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Subscribe to RSSA video posted to YouTube on Thursday shows the kind of space spiral usually associated with a missile launch.
A swirling spiral of light seen in the skies over Israel, Syria and other Middle East countries on Thursday night has been linked to a Russian intercontinental ballistic missile test.
Hundreds of Israelis jammed police hotlines with reports of the unidentified flying object, according to Ynetnews. Sighting reports came from Lebanon and even Armenia and Turkey. Versions of the video, captioned in Arabic, began appearing on YouTube.
Some of the reports that popped up on Twitter suggested that the lights in the sky were seen as a good omen for Syria's revolution. Others worried that it was a bad omen for Syria, potentially signaling the use of chemical weapons.
The actual explanation is almost certainly more mundane: The Voice of Russia reported that the country's Strategic Missile Forces conducted a test of the Topol ICBM from the Kapustin Yar firing range near Astrakhan in southern Russia on Thursday. Such a launch could theoretically be seen from areas of the Middle East and the Caucasus.
Citing a report from RIA Novosti, the radio service said the missile "accurately hit its target" in a Kazakh firing range. However, Ynetnews quoted Yigal Pat-El, chairman of the Israel Astronomical Association, as saying the missile "most likely spun out of control, and its remnants and the fuel was what people saw."
The video was reminiscent of other "space spirals" that occur when rocket stages release burning fuel as they spin. One such spiral was sighted over Norway in 2009, and turned out to be caused by a failed ballistic missile test. In that case, the missile that went awry was a Bulava ICBM, launched from a submarine in the White Sea.
Another spiral was sighted in Russia the following night and captured on video. That one was caused by a Topol missile test, but the test was reported as a success. At the time, NBC News space analyst James Oberg said he had indications that the Topol's "third-stage spin is a 'feature,' not a malfunction, and may be associated with guidance, or decoy deploy, or enhancing hardness against U.S. boost-phase antimissile weapons."
Update for 3 p.m. ET June 8: In an email, Oberg says the video appears to show the normal ascent of a Russian ICBM. Here's his explanation:
"The 'spiral' does not look to me to be a sign of a 'failed missile test' — it has been a common visual feature of Russian missile launches for more than 30 years and seems associated with a roll maneuver to 'dump' unwanted surplus thrust for short-range test flights. Since you can't shut down a solid fuel rocket early, you need to find a way to dump thrust so you don't overshoot a target.
"One way is to open portals on the sides of the rocket as it burns — sending much of the thrust out to the sides. Two opposite facing portals are usually installed, to counterbalance the thrust and not knock it off course.
"A careful analysis of the infamous 'Norway spiral' several years ago shows twin plumes emerging from the central object, in opposite directions. An alternate method is just to pitch the rocket off 'straight ahead' and then corkscrew, so as to spray some of the thrust off to the sides and keep your speed down to what you really need. Otherwise you'll overshoot your intended target.
"This launch was from the Volga River Kapustin Yar test range, active since 1947, but ICBM tests are infrequent. Direction was east, headed for the Sary Shagan impact zone in Kazakhstan, normally used only for testing anti-missile radars and interceptor missiles. That's hardly more than 2,000 kilometers away, so the test clearly wasn't of the missile itself but of its warhead's 'penaids' — penetration aids to frustrate tracking and targeting by U.S. anti-missile systems. This would result in a very unusual trajectory to get up to full ICBM speed without overshooting the target zone — probably lofted a lot higher than normal and then headed back down towards the target zone while still thrusting.
"The range from Kazakhstan to Israel isn't that great — the missile got 'above the horizon' from Israel pretty quickly, even with Earth's curvature.
"Another contributing factor: It's June — near the time of the 'midnight sun' in northern latitudes. That means sunlight is streaming over the pole, throughout the night. Something in the northern sky above the atmosphere over Kazakhstan would be backlit by that sunlight.
"These 'accidental' factors combined to make this show possible. And the widespread availability of pocket camcorders made recording it much more common than in the past."
Other rocket-related UFO sightings:
- December 2009: Another 'UFO' from Russia
- January 2010: Did missile test spark Chinese UFO sightings?
- June 2010: 'UFO' over Australia was likely caused by SpaceX rocket
Tip o' the Log to Huffington Post's Craig Kanalley. Twitter updates on the sighting are using the hashtag #MideastUFO.
Alan Boyle is msnbc.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Wow, Russia's second night time spiral, they must have big problems or some one is sending us or someone a message
Likely a stage jettisoned than spiraling.
Get ready for the next arms race. This was a likely "answer" to the late proposed "missile defense" system over Europe by the US.
