Project Kuiper launches. (OneWeb launched a few, but has recently gone into bankruptcy protection). And Samsung announced it was planning to build a network of around 4,500 satellites a few years back - but no follow up details. Boeing, and Hongwan (China) also have plans for large deployment LEO satellites. Astronomers are certainly upset - potentially 80,000 or so satellites in the long term interrupting earth based optical & radio astronomy observations.

See my earlier post where you can click the link & find out when satellites are visible. It provides a comprehensive list. You can change you location & the dates.

[LanceC]

They would have been satellites. Quite easy to spot any time of the night once you know what to look for.Agreed, and despite all the talk of new constellations being launched, this isn't new.

Around twenty years ago when we would go camping, one of my favourite activities to do in the evenings after the kids were put to bed was to lie on the grass and look at satellites.

I found that by looking through "hand binoculars" and sticking to one piece of sky, it would only be a matter of minutes before a satellite would cross my path. I would the follow that satellite, which would generally cross paths with another which I would then start following. I would see how many I could hop between before having to start again.

I still do it from time to time now, but Tasmanian nights are a little more chilly than balmy Queensland evenings! A shame, as the sky is way more spectacular down here.

[woodPixel]

...Around twenty years ago when we would go camping, one of my favourite activities to do in the evenings after the kids were put to bed was to lie on the grass and look at satellites.

....A shame, as the sky is way more spectacular down here.

Such great memories. My brother and I did the same. It felt mystical. Wondrous.

[damian]

Chemtrails, definitely chemtrails.

[China]

Elon Musk satellites without a doubt

[ubeaut]

Thanks for all the replies.

In all honesty I have never taken much notice of Elon Musk and his Starlink satellites. Last ine I remember seeing or taking notice of was Sputnik when it flew over Melbourne back in 1957. My whole and our neighbors were out in our back yard to see it fly over.

Cheers - Neil :U

PS I'll keep an eye on the charts now and watch.

[woodPixel]

...Last ine I remember seeing or taking notice of was Sputnik when it flew over Melbourne back in 1957. My whole and our neighbors were out in our back yard to see it fly over.

Wow.

That really hammers home how much tech has changed.

One lifetime - from the first satellite, to entire constellations that blast the internet at us from anywhere in the world...

Incredible.

[KBs PensNmore]

They've polluted the Seas and Earth, now the skies, what's next..
Wonder what'll happen if one gets out of sync from where it should be, and crashes into another?????
Kryn

[RossM]

Wow.

That really hammers home how much tech has changed.

One lifetime - from the first satellite, to entire constellations that blast the internet at us from anywhere in the world...

Incredible.

A lot can certainly happen in a lifetime!

My great grandmother remembered seeing the first motor car, which she told me about as she watched the first man walk on the moon.

[rwbuild]

Those who live in cities don't get the beautiful clear night skies that we get in the country, pollution and light pollution wiping out 70% of the stars. When my daughter visits she always comments how much more of the night sky she can see

[China]

Elon Musk is a scary individual has more money than god, convinced the world that electric cars pollute less, which is a lie, launches (continuing) his his own network of satellites into space without asking the people who own it, blatantly insulted a hero and bought his way out of it, not my favorite person.
Apart from that I have been watching the sky (day&night) for more than half my life ever since my late brother introduced me to wonders that are above us that we know so little about.

[riverbuilder]

Where is Geelong? :U

[ubeaut]

472106:doh:You're joking of course.

[Mobyturns]

Where is Geelong? :U

In Mexico! :D

[rwbuild]

Gee, long time since I been there

[damian]

It's easy to find Geelong, just look where Victoria's capital should have been...

As my great aunt got old my ah family tried to get her in a home claiming she had dementur or some such thing. Luckily she was able to fend it off, but I pointed out to the SOBs at the time it's not at all surprising she's confused. She was born into a world where horses were more common than cars, refrigerators were scarce and then mainly in commercial establishments. Even telephones and radios were new fangled devices, television hadn't yet been invented. Imagine YOU were dumped 80 years into the future and had to navigate all the changes from what you'd lived with all your life and tackle it all alone...

I yell at my phone sometimes...

[ubeaut]

I yell at my phone sometimes...
:lolabove: Hahaha.....

I yell at the TV a lot especially if I'm watching American TV.

By the way I was 7 when I first saw a TV and the show that was on was Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men - "Flobabdob!" It was at my friends grandparents house who had one of the first TVs sold in Melbourne. We got our first telly in 1956 so we could watch the Olympic Games. Well my parents and a house full of friends and neighbors did I wasn't really that interested.

Would rather listen to "Hop Harrigan", "Superman" (up, up, and away), "Dad n Dave", "Biggles", "Life With Dexter," "Robin Hood", "Yes What", Laugh Till You Cry with Harry Dearth, George Foster, and Keith (Grandpa) Smith.

I watched some of the Olympics but when the games were over I became a child of the Television. Not sure what I was addicted to the most, TV, my bike, playing with friends, or school.... School. Nah, never addicted to school. Had a love / hate relationship with school and most of my teachers for all my school life, which somewhat lingers on today. Funnily though both my sons are married to teachers.

