The chances of anything coming from Mars...

[Roger Kettle]

There's a programme on Channel 5 at the moment about "Britain's Closest Encounters". It's kind of fascinating because it's something, I suppose, we'd all like to experience---the sighting of a flying object that we simply can't explain. I'm pretty sure we've discussed this before but any thoughts?

[Vulture]

It's not Mince flitting around on his holidays, is it?

[Mince]

Where did you get "The chances of anything coming from Mars"? Are you a closet Jeff Wayne fan?

[Roger Kettle]

Not really, but I think "Questions" is a great song.

[Diane CBPFC]

I would like to comment Rog, but I think the aliens are watching this site pretty closely.

[Roger Kettle]

They're writing it.

[The Peepmaster]

Peter said he's on holiday.

[Malc]

The chances of anything coming from Mars is remote. Cadbury's is a different matter entirely.

But to be serious...I do believe we have been visited, and are still being observed today by beings from other worlds. It's the ultimate conceit to look at the depth and scope of this incomprehensibly large and complex universe and say we're it.

[Roger Kettle]

Agreed.

[Max]

Now here's something I haven't ever told anyone, apart from those who would listen.
A few yonks ago when I was deeply into photography I went into the experimental phase.
No I didn't expose much to anyone (apart from maybe.... ahem).... anyway time exposure piccies took my fancy.
I'd done some good stuff, trees with a full moon behind them, that kinda thing. Depending on the paper used I could get the black night sky to be a deep blue.
The results looked great.... honest.

One particular night, on the way back from the pub I happened to look up, and it looked like all the stars had decided to come out at the one time, and the skies were utterly clear.
So I decided to do a long time exposure shot, which would show the tracks of the stars around the sky. It's a bit cliche'd but you got to try this thing I guess.
I got my camera out, fixed it to the tripod, set the aperture on the lens to f32, focused and pressed the cable release.  Looked up.
I saw something like a shooting star, but much slower. It scribed a line across the sky (probably a satellite I thought) but then turned 90 degrees and went off across the horizon.
It wasn't a gentle turn, it was a sharp 90 degree turn, and as far as I know, nothing in space does that under the power of gravity.

It could have been because things in space move in 3 dimensions....... I guess....  but in downtown Dumbarton it looked like something else.  Probably not from Mars though.

Oh well! 

[Roger Kettle]

Fascinating stuff, Max. I have known people---people I respect and who have never sought publicity---describe some weird stuff they'd seen in the skies. One of them, a gamekeeper in the Highlands, spoke about something he'd watched for nearly ten minutes. He was the most practical guy you could ever meet and never went further than saying he saw an object move around him in the sky that he could not explain. It was bright, close and, in his words, being "controlled". He made no claims about it, saying only that he had never seen anything like it. Very, very strange.

[Malc]

Amongst the rubbish on the subject of UFOs on You Tube (including the tiresome CGI students who patch UFO stuff into ordinary video) there is genuinely interesting footage which is utterly convincing, though (to my eye) the rain effect at one stage looked suspicious. Problem is, the one below I refer to (which I posted below and which doesn't work) is apparently a fake. When you go to the site listed at the end of the video you find out that the guy Nick Wilty is a semi famous comedian, and if you type his name and "ufo" in your browser there are explanations. Annoying prick.

Check out this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxEcHrsJuoQ

[The Peepmaster]

I think we've all had moments when we've been confronted by something we can't explain, although more often than not there are logical explanations.

I've always been quite sceptical about the idea of visitors from space, etc., I have to admit, but I like to think I keep an open mind.

I had a weird experience when I was in the kitchen last night. I was on my own in the house, and the front door was locked. I was cooking my dinner - I'd just fried some ginger, garlic and chilli and added tomato puree and cream. I was about to add prawns and pasta when I became aware of the sound of what sounded like a flying machine - very like a helicopter. Now we frequently get helicopters coming over the bay from the mainland - usually to pick up emergency cases that need hospital treatment, but this sounded like it was inside the house! It really sounded like it was coming from the lounge, and was getting louder and louder. I gingerly crept towards the lounge door and there it was!

I hadn't switched the telly off and Skycops was on.

[Roger Kettle]

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

[The Peepmaster]

I gave the complete ingredients of my meal to pad it out a bit. (That's called adding suspense).