|
|
Read about the initial reports being talked about in the ABC.net.au article 'UFO spotted over eastern Australia.'
The article states, 'ABC News Online has received dozens of emails, pictures and videos from those who claim to have witnessed the huge white light.'
And, 'Some described it as a "lollipop-type swirl". Others say it hovered for a while before gradually moving in an eastern direction until it was out of sight. Those who saw the object say photos do not reflect how large it actually was.'
The unidentified flying object (UFO) was seen in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Queensland. However, it can easily be explained rationally and logically.
Initial responses from astronomers and scientists stated that the UFO was most likely space junk, a satellite, or a rocket.
Page two continues with further details of the scientific explanation.
|
Dr. Whyatt added, 'So possibly a rocket, I would say, having some sort of gyroscopic stability rocket fired on its side.'
Later, a blog from Discover Magazine reports ('Oh, those Falcon UFOs!') that is most likely the source of the UFO: the Falcon 9 rocket that was launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, by the private company SpaceX.
As reported by the June 5, 2010 iTWire article Falcon 9 maiden flight lifts off, 'At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, June 4, 2010, the privately funded Falcon 9 rocket was launched successfully into space from its space pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida.'
The liftoff time of 2:45 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) in Florida corresponds to an 18:45 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on Friday, June 4, 2010. This time also corresponds to 4:45 a.m. on Saturday morning (June 5, 2010) in Sydney, Australia.
The blogger for Discover magazine performed a ground track (path taken by an object in orbit about Earth as seen projected on Earth's surface) for the Falcon 9 rocket and discovered that the flight path for the rocket went right over eastern Australia. See the ground track on the Discover blog. Forty-five to sixty minutes after liftoff (4:45 a.m. Sydney) would have corresponded to to 5:30 to 5:45 a.m. local time in Sydney. An average orbit takes approximately 90 minutes, depending of the specific altitude above Earth's surface.
Page three concludes.
|
The first stage, with nine rockets propelling it from the launch pad, had earlier separated'”leaving only the second stage, with one rocket to propel it into orbit, left attached to the payload, a Dragon capsule with a dummy cargo package onboard.
The Discover magazine blog states, 'The spiral pattern seen in Norway is known to be from gas leaking out of the booster. As the booster spins and the gas shoots out, it makes a water-sprinkler spiral pattern in the sky. As it happens, the second stage of the Falcon 9 was rotating; this was not supposed to happen and the SpaceX engineers are looking into it (it didn't affect the launch adversely; the payload achieved orbit).'
The blogger for Discover magazine also goes into rational and logical detail explaining all the reasons why the UFOers are incorrect about the object being an 'unidentified flying object' (UFO).
In essence, the blogger states that the object is a 'uniquely Falcon object,' still with the acronym of 'UFO,' but much better explained than an alien spacecraft or other mysterious object.
The Discover blogger actually calls it the following: 'I think we have a pretty good idea that we actually do have a UFO here, as long as it's an Ãœbercool Falcon (in) Orbit.'
