A recent Sky at Night looked at some strange UFO like phenomena in the night sky.
One of the most amazing sightsit looked at was the Norwegian spiral anomaly of 2009. This appeared in the night sky over Norway on 9 December 2009. It was visible from, and photographed from, northern Norway and Sweden. A blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain in the north of the country. It stopped mid-air, then began to move in circles. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its centre - lasting for ten to 12 minutes before disappearing completely.
No one knew what it was, though there was speculation that it was an aborted missile test. Eventually Russia admitted to a missile test in the area, having initially denied it. In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said it fired a Bulava missile from a submarine in the White Sea near the Norwegian coast. The intercontinental ballistic missile's first two stages worked perfectly, the ministry said, though the third stage engine proved "unstable."
“It has been established ... that the missile's first two stages worked as normal, but there was a technical malfunction at the next, third, stage of the trajectory," Reuters quoted a Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.
As Dan Murphy, writing in the Christian Science Monitor noted:
“Rockets often start spiraling on their own during partial engine failure. And the fact that the first two stages worked as the powerful missile hurtled skyward meant it should have been high in the atmosphere before the problem occurred, leaving a spiral of exhaust that would have been illuminated by the lights of Norway before the missile exploded.”
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicis, explained how it works in New Scientist Magazine. He says the third stage's nozzle, which directs the rocket's exhaust plume, may have fallen off or been punctured, causing the exhaust to come out sideways instead of out the back. "The sideways thrust sends the rocket into a spin, spewing flame as it goes," he says. "If thrust was terminated right away, then you wouldn't see the spiral," he continues. "The unusual thing this time is that the missile was allowed to carry on firing for a bit after it went wrong."
One of the most amazing sightsit looked at was the Norwegian spiral anomaly of 2009. This appeared in the night sky over Norway on 9 December 2009. It was visible from, and photographed from, northern Norway and Sweden. A blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain in the north of the country. It stopped mid-air, then began to move in circles. Within seconds a giant spiral had covered the entire sky. Then a green-blue beam of light shot out from its centre - lasting for ten to 12 minutes before disappearing completely.
No one knew what it was, though there was speculation that it was an aborted missile test. Eventually Russia admitted to a missile test in the area, having initially denied it. In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry said it fired a Bulava missile from a submarine in the White Sea near the Norwegian coast. The intercontinental ballistic missile's first two stages worked perfectly, the ministry said, though the third stage engine proved "unstable."
“It has been established ... that the missile's first two stages worked as normal, but there was a technical malfunction at the next, third, stage of the trajectory," Reuters quoted a Defense Ministry spokesman as saying.
As Dan Murphy, writing in the Christian Science Monitor noted:
“Rockets often start spiraling on their own during partial engine failure. And the fact that the first two stages worked as the powerful missile hurtled skyward meant it should have been high in the atmosphere before the problem occurred, leaving a spiral of exhaust that would have been illuminated by the lights of Norway before the missile exploded.”
Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicis, explained how it works in New Scientist Magazine. He says the third stage's nozzle, which directs the rocket's exhaust plume, may have fallen off or been punctured, causing the exhaust to come out sideways instead of out the back. "The sideways thrust sends the rocket into a spin, spewing flame as it goes," he says. "If thrust was terminated right away, then you wouldn't see the spiral," he continues. "The unusual thing this time is that the missile was allowed to carry on firing for a bit after it went wrong."