{"id":8098,"date":"2010-11-12T14:58:54","date_gmt":"2010-11-12T14:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/?p=8098"},"modified":"2010-12-16T22:49:27","modified_gmt":"2010-12-16T22:49:27","slug":"a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cautious Perspective on the Mystery Missile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">You may be aware of the mini-controversy\u00a0 around what was initially thought to be a &#8216;mystery missile&#8217; launch earlier this week off the California coast.\u00a0 This clip sums it up:<br \/>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.cbs8.com\/global\/video\/videoplayer.js?rnd=828167;hostDomain=www.cbs8.com;playerWidth=430;playerHeight=242;isShowIcon=true;clipId=5274555;flvUri=;partnerclipid=;adTag=News;advertisingZone=undefined;enableAds=false;landingPage=;islandingPageoverride=false;playerType=STANDARD_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript_EMBEDDEDscript;v=2;controlsType=fixed\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The official line now seems to be that it wasn&#8217;t\u00a0 a missile at all, but the vapour contrail from a passenger jet, the sunset and viewing angle making the event look like something it wasn&#8217;t. Last time I looked, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2010\/11\/11\/missile-over-california-p_n_782239.html\">NASA were reported to be supporting that view<\/a> based on satellite imagery, and a specific aircraft has been correlated with the event.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The incident reminded me that things are indeed not always as they seem, especially\u00a0 in the sky around sunrise and sunset.\u00a0 And to illustrate, I&#8217;ve dug out a few pictures &#8211; all taken in the last three months.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One thing that really struck me in the mystery missile film was the &#8216;solidity&#8217; and volume of the plume.\u00a0 Aircraft contrails are more wispy aren&#8217;t they?\u00a0\u00a0 But then I looked at this picture I took just before sunrise, which includes a contrail every bit as bushy as the one in the film:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8101\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8101\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8101\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/homeparkcontrail\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,533\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1286436455&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;20&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8101\" title=\"Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail.jpg\" alt=\"Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail.jpg 800w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/homeparkcontrail-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Contrails over Surry, UK (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Perspective too is a funny thing.\u00a0 Take a look at this picture I took of a passenger jet near Heathrow Airport in London just as the sun was setting.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8103\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8103\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8103\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect1b\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,533\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1279568954&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8103  \" title=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b.jpg\" alt=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b.jpg 800w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1b-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8103\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It&#8217;s not immediately obvious, to me at least, whether this plane is coming at me or flying away.\u00a0 There&#8217;s a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gestalt_psychology\">Gestalt Switch<\/a> moment when the eyes confuse the rear of the fuselage for the nose end.\u00a0 Things don&#8217;t get much clearer when we zoom in:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8106\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8106\" style=\"width: 471px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8106\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect1c\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"383,255\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1279568954&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8106\" title=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c.jpg\" alt=\"Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"471\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c.jpg 383w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1c-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 471px) 100vw, 471px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8106\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Passenger Jet (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A few seconds later and the setting sun catches the plane&#8217;s tail, making the direction of flight more obvious.\u00a0 At a distance, could such a bright reflection isolated to one part of an aircraft be confused with a rocket nozzle &#8211; especially if you&#8217;d already got the idea in mind?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8113\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8113\" style=\"width: 440px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8113\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect1d\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"440,293\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1279568959&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8113\" title=\"Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d.jpg\" alt=\"Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"440\" height=\"293\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d.jpg 440w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect1d-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 440px) 100vw, 440px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8113\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sun reflecting off aircraft tail-fin (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It&#8217;s easy to be fooled by bright objects catching the sun.\u00a0 Helium filled toy balloons are favourite UFO candidates.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve more than once rushed into the house for camera and binoculars when something fast and bright has appeared in the sky.\u00a0 The motion of a rising balloon is very smooth, and viewed from the right angle the mystery object can appear to travel horizontally across the sky faster than it really is.\u00a0 The last one I saw reminded me of an International Space Station (ISS) pass, only in daylight.\u00a0 Again, one of the issues I have with the mystery missile film is that I can&#8217;t tell how fast the missile \/ aircraft is moving &#8211; vertically or horizontally.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8122\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8122\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8122\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/balloon\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"600,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5.6&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 30D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1257169256&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.003125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8122\" title=\"Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon.jpg\" alt=\"Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"470\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon.jpg 600w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/balloon-300x300.