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Russian Rocket Spiral
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:21 pm
by BSPhysics
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldne ... orway.html
Here is quite possibly the best UFO evah. Any rocket scientists in the house that can analyze this one?
BS
Re: Russian Rocket Spiral
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:39 pm
by Luzr
IMO, looks like failed missile.
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:43 pm
by Betruger
It is - RSM-56 Bulava ICBM launched from a Typhoon-class submarine.
http://www.frisnit.com/cgi-bin/navtex/v ... 9&type=24H
Oops.. link doesn't seem to work anymore. It used to say
ZCZC FA79
031230 UTC DEC 09
COASTAL WARNING ARKHANGELSK 94
SOUTHERN PART WHITE SEA
1.ROCKET LAUNCHING 2300 07 DEC TO 0600 08 DEC
09 DC 0200 TO 0900 10 DEC 0100 TO 0900
NAVIGATION PROHIBITED IN AREA
65-12.6N 036-37.0E 65-37.2N 036-26.0E
66-12.3N 037-19.0E 66-04.0N 037-47.0E
66-03.0N 038-38.0E 66-06.5N 038-55.0E
65-11.0N 037-28.0E 65-12.1N 036-49.5E
THEN COASTAL LINE 65-12.2N 036-47.6E
2. CANCEL THIS MESSAGE 101000 DEC=
NNNN
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 9:44 pm
by Skipjack
Thats what Phil Plait also guessed.
His guess sure is better than mine (some weird variation of an aurora, or something), so I would say it sounds plausible.
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:02 pm
by DeltaV
The blue corkscrew looks like the trail of a coning (precessing) rocket, launched from the far side of the mountain, travelling generally away from the camera, perhaps spewing out smoke/fog for use as a projection screen. The whitish spiral looks just like the news article says, a computer generated image. I'd guess the extent of the anomaly is a few kilometers at most. Advanced hobbyists having fun with the locals?
[Edit] Could be a failed missile too, but why (1) does it look like it launched from just over the top of the hill, (2) why does the big spiral look so uniform, and (3) why does a cone of white light seem to originate from the launch point? Is the Russian test site that close?
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 10:29 pm
by DeltaV
Enhancing the big spiral with photoshop suggests the spiral arms lie on a cone or spindle surface instead of a plane. Maybe two species of rocket exhaust molecules, one that travels farther/faster that the other (the slower one being the blue corkscrew)?
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:15 pm
by Tom Ligon
That's pretty spectacular.
Near my area is Wallops Island, a NASA sounding rocket launch site. Since I was a kid they have periodically launched rockets that deployed flourescent or phosphorescent compounds for various atmospheric studies. I've yet to have decent visibility when one of these launches was announced, but they're supposed to be very noticable.
Possibly this is some similar experiment, and they controlled the rocket to deliberately disperse the compound?
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:36 pm
by Betruger
http://rofl.wheresthebeef.co.uk/Corkscrew%20Missile.jpg
DeltaV - Russian confirmation that it's a sea-launched Bulava missile.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:05 am
by D Tibbets
A few speculations. I have seen a video of a US launch of an intercept missle (THAAD?) that spiraled upward for several revolutions before streaking off for it's target. I don't know if this was for calibration purposes, sensing purposes, or used to disguise the launch point. In the Russion missle, perhaps a similar purpose for the spiral. Or, it may have been a test to disperse gas/plasma to interfere with a boost phase intercept effort of a potential enemy, either with a rocket or laser. Or perhaps a spinup of the warhead bus in order to disperse MIRVs over a wide area. Or, perhaps...
Dan Tibbets
Re: Russian Rocket Spiral
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:07 am
by Diogenes
I think I know exactly what it was. Some Leftwing Green wackos with a blue laser light show attempting to generate interest in the Copenhagen conference.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 12:36 am
by Betruger
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 9:06 am
by DeltaV
Wow, that last youtube video really shows how much the plume expands once you get out of the lower atmosphere. Failed missile it is, then.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:01 pm
by Aero
Why do you think it failed? Maybe it is spin stablized.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:16 pm
by Tom Ligon
Why do I think it failed?
Supposedly Buzz Aldrin was present at a public test of a low-budget civilian rocket one day, when one of the hold-down bolts failed and the rocket fell on its side and blew up. He turned to the press and said ...
"Welcome to the rocket business."
Why did it fail? It was a rocket.
Control system screwup. Stuck actuator. Broken wire. Busted nozzle. For starters. Or maybe it was intentional, to increase the feeling of adventure for people paying for trips to the ISS?
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 4:52 pm
by Aero
Tom good answer but not to the point of the question. Maybe that is what it is supposed to look like from that angle. Let me restate the question, "Why do you think it failed?" as follows.
"By what logic do you conclude the the observation was of a failure mode, as opposed to observation along the z-axis of normal operation of a spin stabilized rocket under power?"
