MUFON case 71931

I was asked to do some analysis on the photographs associated with this case.  As such, this case is not assigned to me and I am not the originating investigator.  What follows is the original text of the report and the photographs associated with it, in the order of which they appeared. The replied comments to this reflect my findings.

Quote :

I was taking some night photos when I saw a streak on my photo. Photos were 30 sec, using tripod and shutter release. As I was taking the next photo I look up and saw a star like object that appeared to be hovering and then slowly moving right then left. The light of it was also pulsating slowly from bright to dim. I did not see any flashing lights. Watched it for about a minute and a half and then it appeared to turn and then it was gone. There were some wispy clouds in the sky. I am an amateur astronomer and I have seen many satellites, iridium flares, ISS, planes etc. I have never witnessed anything like what I saw that night. I have 3 photos that were taken consecutively. 30 sec f2.8 iso800 I was facing North, I thought it was a star at first until I saw it move. It looked like a star as it was moving. I had no idea what it was as I was wathing it.

I wrote the initial report and submitted it to the originating investigator.

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This is my analysis of the photographs attached to MUFON case 71931; this is not a professional analysis.

The first thing I did was I checked each of the photograph’s metadata (exif information) to determine the time and date that the pictures were taken, and what equipment was used. And while there was some information present (the pictures are 2100 x 1400 pixels in size, with a 96dpi resolution and a bit depth of 24), there was no additional information. I then went to collaborate the report’s time and date log.

I moved back and forth between the three photos and determined that their proper arrangement should be in reverse order; image three should be 1, image 2 is still 2, and image 1 is 1. When flipped, you can see the motion of the stars and clouds as well as the object. The reason for this reordering is because you can see the constellation Ursa Major within the top left section of pine trees, which is not seen in the southern hemisphere; the star’s rotation is also indicative of a northern viewing, as the stars are moving in a clockwise direction (Ursa Major to the left and up, the stars on the left are moving up, etcetera). This confirms the witness’s account of taking pictures in a northerly direction, and that, because Ursa Major is close to the horizon and moving up, puts this in the October to November time frame at about the time the witness stated. As such, these pictures are accurate to the report.

Note that the witness reported that this was taken near Dayton Wisconsin, within Green County. I looked up the area and at first thought that there was a mistake as Google has Dayton located in Waupaca County. However, I double checked and found that Dayton is also an incorporated village within the town of Exeter, located in Green County (zip code 53508). Historical weather report shows that the weather for the time mentioned (approximately 2335) was 43*F, calm winds and clear skies, with no moon. The clouds seem to be of the Cirrus variety, placing them at 18,000 feet; as the object appears to move in front of the clouds, this places it significantly closer to the witness. Additionally, the clouds seem to be moving to the west (stars are rotating around Polaris, which is to the right of the cloud movement), which then means the object is moving more along a southwest direction.

I believe that to be true because, if you were to draw a triangle from a star located in the center of the picture down to the camera (center bottom line of picture) then to the object, the point of the triangle appears to extend into the southwest direction with each subsequent image. I could be mistaken in this, it’s just an observation.

Now, when zoomed in on the object, it appears to be moving in a snake-like pattern. A viewer can see where the object originates in the first picture, moves to the left, and then moves back to the right; the area in which the flight path overlaps appears to be brighter, as is often the case when two beams of light intersect. Then you will note that, once it has finished moving right, it moves to the left again. This also matches the description as provided by the witness. One thing I did note was that, while the first two pictures share trajectory, focal point and location, the entire object and it’s trail jumps to the left in the third picture. Magnification of the images shows that the object did not move, that the flight path exactly matches that as seen in the second image. I have attached a few images to this document to better show what it is I am describing; the first three show the object’s orientation, that the beginning points line up, and that it is located within the same area (as can be seen by the cloud pattern and the indicated star). Move to the third image, and you can see a greater shift to the left in its entirety. Note that while there is some motion in the clouds, that speed is remaining consistent. The next two images show a zoomed in view of the second and third picture, showing that the size of the image, the direction of flight, and the turn points match. It does appear as if the third image shows

more of a level flight when compared to the second. I have no explanation as to why both images would show such an exacting match for each other, especially considering they are not in the same area.

With no other object in the sky appearing to move, one can rule out camera motion; the witness reported that the camera was on a tripod and that she used a remote trigger, which would eliminate any camera movement. There is some change in the camera’s position; flipping between the three images and you can see that the pine trees do shift, but as the stars don’t show any blurring, this movement can be attributed simply as having occurred prior to the shot being taken. Additionally, because the time in which this was taken was under a new moon phase, there would have been no reflected light (from a lunar source). The pictures don’t seem to have been taken with a flash (pine trees to the right are dark), which rules out the possibility of a dust particle (which would have appeared as an orb) or an insect (doesn’t match the typical flying rod pattern). As such, the object is either self illuminated, or is reflecting light from the houses as can be seen in the distance.

I will go through the photographs themselves in more detail when I get home. Here are the supplemental images mentioned in the report.