Sorry for the trip down memory lane. Can't remember what I had for breakfast but most of those radio shoes came pouring out of my head. Oh yeah.... I know, I had nothing for breakfast.

Cheers :U

[China]

Robin Hood, Richard Green he was my hero, they are replaying it on channel 44 Adelaide, long with Superman and a few others, they just don't seem to have the same affect on me these days.

[rwbuild]

Would rather listen to "Hop Harrigan", "Superman" (up, up, and away), "Dad n Dave", "Biggles", "Life With Dexter," "Robin Hood", "Yes What", Laugh Till You Cry with Harry Dearth, George Foster, and Keith (Grandpa) Smith.

That sums up my preferences in those days as well. Parents and grandparents listened to Blue Hills.

[ubeaut]

Just remembered another kids radio show that I useed to listen to and actually sat in on once as a little tacker. The Childrens Hour on 3KZ. I thought it was called the Magic Faraway Tree but think maybe that it may have been a reading of Enid Blytons book as a part of the show. Either that or the brain'e maybe not quite as sharp as I thought.

Show was hosted by Binnie and Billy Bouncer, who who called the girls "Noshy Nishies", the boys "Binnies Huskies" and Binny "my little noshy nish".

:U

[ubeaut]

Robin Hood, Richard Green he was my hero,

Yeah Robin Hood was on the radio Back in the 50s before It hit the Telly Here in Oz and Richard Greene was one of my favorites also.

Another favorite of mine was Ivanhoe with Roger Moore in his first staring role.

:2tsup:

[China]

Ok while we are at it I used to listen to the Smokey Dawson (and Flash) half hour with my Grandad

[rwbuild]

The first regular western I remember on TV was Roy Rogers

[ubeaut]

Don't remember listening to Smokey Dawson on the radio but do remember him fondly as I went to see him at a hall in Burwood Vic I was probably 6 or 7 at the time. He sang, told stories, cracked whips, did lassoo tricks and involved many of the kids. I had a piece of rolled up newspaper ripped out of my hand with his whip. Didn't wet my pants but came close. :B

Yeah. Roy Rogers The girl next door to ma called him Royal Rogers.

I loved al most all western.
Hopalong Cassidy - Had a Hopalong Cassidy gunn set with 2 guns holsters wrist bands and spurs plus a HC silver Sheriffs badge

Cisco Kid O'Henrys Robinhood of the Old West ("Ooooh Panchoooo - Ooooh Ceescoooo.")

Lone Ranger (Hi ho Silver)

Have gun Will travel - Paladin, Paladin where do you roam?

Zorro .......472237

Wagon Train, Sugarfoot, Maverik, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, The Rifle Man, Wells Fargo, Wyart Earp, Bat Masterson, etc, etc, etc.

Still love a good western but they're pretty few and far between these days.

Did really enjoy watching Dead Wood which I only came across a few years ago thanks one of my sons. Pity it ended but apparently it was hellishly expensive and there was virtually nothing still around from that era that could be used for subliminal advertising or sponsorship like Coke or Pepsi or breakfast cereal or branded beer, etc.

Just finished watching Wynona Earp, Wyatt Earps' great-granddaughter madly dispatching demons and the like back to from whence they came. Not really your typical western but does have Doc Holiday in it.

Shutup Neil and get back to quietly isolating. :~

[Chesand]

No need to shut up, Neil.

You and the others have jogged my memory as well. "Yes What" was our tea-time listening along with "Biggles". The Amateur Hour on 3AW with Jack Davey was on one night, I think Thursday, and there was Pick-A-Box on 3DB with Bob and Dolly Dyer which did make it to TV.

With the advent of TV, we had to open the back of the set regularly to get rid of all the dead Indians and a few cowboys.

[rwbuild]

Jason and the Argonauts was another one.
Listening to the cricket on the ABC with the (now admitted to) fake sounds of contact between bat and ball and crowd response (canned sound effects)
2GB ran a Friday night radio dramatisation of Operation Jaywick (WW2) and the boat Krait they used to raid Japanese boats in Singapore harbour. It was brilliant and helped explain 1 of the aspects of the war

[ubeaut]

With the advent of TV, we had to open the back of the set regularly to get rid of all the dead Indians and a few cowboys.

Yes thank goodness for the advent of new fangled LED TVs. You can now set the vacuum to high suck and clean out all the bodies, detached limbs and heads. That really sux.

Some of the things we've seen lately whilst being in isolation would have required a shovel, a large wheelbarrow, a lot of bleach and a heap of disinfectant to clean out the old valve telly.

John Wick alone would have filled one wheelbarrow and that's only from one movie watch the 3 movies and you't need a frontend loader and a 12 yard Kenworth tipper. His kill rate was greater than a virus in Italy.

:U

[China]

John Wick is my new hero!!

[Lyle]

Not TV, but what about "Blue Hills". Was it ABC radio.
I remember coming home from school and not being allowed to make any noise or Mum would go orf at us...

[rwbuild]

Blue Hills on ABC at start of Country Hour

[China]

My Mum was Blue Hills devotee right up until the last episode in September 1976

[woodPixel]

472350



We also had the space station zoom directly overhead at 6pm in Canberra. Right on dusk, perfect time for the sun to hit it sideways. Shone very brightly.

Yeah science! Woo!