Dear Sir,

First, I’m an amateur astronomer and have seen all kinds of (explainable) “things” recorded through scopes and camcorders, including objects thrown by someone into the scopes field-of-view, animations added later, etc. When analyzed, these can be detected.

And I don’t have the time or desire to fake something that I think is as important as the possibility of advanced life visiting us.

Ok, that said…

I was attempting to use different filters and attachments for these daylight conditions without much success as achieving good focus on the Moon with the rapidly deteriorating conditions were making it impossible. That’s why the Moon is out of focus. But that put the object a little more in focus. I was recording 30 second clips of the Moon passing through my fov in an 8” Schmidt-Cassegrain when at 18 seconds, an object streaks by. (I wasn’t looking at the video screen at that time and started slewing the scope down after it passed)

I have captured many (identifiable) objects through a scope and camcorder; planes, birds, satellites, balloons and even some guy’s radio controlled airplane that looked very much like a full size plane because of its distance.

All of these objects have their own characteristics such as; planes leave a heat signature that lingers for several seconds in its wake. Wings, tail and fuselage are detectable. And the contrail in the right conditions, not to mention lights. Not only that, all air traffic at that time was well below my fov and could be seen without optical assistance. And the flight paths run diagonal to this objects direction.

Satellites captured with this scope can clearly see solar panels. They pass by slightly slower too, making them easier to identify.

Birds flapping wings. Unless the bird is "seagull size" or larger, they look like dark, blurry, small "sticks" streaking by and much faster. They also have to be close to be detectable at all.

This object is interesting to me because it doesn’t have any of the characteristics of the ones mentioned above.

I estimate its altitude at 45 to 50,000 feet based on air traffic seen below it. I estimate its distance from me to be a minimum of 10 miles knowing my scopes capabilities. If these figures are close, then it could be 10 to 30 meters in diameter depending on its actual distance. The consistent Sun reflection along its top edge suggests a metallic skin. There is also an odd dark area near the center of the object.

It almost looks like a hole. I don’t think it’s a shadow because the Sun is behind the scope and to the left and slightly higher than the Moon. A shadow should be forward (the direction it’s heading) and slightly left of that position.

It also leaves quite a bit of air turbulence after passing by signifying it’s in the atmosphere, however there isn’t enough distortion for it to be a heat signature. Jets, large and small leave a blast of hot exhaust for several seconds in its wake.

At 30fps, the object was captured on 7 frames. The first frame, only shows the front edge and the next frame was duplicated. So only 5 frames show each new position.

Anyone with video software can break down the video into frames.

Cropped from a 30second, 650Mb avi file. Available on CD free but need a mailing address. Anyone wanting a copy just ask. I would like a professional editor or investigator to check it out.

 
Scope: Orion 8” SC, tracking off
Focal Length: 2032mm
Camera: Orion StarShoot Solar System Color Imaging Camera II
Sensor: 1/2 inch, color CMOS progressive scan, IR filter
Res: 1.3mp 1280x1024 pixel layout
Software: Maxim DL Essentials Photo/Digital Video Capture
Recording Settings: Video Capture at 640x480, 30fps, 30 seconds
Blue “light pollution” filter attached to an adjustable polarized filter at 20%
Time: 08:33, 04/09/07
Direction: Facing SSW about 40 degrees above horizon.

Jack Arneson

Santa Cruz, CA 95060