Re: Chuck Clark's Mystery Aurora Videotape


Message posted by Chris H. on January 28, 2012 at 19:46:35 PST:

Here's what Clark said verbatim:

"I even saw the Aurora take off one night - or an aircraft that matched the Aurora's reputed configuration, a sharp delta with twin tails about a hundred and thirty feet long. It taxied out of a lighted hangar at two-thirty A.M. and used a lot of runway to take off. It had one red light on top, but the minute the wheels left the runway, the light went off and that was the last I saw of it. I didn't hear it because the wind was blowing from behind me toward the base." I asked when this had taken place. "February 1994. Obviously they didn't think anybody was out there. It was thirty below zero - probably ninety below with the wind chill factor. I had hiked into White Sides from a different, harder way than usual, and stayed there two or three days among the rocks, under a camouflage tarp with six layers of clothes on. I had an insulated face mask and two sleeping bags, so I didn't present a heat signature. I videotaped the aircraft through a telescope with a five-hundred-millimeter f4 lens coupled via a C-ring to a high-eight digital video camera with five hundred and twenty scan lines of resolution, which is better than TV." The author then asked "Where's the tape?" Locked away. That's a legitimate spyplane; my purpose is not to give away legitimate national defense. When they get ready to unveil it, I'll probably release the tape."

Sorry, it was 2:30AM. I was close. And as for the technical stuff pertaining to the camera equipment, I'm not expert, so I'll defer to someone with more knowledge than myself. Here is Gary's response on the subject:

"I re-read your original post, and the temperatures stated just can't happen. While I can't check Rachel weather in the time period indicated, Caliente has the complete weather data. The coldest day in February ever recorded in Caliente was on 2/14/1995, with a temp of -18. This is pretty far from -30, though quite unpleasant. And -90 at the base? Of course, Chuck could still have been out there videotaping, but not in that cold of an environment. [This may seem like nit-picking, but the police use this kind of fact checking all the time to check alibis; well at least on TV.]

Note that a camcorder connected to a 500mm lens is much higher magnification than you get with 35mm film due to the size of the CCD sensor being smaller than 35mm film. Not knowing the exact camcorder Chuck used means I can't say exactly what the magnification difference is, but an equivalent of 1500mm would certainly be possible. The view from White Sides with that kind of magnification should be good enough to resolve a plane, though I'm not sure what you would see at night. [Remember that Steve Hauser could resolve an F14 from Tikaboo.]"


In Reply to: Re: Chuck Clark's Mystery Aurora Videotape posted by RickB on January 28, 2012 at 19:39:18 PST:

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