CNN's 'MYSTERY BALL' STORY
December 17, 1996
Source: CNN Interactive's Sci-Tech Area
It's a bird, it's a
plane, it's a
mystery ball!
December 17, 1996
Web posted at: 2:30 a.m. EST
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A
mysterious glowing ball of light traveling
1/100th the speed of light has been
spotted and videotaped in the earth's
upper atmosphere, but what it is has
scientists puzzled.
Brief footage of the image, which appeared for about 3/100th of a
second at an estimated height of 80 kilometers, was presented
publicly for the first time Monday at the fall meeting of the
American Geophysical Union.
In a six-frame sequence, the object can clearly be seen crossing
upwards and left across the field of view, while retaining its shape
and intense glow.
"It's the first and only event of this kind photographed to my
knowledge," said Dr. Dean A. Morss, assistant professor of
Atmospheric Sciences at Creighton University in Nebraska. Morss
is heading a research project designed to videotape luminous
electrical phenomena, called sprites, in the upper atmosphere.
'Clearly moving'
Scientists were observing a region of thunderstorm activity in
western Kansas from a ground observation point in Nebraska
when the mystery ball appeared. Navy Lt. Paul McCrone, a
graduate student at Creighton, videotaped the image on August 22,
using equipment on loan to the university from Los Alamos
National Laboratory.
"It's clearly something that does not have any mass. The angular
speed is too fast to be anything at orbital velocity," said Morris B.
Pongratz, a scientist with Los Alamos National Laboratory who
has examined the tape. "This guy is clearly moving."
Morss and his colleagues maintain the ball's tremendous speed and
apparent lack of mass eliminate many commonly proffered
explanations for unknown objects sighted in the atmosphere.
"People are seeing new forms, new shapes, all sorts of new
phenomena," Morss said. "It's not traditional meteorology."
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