Here's a direct link to the annimation showig these blips - the only thing I found really interesting is that they do not just appear, but rather seem to form and strengthen then dissipate just as landfall occurs. Not a conspiracy nut, just fascinated by weather,
I know there's a link to an animation.... but who made the animation?
Well, I noticed this as well... but from what I gathered on Rita's landfall, well while it was roughly 525-515 miles off the coast (roughly 4:30AM EST) the eye wall almost appeared to be dicipating, and re-forming itself, which would naturally grant the storm it's "caffeine buzz" - It's just in my general gatherings that the Storm lost strength so quickly, and reduced to a 4 from a 5, a 20mph or so change over night, after it's "powerhousing" during the daytime.
What I think happend is it basically put all of it's eggs in the same basket, and ate dessert before peas. Anotherwords, I think it drained it's energy sources so quickly that it was a ungodly monster off the coast, but as it actually reduced in power approaching the Continental Shelf, it seemed to dicipate quite rapidly, suggesting the eyewall was either out of time or depleted at its cyclic behavior.
The only comments I care to state on the conspiracy side of things, is that I don't buy into it. Theres plenty of wonders out there produced by mother nature to more than provide an equal opportunity that those 5 fingers are either radar errors, or perhapse stalled storm bands...
Just another two cents.