Gigantic Spiral of Light Observed Over Norway; Rocket To Blame?

Ch_Omega writes "A mysterious light display appearing over Norway last night (more pictures) has left thousands of residents in the north of the country baffled. Witnesses from Trøndelag to Finnmark compared the amazing display to anything from a Russian rocket to a meteor to 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 center — 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." The Bad Astronomer makes the case that a malfunctioning rocket spewing fuel is a parsimonious explanation, backed up by witnesses to similar events and a cool simulation (on video). An anonymous reader suggests that this Proton-M Carrier Rocket might be responsible for the display.

The Norse Were Right!

[eldavojohn]

Odin's back. And he's pissed. The spiral is his wide brimmed hat. And he's finally got his favorite blue laser back from Loki. Unfortunately he can only use it on one person per night. Huginn and Muninn are doing surveillance right now so it's time to get those shrines up in the backyard, people! Raise your cups of mead and abandon Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, etc. The Norse were right, repent before it's too late! Finally, a reason to worship a deity I can identify with--Loki!

Where is my kaboom?

[Tofino]

There was supposed to be an earth-shattering kaboom!

it's the LHC i say! j/k

[Anonymous Coward]

lol, maybe it was the LHC.

It's the LHC

[wiredog]

Sending Bogons back from the Future.

BA

[Yert]

BadAsstronomer seems to have picked up on a TV station's assertion that it was a russian ICBM test launch - it's certainly pretty, but unfortunately, not the black hole the LHC was supposed to bring us. Bastards.

Swirly Thing Alert!

[Tofino]

All hands on deck: Swirly thing alert!

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[dzelenka]

Has anyone considered that this is just an NVidia ad for their new Blu-Ray 3D format?

Am I posting to the correct story?

Well....

[s0litaire]

...I for one...
Welcome our now very dizzy alien overlords...

WoW's new raid instance...

[Anonymous Coward]

Finally, we've found the entrance...

Re:LCD Projector FTW

[Arthur Grumbine]

Except that multiple images from multiple angles show a circular phenomenon, which means that the source must be roughly spherical.

Also, there are no clouds in any of the images.

Also, you're an idiot.

Spinning beach ball of death

[Vicegrip]

Damnit, apparently the earth is running OSX and somebody has tried to "undo" the last ten years; this has resulted in the spinning beach ball of death.

Ob. Men In Black:

[Blakey Rat]

Ob. Men In Black:

"The flash of light you saw in the sky was not a UFO. Swamp gas from a weather balloon was trapped in a thermal pocket and reflected the light from Venus."

Zoomba

[Speare]

It's just an experiment that the iRobot corp was conducting, where they cross a Roomba with one of their military devices. Apparently this is related to Bill Gates' theories that hurricanes can be controlled with the proper application of technology. Dean Kamen was not not available for comment on speculation that it was related to a Death Star marketing tie-in for his Luke "Skywalker" prosthetic hand project.

Texter Hypothesis

[Tablizer]

Theory #3: A sky-writer pilot was making an "@" for an email address, but passed out.
   

Hey Norway

[r00tw00t]

Ubisoft called it wants its logo back!

Re:Swirly Thing Alert!

[oldspewey]

Attention travellers: The Department of Homeland Security Threat Level is currently set to Swirly.

Re:Spinning beach ball of death

[Tablizer]

earth is running OSX and somebody has tried to "undo" the last ten years...spinning beach ball of death

The LHC is uninstalling the future.
     

God installed the 60's wallpaper/screensaver

[Tablizer]

...I told you he was a liberal.

Re:So weird.

[Volante3192]

I suppose I could've left the cruise control bit out, but my thought process at the time was "I don't want friction to kick in so soon..."

The rest are necessary to remove any controlling aspect from the car. I could've said driverless, but someone would've chirped in "remote control!" for example, so I've found trying to rigidly define conditions a necessity for /.

Re:LCD Projector FTW

[tjstork]

it's like hearing loud creaking noises and banging and saying "oh, it's just wind" - disregarding the fact that wind isn't capable of producing such noise.

