Norwegian spiral sets the news ablaze

You have probably read or heard about the Norwegian spiral and you have probably also seen it somehow. Of course, what’s the best answer to an unexplained phenomenon ? UFOs, aliens, black holes! I won’t link any material, you can find it everywhere. I will instead link the only rational analysis of the phenomenon. Thanks to Phil Plait, which is always a pleasure to read.

So, what was it? the spiral pattern is interesting, and the fact that it was only visible from Norway as well. The first fact indicates something that rotates while ejecting something, producing therefore a spiral. The second fact indicates something that is quite low in orbit, otherwise it would have been visible from many other places. The brightness of the observed fact is due to the sun.

Ok so, a rotating object ejecting something that brightens up in sunlight and it’s quite low in altitude… something like, a spent rocket?

But no! Both Norway and Russia deny any rocket launch. Of course they are telling the truth, so it must be alien technology! Of course… yeah, right…

Update: ok, so apparently it was confirmed and known that a rocket launch was to occur. Here is a link to a NAVTEX message about a rocket launch occurring in the area.

One Comment

  1. Dexter77
    Posted December 10, 2009 at 11:43 am | Permalink

    Funny! But not alien! ;)

Post a Comment

Your email is never shared. Required fields are marked *

*
*
InspectorWordpress has prevented 1 attacks.