Posted on 11/29/2017 12:54:55 AM PST by Swordmaker
Something VERY strange occurred tonight while my girlfriend and I were soaking in our spa in the backyard about 9:45 PM. We live in the unincorporated area between Sacramento and Rancho Cordova, CA.
It was a very cool and clear night and we could, for the first time in a long while see the stars clearly. We turned off the security lights that illuminated the walkway along the garage and enjoyed to clear stars as we lay back and enjoyed a glass of brandy in the spa. Air temperature was about 46º F but the water temperature was a toasty 100º. Winds were only 4 mph. Nice.
Orion was very clear in the South East and I was scanning the sky when I saw a meteor streak in the Eastern sky about 15º-20º NW of Orion between four tall palm trees (separated in two groups of two) in our neighbor's yard. I told my girlfriend about it and she turned to look but missed seeing it. Just then, to more very bright meteors came in the same area, essentially coming from the East and heading generally West.
As I watched, four more meteors of various brightness flashed across the sky in that area, generally angling from about the same area of sky and burnt out. Then, very quickly about seven or eight more, also of various brightness, some as bright as magnitude 1. . . some as low as 5 or 6. All streaking straight as an arrow, all seeming to come from the same small area of the sky, all from an area seemingly way far above and obscured behind the palms. This was highly unusual.
None of the meteors lasted for more than a few seconds before burning out but brightnesses were all over the place. Pretty quickly we were seeing dozens of meteors. . . sometimes up to ten of fifteen in the space of ten seconds, going in a cone shape all from the same small area in the sky, coming down in droves. Sometimes there were a dozen in a second! All straight line of trajectory! Some longer flight than others, the brighter, the longer. You could see bright flashes through the palm fronds as well. I have never in my life seen so many meteors in such a short span of time.
I called my daughter who lived about fifteen miles East me so she and her husband could go look at the "meteor shower." I also called my primary client down in Stockton to do the same.
BOTH reported they saw nothing at all! Strange. If these were meteors, they should have been visible over a wide area.
What my girlfriend and I were seeing HAD to be a local phenomenon!
The meteor shower lasted a good ten minutes and then petered out. . .
My girlfriend had dashed inside to get my iPhone so we could try to take photos and videos but it was fruitless. She'd also put on a robe so she could try to get some photos with out the palms blocking the sky. The sky was too dark for the size of the lens on the phone to give us good pictures. Some still photos show the trees, but the meteors were pretty much gone by then.
A local meteor shower was already pretty weird, but THEN it got really even weirder.
The PALM TREES started magically twinkling and flashes of light started joyfully diving in and out of the palm fronds. These flashes were not any where nearly as bright as the "meteors" high in the sky had been, but were more like somewhat dimmed white/blue Christmas tree lights. They'd flash on, circle around the tree, diving in and out, flash a bit brighter, then go out. Some lights inside the tree would flash making a glow behind the fronds for a second or two as the light reflected off the fronds, and then go out. There'd be several more of these interior glowing globe like lights around inside the fronds. . . they'd last a second or so and then wink out. Sometimes one of the zooming lights would flash through the tree, and the flash would become a moving globe light, then come out the other side, to wink out in mid flight, or fly in, stop, then wink out.
This had all the appearances of birds or insects of some kind finding places to land and rest for the night, settling in and getting comfortable. This took about ten minutes as the activity slowly settled, the lights dimmed further and further, even in the darting around, and the twinkling died down.
During all of this my girlfriend and I heard not a sound. Nothing. No flapping of wings, no chirping, no singing. Nothing. It was totally quiet. Nor, could we see anything in the light that look like a bird or anything else, just light. These trees are perhaps 60-75 feet away, and perhaps 75 feet tall.
The photos show the trees, but I was never able to get one of the flashes. One four minute video get some faint flashes. . . and an aircraft in the back sky flying and flashing which I hoped would disturb whatever had alit in the trees. Nope, did not bother them.
Various theories were essayed by those we talked to:
Too bad, so sad.
Any other viable theories?
If your girlfriend left her robe on, maybe those stars in your eyes would go away?
It sure sounds like some glowing, flying insect along the line of fireflies. What you described is exactly what I get to watch for about 2 weeks in the evenings here in early to mid June, with the exception that our fireflies will light up the night for several hours. It is a sight to behold! I wonder if there is a “new” insect that has been brought into your area.
Swordmaker should gofundme for more brandy.
Good reporting even if we never get any closer to the truth.
Hmmm. Interesting.
That's exactly what we were seeing (amusing that they used Orion as a backdrop o stars). . . but make it entirely local and increase the number of meteors by a factor of ten in the photo. Keep in mind my daughter and her husband, just a few miles away from us, saw nothing. . . and then the same color flashing lights alit in the palm trees. Coincidence? I don't believe in coincidences of that magnitude.
Now that's a scary thought. Good thing we didn't smell any sulphur or hear any demonic laughter. . . or even any evil snickers. . .
If I should vanish from the threads on FR, send a rescue expedition to Area 51. . .
We were saying the meteors were so frequent they literally looked like low brightness fireworks. . . so that's a good working hypothesis.
I've seen those lights, and have a set myself for indoor use. This was nothing so regular in the movement those laser light shows produce. Movement of the things in the trees was entirely random. . . and these laser light show projectors are incapable of penetrating inside and through and around the foliage in.a 3D fashion as these light source moving objects did.
So the twenty mini-satellites are now orbiting our neighbor's palm trees?
I'll chalk that up as a low possibility hypothesis.
Those lights are the tortured tormented wandering lost souls of mournful IPhones whose only fault was they could not handle the trauma of the latest IOs upgrade.
You're right. It most indubitably is.
Can you find a link to that story, please?
Hmmmmm. . . interesting hypothesis. Accounts for the local phenomenon. . . however, has difficulty with stars in the treetops. Keep working on it.
We did point out when we recalled my client in Stockton to report the tree development that we were NOT drinking "Moonshine." Why don't you start that GoFundMe and donate the proceeds to FR?
The 'Vette holds seven hours of fuel, even at idle/crawl?
Did a quick check but can’t find it. It was on tv a few years ago. Some UFO show. Remembering the woman said her tree lit up with little twinkling lights.
Imperial Start Destroyers dumping their garbage before jumping to light speed?
Maybe meteors drop “fairy dust” ???
Yep, that, night, good company, hot tub, and drink...
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