A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled.
Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing sight to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor or a shock wave - although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet.
The phenomenon began when what appeared to be a blue light seemed to soar up from behind a mountain. It stopped mid-air, then began to circulate.
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 twelve minutes before disappearing completely.
The Norwegian Meteorological Institute was flooded with telephone calls after the light storm - which astronomers have said did not appear to have been connected to the aurora, or Northern Lights, so common in that area of the world.
Fred Hansen, from Bø in Vesterålen, described the sight as 'like a big fireball that went around, with a great light around it again.'
He said: 'My first thought was that it was a fireball meteor, but it has lasted far too long.
'It may have been a missile in Russia, but I can not guarantee that it is the answer.'
Air Traffic control in Tromsø claimed the light show lasted for two minutes, but admitted that was 'far too long to be an astronomical phenomena.'
Tromsø Geophysical Observatory researcher Truls Lynne Hansen was certain the light had been caused by a missile launch.
He told Norwegian media that the missile had likely lost control and exploded. The spiral, he claimed, was the result of light reflecting on the leaking fuel. He was quoted as saying the light was sunlight, despite the strange lights showing up at night.
The Barents Observer quoted Norwegian Defence spokesman Jon Espen Lien as saying that the Norwegian military does not know what the lights were - but that they were probably from a Russian missile.
He said it was normal for Russia to use the White Sea and the Barents Sea as a testing ground for missiles.
That's kinda cool to see, plus the symbolism of the spiral. Very interesting....
System
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2009-12-09T12:31:06Z
Looks like a missile gone astray
The light towards the ground you see here:
[Link]looks like something exploded then the missile launched and then spiraled out of control. In the cold air of the northern latitudes the ice crystals in the air probably produced the spiraling effect as the burning rocket fuel lit up the surrounding air. That's my take anyway.
I don't think it's a missile. In the reports they claimed it self-destructed. There was no explosion, no smoke, no fire. Eye witnesses said they heard no sound and the light show lasted as long as 12 minutes. For a missile to be able to release that much energy and stabilize in a well positioned spiral just boggles my mind. I don't think it's possible. The light also appears flat on every surface in the photos and video. Maybe it's a hologram a projection of some type on the in the cosmos. As for why i don't know.
Testing 1,2, 3...