[AstroNet] Fireballs over Harrismith

[Allen Versfeld]

If anybody's curious to see Riaan's footage of the apparition, he's
uploaded it into youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfL3Ia9883M
Thanks to Claire Flanagan for suggesting we look into Chinese Lanterns -
from photo's and video's I've found, I'd say we have our answer!

Regards
Allen Versfeld
http://www.urban-astronomer.com


On 2 November 2011 16:30, Allen Versfeld <allen.versfeld at gmail.com> wrote:

> Riaan van Greuning mailed me about a series of bright lights he saw in the
> sky above Harrismith on Sunday night, which he initially described as a
> series of fireballs.  I've had a few ideas as to what they might be, but
> none seem to quite fit the bill (aircraft with lights above the clouds, car
> headlights lighting up the clouds from beneath, fireworks from diwali,
> rocket launches passing over SA) for one reason or another.  You can read
> his description in the attached message below.
>
> Has anybody else received reports of this, or does anybody have
> suggestions as to what it is Riaan might have seen?  He is busy uploading
> the video he recorded onto youtube, and will provide the link as soon as it
> is complete.  He originally sent me a series of screenshots from the video,
> which I can pass on to anybody who's interested, although I'm not sure how
> useful they will be - they just show indistinct patches of bright
> orange-tinted light.
>
> Regards
> Allen Versfeld
>
> ------- Forwarded message -------
> From: "Van Greuning, Riaan" <Riaan.VanGreuning at afgri.co.za>
> To: "Allen Versfeld" <allen.versfeld at gmail.com>
> Cc:
> Subject: RE: Re:
> Date: Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:49:32 +0200
>
>  The pictures are snapshots from a video that I took of the appearance.
> It was cloudy but it was mostly not behind the clouds.
> They were all moving approximately at the same speed, I would say
> according to the time and distance
> About 300km/h, but that is just a guess. It seem to appear from the North
> and not the North horizon and
> It disappeared through the clouds to the south. There was a slight curve
> in the movement but no sudden direction changes.
> The shape stayed the same large, round and bright as in the photos. You
> could actually see that it is burning.
> There were no sound at all. The first one we saw was 22h00 and lasted for
> about 1min,from the time we noticed it.
> Five minutes later we saw another one and it also lasted for about a
> minute from the time we noticed it
> Then we went outside and waited with the hope we saw another. About 10 min
> passed.
> Then two appeared and moved together for about 1min 30sec then they start
> to split , as they moved on another appeared
> This one moved in the same pattern as the others but appeared bigger and
> you could see the burning and flames more clearly.
> I would like to send you the video but it is too big to e-mail.
> I took it with my cell 12mpixel.I'll see if I can compress it to reduce
> the size.
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Allen Versfeld [mailto:allen.versfeld at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 10:57
> To: Van Greuning, Riaan
> Subject: Re:
>
> Hi Riaan
>
> Those pictures are very interesting, but I'm afraid I can't tell much from
> them. They seem a little blurry, but I can't tell if they're behind
> clouds, or if it's just the usual result of a normal camera trying to
> auto-focus in darkness (night-time photography and astro-photography is
> pretty specialised - you're working at light levels that most professional
> photographers simply don't know how to deal with).
> Could you give me an idea of how fast they were moving? Did they travel
> all the way from the north horizon to the south, or did they change
> direction, start at one point, fade away, or anything else like that?
> Were they bright points like stars, or large objects with a shape and size?
>
> The times you gave - 22h00 to 22h22 - do you mean that you saw them at
> some point between those times, or that they came at intervals between
> those exact times? In other words, did the show last 22 minutes?
>
>
>
> On Wed, 02 Nov 2011 10:03:39 +0200, Van Greuning, Riaan
> <Riaan.VanGreuning at afgri.co.za> wrote:
>
> >
> > Good day
> > Can you tell me what is on the photo's.
> > I captured this Sunday night in Harrismith.
> > I saw five of these fireballs between 22h00 and 22h22 moving from North
> > to South.
> > Thank you
> >
> > Riaan van Greuning
> > Electrical Technician
> > AFGRI Operations Limited
> > Tel: +27 12 974 2525
> > Fax: +27 86 635 2462
> > Mobile: +27 71 679 3533
> > E-mail:
> > Riaan.VanGreuning at afgri.co.za<mailto:Riaan.VanGreuning at afgri.co.za>
> > Website: www.afgri.co.za<http://www.afgri.co.za/><http://www.afgri.co.za%3Chttp://www.afgri.co.za/%3E>
> > [cid:image001.jpg at 01CAFB19.D0B70550]
>
>
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