Weird Pulsing Light Over Milwaukee 8/28/10

[GalateaDancer]

My friend Shaia posted this video footage on YouTube last night, after posting on Facebook that she and about a dozen other people watched this weird pulsing light that changed color hover for over 20 minutes.

What kind of craft do you think would make this light? She said they didn't hear an engine sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwzYQTdhYzs

[crocoduck_hunter]

Due to the utter lack of anything but the blinking light, it's hard to be certain, since I can't tell whether the light is moving or the camera, but it looks like it might be a firefly or some sort of small remote operated toy from its tendency to zip around.

[ParaDiddle]

Sure, I leave town and Armageddon comes? If my hometown citizens can't stave off an alien invasion when I'm barely gone for a day, how are you all going to survive til my November visit?

- P

[Singing in the Drizzle]

When I lived in SeaTac and had a good view of Kent valley. Seeing red,green and white flashing lights like those in the video was quite common at night. Sorry to say the were nothing more than mundan helicopters.

[tagurit]

Why are there so many UFO sightings in Milwaukee?

[RichardM]

Surely it is not related to all the breweries?

[Horse Chestnut]

Our local weatherman was pointing out that on Friday and Saturday nights the space station would be visible. Could that be what they were looking at?

[tagurit]

I sure hope the space station isn't doing flips and loops, HC.

RichardM, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[stalker]

Originally Posted by Horse Chestnut

Our local weatherman was pointing out that on Friday and Saturday nights the space station would be visible. Could that be what they were looking at?

The ISS looks not dissimilar to a star. It passes over at quite a rate of knots though. It wouldn't stay visible in the same place for the 8 minutes that the video is on for. If you're stationary, you're unlikely to see it for much more than 5-6 minutes and that would be rising in the west(ish), crossing the sky and setting in the east(ish).
I'm surprised that a weatherman would make such a statement if he'd seen the footage.

[kitap]

Originally Posted by tagurit

RichardM, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

"Who here has seen V?"

They're probably visiting Milwaukee to visit the Zoo and the Public Museum. Summerfest is over, so they're too late for that.

[ricco1]

Looks like a plane to me.

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by tagurit

I sure hope the space station isn't doing flips and loops, HC.

RichardM, are you thinking what I'm thinking?

I suppose the crew of the space station could be imbibing. Vacuum distillation isn't too hard.

[Simply Madeline]

Originally Posted by stalker

I'm surprised that a weatherman would make such a statement if he'd seen the footage.

I got the impression that the weatherman who said this (in Ohio) was not mentioning it in reference to the "UFO sighting" (in Milwaukee).

[GalateaDancer]

The movement you see in the video is the camera moving, not the aircraft or whatever the heck it is. According to my friend, it hovered for over 15 minutes
while they watched, and was still hanging out there when they decided to head home. I guess it could have been a helicopter, although no one could hear any engine noise.

[Singing in the Drizzle]

I may have seen the ISS fly over Saturday night. It was high, bright and moving fast. I did have a limited view thought the clearing in the trees. When I say high, it was high enough that there was no sound and higher than the trees. No real way to tell distance other than it was closer than the stars.

[stalker]

Originally Posted by Simply Madeline

I got the impression that the weatherman who said this (in Ohio) was not mentioning it in reference to the "UFO sighting" (in Milwaukee).

Aah, that makes sense!

Originally Posted by GalateaDancer

I guess it could have been a helicopter, although no one could hear any engine noise.

Was the weather quite still? Could it have been a chinese lantern? When I was camping this year at the British F1 GP we saw many of them. It would also fit with the "cylindrical" shape that is mentioned.

[Simply Madeline]

You're right, it looks like it could be a sky lantern! hmmm. Saturday Night? I'll bet someone released them at a wedding reception, and one of them got carried off a lot further than the others.

[Eddylizard]

It's waning now but in the eastern sky for the last month or more I've been seeing quite a bright object that looks quite a lot like this object if it were filmed through a fairly long focal length lens (not outrageously long, something a keen amateur might have) with shaky camerawork.

I wish I knew what it was. It's not the ISS if that's only supposed to be visible for a few minutes each night, this is visible for hours. I assume it's a planet but I don't know which one, knowing nothing about astronomy.

The flickering could be light cloud cover passing in front of it.

If it's not a planet then it must portend the Second Coming of Christ, or some aliens got lost, because there's bugger all in Tonbridge worth travelling halfway across the cosmos to visit.

[RCIAG]

Originally Posted by ricco1

Looks like a plane to me.

Ditto.

The lantern thing is another good option too.

[GalateaDancer]

Unless there's a plane out there that can sit in pretty much one place for over 15 minutes, it's not a plane.

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

It's waning now but in the eastern sky for the last month or more I've been seeing quite a bright object that looks quite a lot like this object if it were filmed through a fairly long focal length lens (not outrageously long, something a keen amateur might have) with shaky camerawork.

Ah ha! The video was taken by my friend's boyfriend, who is a amateur photographer (but is moving into the pro realm). I bet it's the sort of thing he would definitely have, especially since they were on the way home from a belly dance show that he was shooting.