131 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
131 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
SUBJECT: UFO ON THE DANISH NORTH SEA OIL FIELDS FILE: UFO2455
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* Originally In: FIDO Astronimy
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* Original To : Veikko Makela, 2:220/861
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* Original From: UUCP, 2:220/861
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* Original Date: Nov 11 10:24
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Date: 10 Nov 93 20:32 GMT
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From: DK0179@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Amtsgymnasiet,Sonderborg,DK,AGE)
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Subject: Important request
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ATTENTION, PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EUROPEAN AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS...
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A VERY BRIGHT OBJECT WAS OBSERVED RECENTLY ON THE NIGHT SKY BY A LARGE NUMBER
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OF OBSERVERS , PLACED ON THE DANISH NORTH SEA OIL FIELDS.
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THIS NIGHT, OCT. 20, EARLY MORNING HOURS, HAD A QUITE CLEAR SKY, FROST
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CONDITIONS. SOME AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS MIGHT HAVE BEEN OUTSIDE, PHOTOGRAPHING
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THE ORIONIDS, WHICH WHERE QUITE BEAUTIFUL, AND IN MAXIMUM , ON THAT TIME.
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ERIK HOEG, WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE ANY OBSERVATIONS, PHOTOS, ETC. OF THIS
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UNIDENTIFIED OBJECT, WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN CLEARLY VISIBLE FROM MOST OF
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NORTHERN EUROPE.
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MOGENS WINTHER, ASTRO BBS, + 45 74 426307
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REPLIES TO ERIK HOEG, ADRESS BELOW..
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OR APPLE LINK, DK0179.
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-------------
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Sub:
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A mysterious -9 mag object
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==========================
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The object `Tygorm'
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------------------
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An object near zenith was discovered and observed by the weatherman A
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on the Danish oil rig Tyra-East in the North Sea at position
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55 deg 43.5 m north, 04 deg 48.2 m east. The observation was taken
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between 3:50 and 5:15 UTC on 20 Oct 1993 and was reported to the
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present author from 7:00 UTC the same morning and in several phone
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conversations since then. Its integrated brightness was about -9 mag.
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I would be grateful for your assistance.
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It should have been seen from elsewhere since the night was quite
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clear and observers within a radius of 1000 km would have seen an
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object brighter than -6 mag at a zenithdistance of less than 60
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degrees.
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Observations
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The object was watched by observer A for 85 minutes, interrupted
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then by clouds. He saw a diffuse circular orange
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disk of the moon's diameter without structure, but he was much
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disturbed by background light from a big gas flame on the rig.
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He saw no change of brightness or appearance during that time.
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The ship Preventer 500 m
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south of Tyra was called by radio and the object was observed by
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officer B for about 60 minutes. He could see much structure which
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did not change during the time. It looked like a drop pushing a bow
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wave in front of its but end. A drawing will be provided to me.
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Both observers used naked eye and good binoculars. By binoculars A and
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B report to seeing a granular surface, a large number of small points
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inside the object.
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The object stayed at nearly constant distance to Capella which was seen
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at 10 degrees to WSW at 3:50 UT and at about 7 degrees at 5:15, the
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times of first and last sighting. This indicates a westward motion
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among the stars of 3 degrees in 85 minutes, although this figure is
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uncertain and could be zero. The first position is RA, Dec 1950 =
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6h 10m, +50.0 deg.
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The constant appearance and the celestial motion indicated an
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astronomical object, perhaps a comet. But a report to B. Marsden on the
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same morning did not bring any further observation, and it was
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concluded that the object must be local. This hypothesis has however
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led to no acceptable explanation of the phenomenon.
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The object was also observed by two persons, C and D, on the oil rig
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Gorm, 18 km south of Tyra who had overheard the radio conversation
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between A and B. They saw two orange drops close together, near zenith,
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both drops being about one square degree. From their
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drawings and from phone conversations the declination 48.0 deg and
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the same RA as above were derived. This corresponds to a parallax
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of -2 degrees. Permitting very generously a total error of 5 degrees,
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the maximum parallax is -2+5=3 deg, and the minimum altitude therefore
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340 km above sea level.
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The surface brightness was estimated by a simple visual photometer to
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one percent of of the moon. The photometry was obtained by A five
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days later on my proposal by watching the first quarter moon through
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the two acryl plates of an empty tape cassette. He estimated that
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the object was considerable brighter than the twice reflected
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image of the moon. Since this image has a surface brightness
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about 0.3 percent of the moon, the object has had a surface brightness
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about one percent of the moon. Since the integrated brightness of
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the full moon is -13 mag and the total area of the object
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was at least one square degree as seen by the other observers a
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total integrated brightness about -9 mag is inferred.
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No explanation found
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--------------------
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Explanations in terms of noctilucent clouds, chemical experimental
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clouds or space craft exhaust are not consistent with the long duration
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of constant appearance and the nearly constant position relative to the
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stars. Aurora seems to be excluded for the same reason and because
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their was no special event on 20 October. P. Suesmann, Deutsche Telekom,
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reports: The sun was quiet with no flares or other events,
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the geomagnetic field was unsettled and from the view of HF
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propagation there was nothing extraordinary as well.
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Sincerely yours Erik Hoeg
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Copenhagen University Observatory
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Oestervoldgade 3, DK 1350 Copenhagen K
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erik@astro.ku.dk Telex: 44155 danast
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Phone: +45 35 323999 FAX +45 35 323989 to Observatory
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Phone: +45 35 323975 directly to Hoeg
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--------------------- End of message -----------------------------
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**********************************************
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* THE U.F.O. BBS - http://www.ufobbs.com/ufo *
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********************************************** |