From: Dick Hall <dh12.nul>
Date: Sun, 8 Feb 2009 07:47:49 -0500
Archived: Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:14:55 -0500
Subject: Re: Astronomical Causes Of UFOs 


On Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 6:12 AM,
UFO UpDates - Toronto <post.nul> posted:


>Source: Ian Ridpath.Com - Brentford, Middlesex, England, UK

>http://www.ianridpath.com/ufo/astroufo1.htm

>January 27, 2009

>Astronomical Causes Of UFOs
>Ian Ridpath

>Surprising as it may seem, astronomical objects are the most
>common cause of mistaken UFO reports, including close
>encounters.

>---

>Approaching Manchester airport, England, on the evening of 1995
>January 6, a British Airways Boeing 737 with 60 passengers on
>board was buzzed by a bright, fast-moving UFO. The first officer
>ducked instinctively as it flashed past. The conversation
>between the pilot and Manchester air traffic control was as
>follows:

>Pilot: "We just had something go down the right hand side just
>above us very fast"

>Manchester: "Well, there's nothing seen on radar. Was it an
>aircraft?"

>Pilot: "Well, it had lights, it went down the starboard side
>very quick"

>Manchester: "And above you?"

>Pilot: "Just slightly above us, yeah".

>At the time of the incident, which occurred at 18.48 pm, the
>Boeing was descending through 4,000 ft altitude about nine miles
>southeast of Manchester. Visibility was over 10 km, it was dark
>and the Boeing was flying in clear air above cumulus cloud on a
>northerly heading. The UFO was moving in the opposite direction
>and was visible for about two seconds. There was no apparent
>sound or wake. No other pilots reported it, nor was it seen from
>the ground, presumably because of the intervening cloud.


<snip>

While it is definitely true that astronomical objects (including
meteoric fireballs and Venus) cause many false UFO reports,
explaining the Jan. 6, 1995, British Airways sighting as a
fireball is contradicted by internal evidence.

One of the defining characteristics of a fireball is that it is
seen over a wide distance, whereas no one else saw this. Nor do
fireballs give the appearance of an object with body lights.
They virtually always appear, as the name suggests, of a fiery
(flaming) ball of light.

If they break up, then they appear as an in-line string of
lighted objects.


Dick




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