# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@A\_Spoonful\_of\_Awesome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Spoonful_of_Awesome)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/21 "2009-12-10T15:34:50Z")
[The answer](http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/12/10/world/international-us-russia-missile-failure.html) At least, that’s what _they_ are telling us… ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/22 "2009-12-10T15:45:31Z")
Missile launch failure, as reported in the news. Russia actually announced the launch beforehand. No mystery here unless you want there to be. [Link](http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/6573407/russian-missile-fails-visible-in-norway-reports/) ---
**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, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/23 "2009-12-10T15:46:25Z")
[Previous thread in GQ.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=543149) Check the link in post #57 for an explanation; failed Russian sub-launched missle. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/24 "2009-12-10T15:50:35Z")
Giant anal probe? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/25 "2009-12-10T15:56:38Z")
Wow, that’s looks pretty weird, whatever it is. I would guess it was a hoax if it wasn’t being reported all over the press with lots of different footage. It doesn’t look like a missile to me, but I don’t have any other explanation. On preview, OK, maybe it is a missile… ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4bbf92/32.png) [@Darth\_Hamsandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Hamsandwich)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/26 "2009-12-10T16:27:09Z")
Heh, I’ve heard all sorts of crazy theories on what it could of been, the most prevalent being that someone at CERN was fooling with the particle accelerator and opened up a wormhole. However, I had a talk with a buddy of mine who who develops rocket guidance systems (among other things), and he guaranteed it was a Russian launch that went bad. Where did the spiral effect come from? He explained it here: > [@](#): > > First, it depends on if the control system was completely open-loop or if it continued trying to close its guidance loop in the face of a failure. Guidance and control laws are purposefully symmetric with respect to their desired flight path and the feedback they use to stabilize on that path. Missiles are even more aerodynamically symmetrical than airplanes (they have both X-Y and X-Z symmetry, whereas airplanes only have X-Z symmetry). Oscillatory malfunctions in aerospace vehicles are the most common from a standpoint of not being able to detect them readily. A thrust vector controller for a missle gimbals the exhaust nozzle in both the X-Y and X-Z planes to control the flight path. But the total zone of travel for a thrust vector controller makes the shape of a cone. Guess what pattern the flight path would take if the thrust vector controller experienced an oscillatory failure? Yep…spiral. He even provided a pic that displays the dramatic effect sunset launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base often look like: [http://contrailscience.com/wp-content/uploads/minuteman3\_young.jpg](http://contrailscience.com/wp-content/uploads/minuteman3_young.jpg) So unfortunately, we won’t be seeing Gordon Freeman doing battle with extra-dimensional creatures anytime soon. Which kinda sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/27 "2009-12-10T17:37:48Z")
Here is one of our failures. [![](https://www.tonyrogers.com/images/weapons/trident_missile_misfire_lg.jpg) ](https://www.tonyrogers.com/images/weapons/trident_missile_misfire_lg.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/28 "2009-12-10T19:38:55Z")
I’ve merged **Matthew Gerlach** ’s thread (started in GD) with this older one from MPSIMS. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/29 "2009-12-10T20:45:37Z")
Eddies in the space-time continuum. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/30 "2009-12-10T21:00:40Z")
And this is his sofa? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/31 "2009-12-10T21:03:42Z")
… And just before Obama traveled to Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize … Hmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Vorlon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@The\_Vorlon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Vorlon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/32 "2009-12-10T22:52:06Z")
Open the Jumpgate! ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2009, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650/33 "2009-12-10T22:53:55Z")
Am I the only one who wants the Russians to figure out how, exactly, they can do it again, on demand? It looks totally awesome. That would be a killer finale to a fireworks display. (Like at EPCOT center!) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-luminous-spiral-over-arctic-norway-wtf-is-this/520650.md?page=1)