I live in Monterey, CA and was having a cookout on the beach the night of the missle test. We (about 10 or so of us) saw a bright light light moving across the sky for about 10 to 12 seconds (after it was spotted) then it sort of …well, exploded is not the right word. Part of it expanded - like a fire work - and the light continued across the sky until it was finally obscured by clouds. The interesting thing ,though, was at the place it ‘exploded’ there was a green glow in the sky that lasted about 45 minutes. I didn’t think we should be able to see the rocket from where we were, but I’ll give you that. however, what I want to know is: what was the green glow and was (is) it dangerous? In addition to our group there was a beachfull of witnesses. Is there cancer in my future?
I don’t know if this is the same as what you saw, but I’ve seen glowing clouds in the sky a few times. The one’s I’ve seen were white and red, but they can be other colors, I believe.
Anyway, I really don’t know the details at all, but what I saw was some gas they release in order to do some atmospheric tests before they launch a rocket or missile, I think.
I saw a similar test in progress about a year and a half ago, and I remember seeing the missile rise, and I saw a circle of light expand from around the missile at one point. A little like ripples from a drop of water falling into a pond. The glow definitely didn’t last 45 minutes though.
I don’t really know, but I thought the ripple might be the spot where it exited the thicker layers of the atmosphere.
I would imagine the green glow (and most other glowing clouds) are a reflection of light from elsewhere and are not dangerous.
I saw something just like you and wevets described, well exactly like wevets described except the green glow was shaped like a rectangle and lasted about 30 mins. It was not reflected off of the clouds, and as the moon moved it did not. I didn’t know if it was a missle or not so I kept my pie-hole shut. Don’t want to be affiliated with those Ufologist you understand. But it has been bugging me. I can’t believe TTM can’t come up with something better!
I saw a green light shoot slowly across the sky here in Tennessee a while back. It was not completely dark, but evening light. My dad and I were sure it was a really unusual shooting star because it started small then burned out. But it was slow and so bright that we noticed it from inside the truck while driving. The glow that you saw for the next 45 minutes wouldn’t fall under that probable answer, though; even citing that a meteor shower is underway through mid-late august.
Well, I can offer some partial explanations, at least. Cabbage, approximately where do you live? Someplace reasonably rural, and north of, say, 40[sup]o[/sup], I’m guessing? And was it nighttime when you saw those glowing clouds? Because if so, it sounds like the Northern Lights. backpack_joe, if by “a while back”, you mean several years (don’t remember the date), then yes, that was a meteor. Thousands of folks in the Eastern US, including myself, saw a very bright, slow-moving, intense green meteor that night, which ultimately hit somewhere in New York, if memory serves me correctly.
I have no idea about the OP, though, other than to say that there have been some tests done of the Missile Defense System that’s in the works, and they’ve been making the test missile increasingly obvious, in an effort to finally get the countermissile to recognize it and prove that it’d be perfectly capable of identifying a hostile, stealthy missile with no intention of cooperating. It’s a possibility.
I’ve read about these, but never seen them . Apparently, they are VEY high clouds-so high (60,000 feet) that they can catch the sun hours before or after sunrise/sunset.
Chronos:
No, it wasn’t the northern lights, there was an article about it in the paper, which is how I have a general idea of what it was. I tried doing a search to find out more about it, but apparently I don’t know enough about what it’s called to pick anything up.
I was in southwest VA when I saw it, and according to the article, the glowing clouds had been put up there by some folks around Norfolk (I don’t know if it was the military or NASA). It was some kind of test (atmospheric, I would assume) that they were doing before a rocket/missile launch (IIRC), but that’s about all I know.
It definitely wasn’t at the same time as the missile launch, so it may not have been what the OP was referring to.
Probably not related to your lights in the sky, last year I kept witnessing bright orange lights which seemed to be 10-20 miles across the county. They were only visible from an open field or a high place. Sometimes there would be 3-4 in the same vicinity where each one would eventually die out after 30-45 minutes. Later I was told what these were. The military base in Clarksville, TN was working to clean up after the tornados that hit the downtown area. Flares to light up the ground below were some how shot up and suspended in mid air until they burned out. I was seeing them from over 60 miles away. How do those things hang up there?
-clint
Y’know, come to think of it, I have heard something about a NASA experiment that used sounding rockets to disperse a glowing material in the upper atmosphere. If I recall correctly, it was as simple as just trying to track the air currents… If I can remember where I read about it, and find it, I’ll try to let you know.
They are atmospheric experiments.
The material is Barium. It produces a green glow when it reacts with the ionized layer of the atmosphere.
Just such a launch almost caused WWIII a few years ago. The Kremlin did not pass on the launch schedule to the Russian Strategic Rocket forces. Yeltsin had his finger on the button and decided to wait to see if one of his cities came up missing before he pressed it.
His reasoning was that there should be more than one missile in an attack. Good thing he was in charge, and not some hot-head.
thank you, madd1.