Russian News Release: The great Russian Army has successfully tested one of our peaceful nuclear delivery systems with great satisfaction. It worked flawlessly and hit the intended target.........SPACE......and it performed a victory spiral as a show of our unique design capabilities.
See no little green men, no space ships.. No matter how many wish to believe so Bad any and all of these occurrences can be explained. Its the wild imagination that leads to martians and alien abductions.
Crossfit, it's always your choice to believe in anything or not. Funny how we can convict someone for life on the testimony of one flaky witness, but if you have over 3000 living and lucid witnesses including myself and a Boeing Aerospace engineer friend of mine (to the 1980 to 1983 Hudson Valley Sightings, look it up) we still find it too uncomfortable to accept something beyond the limits of our own imagination.
Red Dawn, incoming.
Bet all the AlQueda operatives ducked for cover over there
If only Russia did not have ANOTHER ICBM that had guidance issues over the Baltic sea a couple of years ago, if I remember right that had the EXACT same spiral. People saw the missile from several hundred miles away due to the altitude it was at when the failure occurred. The missile is doing a high altitude fuel dump since a failure has occurred so that is may fall to earth without being a potential bomb.
It was seen over Norway in 2009.
Will someone fix that leaky faucet already?!
The Stormville Flyers perhaps ? Or just another secret military plane testing. Until we have a UFO land and some aliens get out and great us or kill us, I will be a skeptic. Its all about perspective.
"Some of the reports that popped up on Twitter suggested that the lights in the sky were seen as a good omen for Syria's revolution. Others worried that it was a bad omen for Syria, potentially signaling the use of chemical weapons."
Wow, I thought this is 2012, not the 1200s.
Omens, ETs same type of thinking.
People in Syria are still in the 1200s
It was the finger of God pointing toward the bear. The apocalypse is at hand... ;-)
We're no better. This country is comprised of a bunch of religious freaks.
Doesn't take a religious freak to imagine something like HAARP or some secret weather control or Project Blue Beam or little green men from the moon. You ought to try being a little less judgmental of total strangers...
They have to also sacrifice a virgin for it to work.
Right....Believe in God...that nobodys seen....but DON"T believe in U.F.O.s that millions have seen...or Harp...in Alaska (been seen)....or that NON EXISTENT...Area 51...thats also been seen! Ron White is right...."You just can't fix STUPID! Believe what your told...not what you see! What's is your definition of a dumb ass?
Amazing...still dealing with a barbaric, superstisious 6th century society in the 2,000's.
The rocket separated a stage, and with some remaining propellant, and unstable, it
started to spiral. Fini
I thought "Iron Dome" was perfected and could stop all attacks, including one's from little green men.
This post allowed me to stumble on a video that I had never seen before when I clicked on the highlighted "captured on video" , which got me close to it ....
This is a Russian craft from around 1966 ....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=WlEt0bCeTy8
I hope this link works when I post it ....
I thought it was great ....
They should add something like those failed missile launches in fire works shows ....
Thanks Alan ....
Cool I've seen it before. It must have a major flaw otherwise they would put it in production.
That's a ground effect vehicle.
It skids along on the compression of air under it.
It might work on smooth water, but put it in a rough ocean and it's going to get real squirrely.
What a load of CRAP.... this is no UFO... its HAARP in action.
get a clue people....
Not another conspiracy theorist. HAARP is a basic science research of the uppermost portion of the atmosphere, called the ionosphere, nothing more.
Uhm no, Glad to hear that you know what the top layer of our atmosphere is called but im still not convinced that youre college educated!
and the federal reserve is just a basic credit union, nothing more.
Exactly. People need to get a clue and open their minds. What happened in Norway was not an out of control missile either. Thank goodness we are finally getting some intelligent posts here !!
LOL, Sorry Starcloud. You post makes too much sense mixed in with madness. Let them scare each other.
It's a UFO to those who haven't identified it.
Then its an IFO
starcloud
You better do some more research about HAARP. You are not telling the truth.
UFO, IFO someone is makin some news up. Give me some evidence of something already. It's Russia or China who should we blame the Myans, someone, give me somethin. BUWAHAHAHA
Starcloud:
HAARP is NOT basic science research.... and there is no conspiracy about it.... I suppose the chemtrails in the sky you on a clear day, that remain there for hours are what ? .... Clouds ? Jet Contrails ?
You might think of shutting off the 6:00 news, and start thinking for yourself, instead of always believing what you are told.
Hence... get a clue.....
seriously
Tin foil works. Or Aliens are really after me. Not sure which.
So then this scientific article is what, written by aliens or the CIA to fool everyone?
