Re: something strange....


Message posted by The Major on July 23, 2006 at 18:46:18 PST:

Alex,

When following a small point light source at night with your eyes, it is very difficult to judge minor changes in velocity. The movement of clouds, presence of the moon or other earthly bright lights, and retinal fatigue can give you the illusion of changes of speed and direction. To illustrate retinal fatigue, after mommy tucks you in and turns out the lights, stare at something stationary in the room. After a short while, you will swear it is moving! Why? because if you fix your gaze at something long enough, the rod and cone cells of the retina "fatigue," depleting themselves of the chemicals needed to create and sustain nerve impulses. The brain forces the eye muscles to move to relieve the visual strain, giving the illusion of movement.

You probably saw a satellite, unless it was more than 2 hours or so after dark, then you probably saw an airplane. If it landed in your back yard and two aliens gave you a thorough medical exam, with overemphasis on your backsides, I'd say you saw a honest-to-God, Bob Lie-zar certified, A51-inspected, interstellar pimped-my-ride flyin' saucer! (patent pending)

The Major - Always here to help...


In Reply to: something strange.... posted by Alex (UK) on July 23, 2006 at 2:20:22 PST:

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