43 FAQs about Strange Sightings (The Astronomy Cafe)

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 Back to the Astronomy Cafe - 365 of the most popular questions since 1996. Over 1 million page requests!

 Beginner:

  1. Have you ever seen a UFO?
  2. Was there a 'Star of David' conjunction of the planets on January 23, 1997?
  3. My mother said that between 1947-1949 there were stars moving all over the sky. Any ideas what this was a reference to?
  4. Can you get a Moon Burn in the tropics from the Full Moon?
  5. In Akron Ohio in the 1960's the entire sky lit up by a fast moving, rumbling object bigger than the Moon with molten colors on the surface, but no tail. What was it?
  6. I saw a 3 fast moving objects near the North American Nebula in Cygnus, flying in a 0.5 degree triangle in Switzerland in March. Any idea what it could be?
  7. I saw a bright red light appear in the sky, like Mars but not moving, then it took off straight up and disappeared into a ball of smoke that covered the sky. A rocket?
  8. I observed a small, cloud-like object half way between Sirius and Procyon and was about 2x4 degrees in size. You could see stars through it, but it disappeared after a few hours. Any clues?
  9. From an Atlantic beach, I saw in March, a non-blinking red object move across the sky then stop relative to the stars. What was it?
  10. Why does the color of Arcturus oscillate from red to green through a telescope?
  11. On a clear night I saw Sirius changing colors from blue to white. Why does this happen?
  12. Have you ever heard sounds in space?
  13. On March 7, 1997 I saw a bright light in the Northeast sky at 5:00 AM, what was it?
  14. What are 'spooklights', 'singing sands' and 'mistpouffers'?
  15. What could cause Venus to flash, pulse and twinkle as it rises above a mountainous horizon?
  16. Would a bolide (fireball) look like a shiny disk hovering in the sky?
  17. When camping on the Trinity River near Lewiston California, We saw an unusual flying formation of lights. Any ideas what they were?
  18. We saw something strange in New Jersey on Nov 16, 1996. What was it?
  19. From Pennsylvania on 10/20/1996 I saw what looked like a star flare up at 5 AM about 50 degrees from the southern horizon. What do you suppose it was?
  20. Was there really an alien spacecraft crash at Roswell, New Mexico?
  21. How do you tell the difference between a genuine UFO and something else?

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  22. What was the bright dancing light seen in the north from Edinburgh during the last two summers?
  23. How do you tell the difference with the naked eye between a star, a planet and a satellite?
  24. I saw a small cloud over the Los Angeles airport with lightning flashes. Is this common and what's going on?
  25. Street lights near the horizon do not twinkle, but the ones a few miles away do, and nearby ones don't. What causes this?
  26. Have you ever seen or heard something you could not explain scientifically?
  27. Why do you believe 'spook lights' are real but not that UFOs are spacecraft?
  28. What are the Marfa lights in Texas?
  29. What do you think about the Face on Mars?
  30. What is your opinion about the thousands of people who say they have been abducted by UFOs?
  31. Have astronauts ever seen UFOs while in space?
  32. I saw a fireball streak across the sky on February 27,1996. What was it?
  33. Do you think that the strange lights seen in Sweden were UFOs?
  34. What is that bright star I see in the west each evening in January 1996?
  35. Does the sky actually brighten a bit after your eye becomes dark adapted?
  36. I saw a spectacular flash of light in the sky in the Rocky Mountains. What could it have been?
  37. Why are astronomers so hostile and negative about the existence of UFOs?
  38. We were looking in the clear night sky in 1979 and saw a star brighten and fade very fast. Any idea what it might have been?"
  39. What is a Moon Dog?"
  40. What are the weird photos that are taken of UFOs near the Sun?
  41. How often are the crescent moon and Venus seen together?
  42. From the north shore of Long island new York between 9:30PM and 3:30 AM I keep seeing stars in the eastern sky that move and zoom around in loop-de-loops, always returning to the same spot. What's
  43. What do you really think about UFOs?

 

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