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8122\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shiny balloons make for great UFOs (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Here&#8217;s another example of skyward things not being all they at first seem.\u00a0 To  the naked eye, we see a typical multi-engine passenger jet  flying at high altitude.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8114\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8114\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8114\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect4a\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"470,313\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1288140303&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;250&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8114\" title=\"Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a.jpg\" alt=\"Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a.jpg 470w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4a-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8114\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Aircraft contrail illusion (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But with the benefit of a telephoto lens, it turns out to be three (presumably military) jets flying in formation:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8115\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8115\" style=\"width: 298px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4c.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8115\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect4c\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4c.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"298,198\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1288140303&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;250&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4c.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8115\" title=\"Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect4c.jpg\" alt=\"Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"298\" height=\"198\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8115\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Three jets in formation, showing contrails (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Something else that isn&#8217;t clear from the mystery missile footage is the absolute and relative position of the helicopter that took the pictures.\u00a0 Again, perspective can be confusing.\u00a0 Take a look at this shot I took looking down on a plane in the clouds.\u00a0 Obviously I took this from the air, right?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8119\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8119\" style=\"width: 313px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8119\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect2a\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"313,470\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;16&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1279567693&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8119\" title=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a.jpg\" alt=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"313\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a.jpg 313w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2a-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8119\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wrong.\u00a0 I was standing in the local park (and it&#8217;s not a hilly region) when I took this.\u00a0 A bird flying into the frame puts some limits on the likely altitude, but it&#8217;s still ambiguous if you don&#8217;t see the full context:<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8120\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8120\" style=\"width: 313px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8120\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/effect2b\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"313,470\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;13&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1279567704&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8120\" title=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b.jpg\" alt=\"Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"313\" height=\"470\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b.jpg 313w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/effect2b-199x300.jpg 199w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 313px) 100vw, 313px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8120\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jet plane against clouds (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">To finish off, here&#8217;s a picture I took only a couple of weeks ago from mountains over-looking Los Angeles and the bay area.\u00a0 It was twilight, and that lump above LA Downtown is Catalina Island.\u00a0 Perfect missile-spotting conditions.\u00a0 Maybe I&#8217;ll catch the next one.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_8123\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-8123\" style=\"width: 470px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8123\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/losangeles1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,533\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1288142522&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;40&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.02&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1.jpg\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8123\" title=\"View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)\" src=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1.jpg\" alt=\"View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)\" width=\"470\" height=\"313\" srcset=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1.jpg 800w, https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/losangeles1-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 470px) 100vw, 470px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-8123\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View over Los Angeles and out to sea (Photo: Tim Jones)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>UPDATE 13\/11\/2010<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Comprehensive analysis of this event and discussion of previous missile\/aircraft contrail confusions <a href=\"http:\/\/uncinus.wordpress.com\/\">here at Contrailscience.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You may be aware of the mini-controversy\u00a0 around what was initially thought to be a &#8216;mystery missile&#8217; launch earlier this week off the California coast.\u00a0 This clip sums it up: The official line now seems to be that it wasn&#8217;t\u00a0 a missile at all, but the vapour contrail from a passenger jet, the sunset and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2010\/11\/12\/a-cautious-perspective-on-the-mystery-missile\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">A Cautious Perspective on the Mystery Missile<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,567,844,313,999],"tags":[1054,1056,201,1050,499,554,1055,1049,1053,1058,1051,1057,1052],"class_list":["post-8098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aviation","category-experiments","category-mystery-object","category-psychology","category-weather","tag-aircraft-contrails","tag-bright-reflection","tag-california","tag-contrail","tag-gestalt-switch","tag-illusion","tag-missile-launch","tag-mystery-missile","tag-mysterymissile","tag-passenger-jet","tag-perspective","tag-plume","tag-ufo"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkpOr-26C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8098"}],"version-history":[{"count":43,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8245,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8098\/revisions\/8245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}