I think the people in New Orleans and Galveston might feel a bit differently!

Re:Cool... but mundane - It was a Rocket!

[BobMcD]

If it was an ICBM, wouldn't that ruffle some feathers?

I mean, I thought we all agreed that unless you're a very short Korean deity that you're not allowed to test these kinds of devices.

I distinctly missed the beginning of WWIII this morning, though to be fair it could have happened before my first cup of coffee.

Simple Explanation

[Anonymous Coward]

Nothing to worry about, this is a typical time-mass interfence pattern caused by a trans-galactic class rift engine reaching its firing potential while the host craft skims the atmosphere of a planet with its anti-graviton containment field slightly out of phase alignment.

Considering that Sol33087-3 (Earth) is also on the blue-list ('keep your distance') due to the operation of your Hadron collider (whose output can cause short-duration dimensional microfractures in rift engine stern waves), as regional observer I have reported the incident to the appropriate authorities together with readings from the unique anti-graviton signature of the engine and you can rest assured that the pilot/primary officer of the craft will be identified and interviewed, with appropriate action taken.

Erm - posting AC for obvious reasons.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[uuddlrlrab]

Bullshit. That was the invaders' mothership. Everyone will regret not scrambling their military forces when giant saucers appear over every major city. Quick, someone ready a Powerbook with a virus we'll upload to their computers!

Geez, Earth is no fun any more

[david.emery]

> - although no one appears to have mentioned UFOs yet

It's no fun buzzing Earth if there's no panic calling to authorities and calls for investigation of the subsequent coverup.

Bleezarp (from Alpha Centauri...)

Tagged: akustimeportal

[TyIzaeL]

I love you guys.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[Locke2005]

I prefer to believe that the screensaver on the computer running the matrix just kicked in accidentally. Apparently "God" hadn't moved the mouse for too long.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[raddan]

Somewhere, some nerd in the basement of a "computer history museum" desperately wants this to happen. He keeps his trackball extra clean for just such an occasion.

Re:BA

[josquin00]

Unless someone was testing a laser weapon to knock out missles/rockets. I blame the sharks.

Re:Anyone notice...

[dunng808]

The article did say the launch had been delayed.

Re:no ufos

[Hork_Monkey]

But once you call it a UFO, isn't now "identified"?

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[AHuxley]

Careful with your Linux screensavers or you will have some moving your mouse with god like powers.

Re:Swirly Thing Alert!

[Anonymous Coward]

Finally! I was getting a headache from the Everything's Fine Klaxon.

- T

Re:LCD Projector FTW

[Anonymous Coward]

Though I disagree with you on your points, if I had mod points, I would have modded you awesome for the "Also, you're an idiot." There is a point to that.

Re:Even if it's just a rocket

[iamapizza]

I live in England. We once saw the Sun. That was unusual.

Good for the Doctor...

[Daswolfen]

It seems he has gotten the aliens to crash on another country besides the UK this holiday season...

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just give them a copy of Vista - that will do the job.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[Whiteox]

Personally, I'm blaming it on the LHC

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[CharlyFoxtrot]

Apparently "God" hadn't moved the mouse for too long.

Wait a minute, I thought the mice were running this simulation ? Now I'm confused.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[LoRdTAW]

I don't have a Power book, will an iPhone with a picture of Rick Astley do?

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[Anonymous Coward]

Celebrity astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard

Wait.. He's a what?

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[JuzzFunky]

Meanwhile, at the LHC a small group of physicists are shitting their pants asking each other? "What the fuck did we just do?"

Re:no ufos

[StreetStealth]

I was attacked by a UFO once.

Then I identified the flying object. It was a stuffed animal thrown by my brother.

Hrmf...

[a_nonamiss]

I stared at that spinning little ball of light for like 3 minutes before I realized it was just waiting for the video to load.

Re:no ufos

[Exception Duck]

In order to understand recursion, one must first understand recursion.

Re:The Norse Were Right!

[rdnetto]

http://xkcd.com/242/ [xkcd.com]