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No. 92: Mar-Apr 1994

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Unidentified Light

Unidentified light seen in sky

January 14, 1993. Eastern North Pacific. Aboard the m.v. B.P. Adventure, Panama to Chiba.

"At 0235 UTC the phenomenon shown in the sketch was first seen about 15� above the horizon, bearing 265�. It was initially thought to be a downward pointing spotlight from an aircraft: it was bright (nearly white), conical in shape and about 1� high. During further observation the shape slowly enlarged, becoming more bell-shaped with a darker elliptical patch at the bottom. As it increased in size, the shape faded away and moved slowly towards the horizon in a slightly southerly direction before disappearing just above the horizon at 0254, bearing 260�.

"The maximum height reached by the shape was about 5� and throughout the observation stars could be seen through it while at one point it was nearly obscured by cloud of which there was 1 okta. The only other bright object nearby was Venus, being slightly higher and to the south, bearing 248�, elevation about 20�. Visibility was excellent as about 10 minutes after the observation a ship was spotted bearing 280� at a distance of 16 n.mile. The observers felt that the shape was too regular to be a cloud and had no real idea of its origins."

(Peacock, K.E.; "Unidentified Light," Marine Observer, 64:17, 1994.)

From Science Frontiers #92, MAR-APR 1994. � 1994-2000 William R. Corliss