A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled. Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing sight to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor or a shock wave – although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet. The phenomenon began when what appeared to be a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain. It stopped mid-air, then began to circulate. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its center – lasting for ten to twelve minutes before disappearing completely.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm – which astronomers have said did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights, so common in that area of the world. The mystery deepened tonight as Russia denied it had been conducting missile tests in the area.
Swamp gas.
Found by Ian Warner.
Fæn! De kommer hit nå!
Ok… I’ll bite. What the hell is it?
Phil Plait says it is a rocket, so I guess I’ll go with that…
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/12/09/awesomely-bizarre-light-show-freaks-out-norway/
It’s obviously a small black hole created by the LHC tests last night. Expect more of this kind of thing.
Obviously an alien roundabout.
Anyone know where Adam Curry was when this was happening?
Lots of other images show a distinct rocket contrail in the lower atmosphere leading to the spiral from back towards those pesky ex-Soviets.
Pretty though.
I’m having a little trouble with the rocket theory and eyewitness accounts. Over 10 minute duration. Since witnesses are scattered out across a large area and no movement was seen I’ve got my doubts. If it was heading up that would have been seen, if it was heading away or toward it would’ve become dimmer or brighter. Incandescent gas would seem to explain it in part but it doesn’t look like a rocket or missile. Perhaps the Ruskies are getting careless about secret weapons tests. Whatever the cause it’s the most beautiful and huge unexplained aerial phenomenon yet!
the Vogons have arrived, they are making preparations for the hyperspace bypass.
It’s Jesus fucking around.
You’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Looks like nothing more than your everyday dimensional portal to me.
Looks to me like a Soyuz rocket that had a major, but not catastrophic, malfunction.
It appears to be spewing liquid fuel from a ruptured tank thereby causing it to spin wildly. I image the computers were fighting to correct for the wild spin but the engines must have been shut down of the spewing fuel would have been ignited. Now THAT would have been spectacular.
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is apparently an ICBM base east of Finland and was original meant for ICBM launches against the U.S. A launch from Plesetsk would be close enough for a Norwegian fly-over and would explain the unusual east-to-west launch orbit. Most all commercial satellites are launched west-to-east to take advantage of the Earth’s spin.
Anyway, that was one expensive fireworks display!
A wormhole opened for a few minutes, but that was all it took.
They arrived safely and gathered together in a clearing. There was a great tension; each lost in his own thoughts. Looking at the lights of the town lower in the valley they knew one thing for sure: whatever creatures lived there were not prepared for what would come next…
I admit I don’t know what caused it which puts me on even footing with the rest of the people posting here who don’t know either.
Have you ever seen one of those big spiral colored suckers?
… there’s one born every minute.
It’s an add for “V”.
Discarded rocket booster.
Or the Borg.
Six of one.
I was googling around for the color spectrum of ionized oxygen. Apparently, it is blue.
http://tinyurl.com/yhz4rhe
It would seem to make sense that the blue corkscrew is a spiral oxygen gas plume trailing behind a spinning, out-of-control, Russian rocket traveling at supersonic velocity in the upper atomsphere. Instant ionized oxygen.
Just a guess, though.
Flare? Fireworks? Prelude to alien takeover?
I, for one, welcome our new spiral light overlords.
ALL HAIL OUR NEW ALIEN OVERLORDS!!
yet another youtube video of this
Here come the Protoss!!!!
just al gore returning to his home planet
It is confirmed that is was a rocket from a Russian submarine, apparently not performing up to par… but, loved the Al Gore theory!
I’ve seen one of these before, looked very much the same.
It’s gas being vented from a spent rocket booster. They do this to prevent the boosters from exploding after a few months in orbit. (Delta boosters used to do that; the fuel and oxidizer would gradually mix and BOOM you have piles of space debris.)
The gas coming out under pressure makes the booster tumble, and that makes the spiral – like a lawn sprinkler. The gas ionizes in the UV from the sun, and glows greenish.
DG
According to Swedish a newspaper it was yet another failed test of the new Russian intercontinental ballistic missile Bulava. Apparently six of the last eleven trials have gone wrong.
Nah, it was god going overboard when trying to copy a goatse. That sick fucker!
I would never buy a used rocket from a Russian.
Urrg.
It is NOT a Black Hole!
Why is it no one can understand how black holes are made?
Black holes are when stars COLLAPSE in on themselves.
You cannot make a black hole by smashing atoms. (And even if it WAS possible, a black hole would form where it happened, not in the sky)
The point of smashing atoms is to knock electrons off.
Mark T is right – Ionized Oxygen is an iridescent blue.
Failed Russian Missle… Right….
That’s what THEY want you to believe…
We all know the REAL truth…
It was a Intergalactic, Pan-dimensional, Interwebtubie and you all darn well know it!
ALL HAIL OUR NEW ALIEN OVERLORDS!!!