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Post by Nate on Apr 19, 2008 15:34:24 GMT -6
I have to admit that I have only been up to Paulding once. I know I was in the right place because it is the same place that is shown on the youtube videos and I was there with my friend Phil, yes the same one who started this post. (Hey, Phil. How's the UP atm?). What I saw that night was headlights. I know it was. From reading alot of the posts on this page, seeing something different would be very intersting, but what is shown on the youtube videos is not anything that cannot be explained by physics. I should know, I teach physics. The most impressive videos are the ones where the light gets really big and seemes to glow and even flicker a little. I see how someone without a knowledge of optics could be anazed by the light, but I want to point out something about those videos: Notice how the image is blurry, like it is foggy. If this is so, light which usually travels in a straight line (yes, it diffracts and is influenced by gravitational forces) can bounce off the water and dust particles in the air and appear to come from a large source and even appear to come from a closer source. This is similar to why the shy is blue. Also, the flickering can be caused by refraction; light moving thorough different densities of air. You can see the same thing when you look at the stars in the sky. Stars do not really twinkle, but the light from them bends as is moves through the different layers of our atmosphere.
So, I have only seen car headlights, and what I have seen on youtube videos, can all be car headlights. As Phil sais, I hope to someday see something different.
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