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-jets-leave-a-white
All scientists are now part of the global conspiracy to fool us, you know, because they are poisoning us slowly? Is the Area 51 story not good enough these days, that we have to dream up other fantasies? Really people, educate yourselves and stop reading so many internet conspiracy sites. Its scary...
I don't want to feel like I'm picking on your conspiracy theorists, but here is an explanation on HAARP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAARP
Notice the second section explaining the frequencies. If any of you ever decided to educate yourselves, you'd know that these frequency signals are relatively low, and are similar to radio frequencies used today in FM (Frequency Modulation). Blasting frequencies through the ionosphere to a satellite and bouncing it back has NO dramatic effect on us or our environment. Otherwise your radio would have killed you long ago. But if you disagree with what I just said, then please explain it to me in scientific terms. I don't want to hear any "oh its scary, beware" garbage, I want scientific evidence that this is in any way scary.
BigBen cool video! ..........Would be fun water skiing behind that puppy!
Thanks ....
Glide slides or hydro sliding is a blast ....
I would do that behind it for a few hours ....
Hi Ben,
I agree about your video. Damn was that baby gliding!
Wow, I guess the Russians are not happy about Syria and help that may be going to them soon. Sounds like a good idea to see how Russia is doing over Syria and backlashes that may happen over helping the rebels there. Russia has had some problems as of late and does not want any new problems I'd think. The problem is that a lot of reports are saying that Syrian troops are not well and are acting out of code of behavior among the global community. I guess people will wait even more but Russia will have to give in if these unarmed civilian deaths continue, people don’t like to hear of death in such ways and not do any thing when it is very easy to help but that a super power is in the way. Money is one thing but if all it will do is be destroyed then why the trouble. I think everyone knows that Syria needs a regime change. I hope Russia is able to talk to its own people and convince them of the problems in Syria and keep there own people in peace. It may take lots more civilian deaths to awaken the Russians into seeing this problem. I don’t think with the voices of all people that Syria will keep its currant government.
The same could be said of American forces particularly during the occupation of Iraq. How quickly Americans forget their own military's debacles and the misery the US gov't caused and is still exacting upon millions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Your very right but not as bad as Syria in as many killed in an attack and in the way of death and types of people killed. We could wait and see if these deaths continue. It sounds more like military order to kill civilians by Syria’s military leaders that is the problem now and not a few crazies that the American forces see in civilian deaths. It will be fun again when all is seen as good and the U.S. is all withdrawn from the Middle East and unseen thoughts are all that breed and the actions that will bring about a new attack like 911 is all but unheard of by most, it can be at any country and by any county. I hate this war and an early end is a nice thing. I just hope another attack is not waiting by someone that will screw things up in America's economic recovery.
what makes these deaths any more special than that ones being perpertrated in the name of profit? the sensationalism of their graphic nature?
Dang....thought there could be this one chance to view a non political blog........
The sighting was unusual, and the circumstances were rare. But not unprecedented.
Launch was from the Volga River test range, active since 1947, but ICBM tests are infrequent.
Direction was east, headed for the Sary Shagan impact zone in Kazakhstan, used for testing anti-missile radars and interceptor missiles.
That's hardly more than 2000 km away, so the test clearly wasn't of the missile itself but of its warhead's 'penaids' -- penetration aids to frustrate tracking and targetting by US anti-missile systems.
This would result in a very unusual trajectory to get up to full ICBM speed without overshooting the target zone -- probably lofted a LOT higher than normal.
Spirals have been an observed feature of normal Russian rocket launches for at least 30 years.
ICBMs, unlike satellite launches, are 'lofted' onto steeper departure trajectories. They get high, quickly
Measure the range -- it got 'above the horizon' from Israel pretty quickly, even with Earth's curvature.
It's June -- near the time of the 'midnight Sun' in northern latitudes. That means sunlight is streaming over the pole, throughout the night. Something in the northern sky above the atmosphere would be backlit by that sunlight.
These 'accidental' factors combined to make this show possible.
And the widespread availability of pocket camcorders made recording it much more common than in the past.
In Russia these days, rocket launchings are announced, even military tests -- and when launched from submarines in international waters [not this time], advanced warnings are given [NOTAMS].
In Soviet days, these launches weren't announced. Ever. Even after.
So you've got to wonder, in years past, how many similar sightings in the Middle East and elsewhere were made of similar 'light shows' -- but they went without explanation.
They would have been 'UFOs'. Maybe?
Obama, the bad guys are gearing up, esp. if you remain president they feel it would be best time to try US, weak, pandering leadership.
We are sure the president would love to take advice from a wet noodle
He does...look at Soros and friends
Yeah and flip-flop etch a sketch Norquist/Rove controlled robot Romney is "strong leadership".
