# Giant luminous spiral over arctic Norway - WTF is this?? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 9, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650 "2009-12-09T22:57:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/1 "2009-12-09T22:57:05Z")
[Story and picture here](http://friendfeed.com/spaceastro/f722dab5/in-arctic-norway-onlookers-were-stunned-when). It’s not a meteor or any form of known atmospheric optics. Wild. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/2 "2009-12-09T23:02:46Z")
Huh. I’ll wait for a reputable English-language source before passing judgment, but that looks almost too strange to be real. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/3 "2009-12-09T23:05:14Z")
That pic isn’t very accurate. [This HuffPo article has a video of the spiral](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/09/ufo-over-norway-residents_n_385810.html)- a lot smaller than that photo but still just as bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/4 "2009-12-09T23:06:19Z")
It appears to be either a wormhole or a jumpgate. Lock & load, just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/5 "2009-12-09T23:06:33Z")
According to [spaceweather.com](http://spaceweather.com/), it’s probably a malfunctioning ICBM launched from a Russian sub. Why the Russians are launching ICBMs is another question altogether. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/6 "2009-12-09T23:18:38Z")
More pictures [here.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1234430/Mystery-spiral-blue-light-display-hovers-Norway.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0ZCOomAQa) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/7 "2009-12-09T23:22:56Z")
[Link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543149)to question in GQ. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/8 "2009-12-09T23:27:44Z")
Three words: Giga. Drill. Breaker. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/9 "2009-12-09T23:31:51Z")
_Bets a dollar on the ‘Griswald Santa Sleigh’ at 1000 to 1_ ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/10 "2009-12-09T23:32:22Z")
It looks like IASA astronaut John Crichton has finally made it back to Erp, I call dibs on Chiana 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/11 "2009-12-09T23:42:59Z")
Is it so wrong to want to put the video on a loop, light some incense, turn down the lights, listen to _All Along the Watchtower_ and um…destroy some evidence of a misdemeanor offense, if any happened to be laying around anywhere… ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/12 "2009-12-09T23:45:10Z")
It’s clearly someone beaming the away team back up to the ship. Sometimes the transporter can do that, if you beam someone through a patch of ice fog crystals. ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/13 "2009-12-10T00:00:34Z")
There’s a prior thread over on GQ about this: [A light in the sky in northern Norway - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543149) ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/14 "2009-12-10T08:16:01Z")
We’re screwed, people: [Uzumaki - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uzumaki) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/15 "2009-12-10T08:43:38Z")
Crikey. Had it not been documented by multiple witnesses, I’d have said it was an obvious photoshop. My hypotheses: – The blue line is the trail of the rocket ascending, or an intense beam of light being projected on the centre of the spiral from the ground. – The spiral could be the result of a chemical rocket spinning like a catherine wheel, ejecting a trail of gases from a central point (expanding from the centre). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/16 "2009-12-10T14:27:43Z")
After watching the video, it seems pretty clear to me that someone pulled the stopper on the universe’s drain. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/17 "2009-12-10T14:44:42Z")
Jeez, I can’t believe no one’s picked up on the obvious answer. It’s quite clearly the LHC. It just managed to create a big of a larger black hole than they anticipated, and the LHC wasn’t able to send an event back in time to stop it from happening. Basically, the LHC messed up and it’s probably sorry, but it’s working on the spin right now and it will assuredly come out that it was indeed that Russian missile. Or a weather balloon. Or really energetic swamp gas bubbles. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/18 "2009-12-10T15:08:09Z")
I take back every derisive comment I’ve ever made about cheap, corny scfi visual effects. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/19 "2009-12-10T15:12:38Z")
[Bill Murray] Oh, I know what that is. [/Bill Murray] ---
**Author:** ![MatthewGerlach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@MatthewGerlach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MatthewGerlach)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/20 "2009-12-10T15:24:18Z")
Today, whilst on NewScientist, I read an article on an apparent blue light over Northern Norway. It has got this perfect circular, vortex shape from what appears to be some kind of ray proceding into its centre. After this, it suddenly ‘vanished’. Theories ranging from meteors to UFOs were presented, although as always the media has a taste for making the impossible seem possible. An astrophysicists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center said it was a missile launch failure. However, it hasn’t quite convinced me even though they attempted to explain it. Can anyone present me with a convincing explanation, and, if not, what it could’ve been. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650.md?page=2)