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Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 46: Jul-Aug 1986 |
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Curious Luminous Display Over The Pacific Ocean
Our general policy admits only those phenomena described in the scientific literature, but here we must make an exception. This account, submitted by a retired Air Force colonel, is unlike anything we have found before -- either meteorological or auroral.
"During the last week of August 1970, I was on a trip from Viet Nam to Clark AFB, Philippines. We were cruising at 9000 feet. We had departed Camron Bay between 2 and 3 AM. Upon reaching cruise altitude, I noticed a rather unusual display in the sky. Our magnetic heading from V.N. to Clark was approximately 155�. The display appeared on the horizon in an easterly direction. It consisted of a series of dashes perhaps the color of the moon with a south-to-north directional flow. There was no visible beginning of this display,such as you would see in a comet..... "The awesome feature of this display was its magnitude. I thought if whatever was creating the display collided with our Earth, then we would no longer exist. I also feel that I was seeing only a small portion of the whole. As hindsight I can only regret that I did not report this sighting through Air Traffic Control channels. The crew discussed and speculated on what we had seen, then promptly forgot about it."
The account continues, relating how on the next night, when the aircraft departed the Philippines for Guam and Wake Island, the same phenomenon appeared in the east, although the plane's heading was then about 60�. The display appeared unchanged on two more mights on the legs from Wake to Hawaii and Hawaii to California. On the fifth night, however, from California to Washington, DC, nothing was seen.
(Silva, John J.; personal communication, December 28, 1985.)
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