Obama killed bin-laden and the al-quaeda leadership. Rombot is a sissy who's too scared to show his taxes and offshore accounts to us. Rombot does business with Iran - fact. Yeah sounds like it would be much better to hand foreign policy off to someone who trades with the enemy. Sure.
Why is it that only Russian launches create these swirls? Have these swirls been seen in US launches? Hmmm
I'm guessing it could be caused by climate or atmosphere conditions. I just base on telescoppe placement takes these conditions into account when trying to find optimum locations.
Swirls like this can be from exhausted fuel tanks plummeting back to earth and beig so high they are relecting sunlight ove the horizon. If you look at pictures of our shuttle launches you can see the tanks spiralling down but we launch in daylight.
TFNJ...their rockets are attached to pinwheels! Not too effective, but a true crowd pleaser!
The annual Russian Kaleidoscope launch..
Another socialist Obama conspiracy.
sorry guys i was playing with the shake machine at mc donalds this morning
They're heeeeere!
These guys must have been
really" looking for something, because if they "really" looked at the footage they would "Really" see what was going on. I have been, I will only put it in these words.... in the missile work for many years, and my opinion is that you are looking at a malfunctioning rocket that instead of sending the missile straight. For some odd reason it, maybe sent the propellant side ways causing the missile to do a whirlwind effect. I have seen many of these "effects" though out my career and it has happened to all the countries that are trying their hand at rocketry. It is common to have this type of failure in the rocket and missile testing..... It is not in anyway a UFO event.
yes, I don't think anyone is really seriously thinking its an alien ship. But perhaps you do protest too much. In which case, you have some knowledge it really is an alien ship. Which would make you part of the advance alien party on earth. So, I recommend you leave this planet now, sir. now. and leave all earth girls here.
Obviously an alien cover-up... along with the "9/11 truth", and other Left-wing lunacy.
I like everything u said before politics came up lol
As opposed to the right wing birth-certificate-socialist-muslim-Obama's-from-Kenya lunacy.
Looks like that old "cold" war could be heating up soon.
Good year blimp flew over here a couple years ago and the 911 switch board was lit up like a Christmas Tree. To some people everything in the sky is a U.F.O. conspiracy or cover up.
Just Russia renovating some cold war hardware in preparation for when Iran gets a nuclear weapon. Pakistan and Syria should also take notice. If these missiles can be seen over your country at night, they can come down in your country, and since you didn't detect them on radar (as Iran always claims to do) they can adversely impact your day. Russia never made any agreement to stop testing ICBM's over the Middle East, so they can drop a nuke in your hummus any time they want to.
looks like some kind of missile for disbursing heavy drops of agent orange from the sky. good idea!
BULL SHYT!
What about the one in Norway June 15, 2010?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv0qwiERpjg&feature=related
ANOTHER in New South Wales, Queensland June 5 2010!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAD2XSDkmKE&feature=related
Norway: Russian Bulava SLBM (Submarine launched ballistic missile) test failure:http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/10-12-2009/111033-bulava_spiral-0/
NSW, Aus: SpaceX Falcon 9 first launch:universetoday.com/65935/spirialing-ufo-over-australia-was-likely-falcon-9-booster/
B.S.
Since when does a missile emit light?
When it rises into sunlight out of Earth's shadow, like in this case. Check the sunset times.
LOL some people never run out of tinfoil do they. Thanks
Thank God it was just an ICBM! lol
The Russians are not what they used to be. I miss the cold war. The Ruskies kept the middle east in check and everything was fine. Now I have to admit, you had your drama from time to time but it made for good copy and kept us on our toes. What happened to the good ole days when we were pointing guns at each other and spying all the time. It's a sad day when you can't make a decent missile shot and scare your neighbors.
One would think that Russia, just like any other international country, would have to announce in advance a test rocket launch. Even N. Korea announced its intentions ... of course for a different reason. At least countries would be prepared in case it went astray.
Like Russia needs to be "testing" missiles. They launched the first satellite, the first living being into space, and had thousands of ICBMs, while America was busy starting banking slavery and false monetary system world control. This looks like a "show" for the folks in Syria, perhaps. Secret societies are gay and anyone in one is a dick.
It's called "Saber rattling."
The Russians are not too happy about the fairly recent extremely successful European-USA coalition's attack on Libya, and in particular the shift towards the USA in military cooperation by Finland and Sweden over the last two years. At least we can dispel the myth that once that communism in the USSR was our greatest threat. More Russians attend church on a weekly basis than do Americans, and Russia is now capitalist and has far less of a social safety net does America.