Some controversy raged about the images which you can see our December 16 Journal entry. It is remarkable that many are ever more ready to accept unsupported sceptical explanations than they are of the obvious evidence given to them. Thus it is that the fact that this is the plane of Untruth and Deception is again highlighted.

However, in order to tip the scales one way or the other for you, here is a brief report and Nick Balaskas' (Physics and Astronomy, York University) reasoning why the image seen was NOT the Moon! You can view the images again at the addresses given below.

Numerous experts have attempted to solve the mystery of the giant anomalous object picked up on November 21, 1999, at 14:45Z on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Geosynchronous Orbiting Environmental Satellite (GOES) in orbit watching the Earth's weather.

Nicla Camerin writes that he had observed the NOAA Satellite photos above Earth. These objects are not the moon. I looked at the images for the day before and after at the same time. If that object had been the moon, it would have been there on those days as well."

The image appears to be a full disk, and in the left corner you can see another 'spot'. I zoomed in, and rendered and seems to be another 'object'. Do you have any idea at what timing are get this satellite images? 1/500, 1/1000, 1/8000 etc. In the full disk 4 seems to be a `blur' in the top-left part instead of the bottom are defined. In the full disk there seems to be some kind of heat around the object. Thanks to Nicla.

Another person wrote US Military satellites also pick up the Fast Walkers on a regular basis. They are the ones knocking out our satellites. Nick Balaskas <nikolaos@York U. So does the Moon (about 15%).

Astronomer Rik Hill checked this out and found that our natural satellite was at the right place, and showing the right phase to account for the oval image at the time the pix was taken. The shape of the object was due to the motion of the Moon, which caused trailing, even though the Moon phase was nearly Full, so the actual disk was about circular. The time between pictures was 30 minutes, not 15 minutes. Therefore the shifts of the Moon from one picture to the next are about 15 Moon diameters. I sent an E-mail request to NOAA for any other images of the full Earth they have which also include the Moon in the same pictures.

Until then, let's do a quick mathematical check to see if the alleged UFO Mother Ship was in fact the Moon.

The mean diameter of the Moon is: 3475 km, while the mean diameter of the Earth: 12,756 km. The mean distance of the Moon to the Earth: 384,500 km. The approximate distance of NOAA's GOES satellite to the Earth (since it is in geostationery orbit): 35,786 km.

The approximate distance of NOAA's GOES satellite to the Moon (since the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth with respect to GOES, this will be 384,500 plus 35,786 or): 420,286 km.

From trigonometry we get: tan X(M) = 3475/420,286 = 8.268 x 10^-3 And tan X(E) = 12,756/35,786 = 3.564 x 10^-1 where X(M) is the angular size of the Moon and X(E) is the angular size of the Earth.

From the inverse tans we get: X(M) = 0.47 degrees and X(E) = 19.62 degrees, The ratio in sizes of the Earth to the Moon in the GEOS images should be 19.62/0.47 = 41.7.

In other words, the Earth should appear 41.7 times larger. The diameter of the Moon (long axis) on the GEOS images I downloaded was about 3 mm (plus or minus 0.5 mm) and the diameter of the Earth was 96 mm (plus or minus 1.0 mm). This gives ratios as large as 97/2.5 = 38.8 or as small as 95/3.5 =27.1.

Observations: The object in the GEOS images is smaller than what we would expect for the Moon (assuming there is no pronounced distortions near the edges of the GEOS images).

Also, the axis of the nearly full Moon phase (less than two days from Full Moon), should be parallel to the Earth's N-S axis. It isn't (nonsymmetrical distortions?).

Yes, GEOS images of the Earth are taken every 30 minutes but it does not take up to 30 minutes to take this image so no trailing of the Moon should be evident.

Note that the Moon revolves around the Earth once (360 degrees) in just over 27 days so in a 30 minute time frame the Moon would move in the sky by: (360 degrees / 27 days) / (24 hours x 2) = 0.27 degrees in 30 minutes. This is about a half Moon diameter, not the 15 Moon diameters you mention.

If we assume it is the Moon in the GEOS image, since it is a few lunar diameters from the edge of the Earth and it moves about half a lunar diameter in the sky each 30 minutes, there MUST be a few more images of the Moon in GEOS images taken before and after this one.

Conclusion: The object in the GEOS image (taken November 21, 1999, at 14:45Z cannot be easily explained as the Moon - it remains a UFO.

Nick Balaskas, Physics and Astronomy, York University Thanks to Bob Young <[email protected]>

There is some disagreement if the moon will show up on infrared.

Anyone know? The Photos are located at:

http://spica.cira.colostate.edu/jpeg/325/1999325144514i08_fulldisk_c01.jpg
http://spica.cira.colostate.edu/jpeg/325/1999325144514i08_fulldisk_c03.jpg
http://spica.cira.colostate.edu/jpeg/325/1999325144514i08_fulldisk_c04.jpg