Post by simon155 on Aug 22, 2011 8:51:37 GMT -5
haha to add an alternative perspective to some of these things, what most people can't perceive are a vast threading nwetwork of crosswinds and different heights, and heat plumes mixed in.
We released a handful of chinese lanterns a while back after a party. On a hunch I checked a couple of these sites the next couple of days. Based on the direction they flew off and the locations of the reports, I'd say in all probability they were witnessing the lanterns. When they left, they flew in a triangular formation, with one further late release being dragged off to one side by a current.
They drifted fairly steadily, before slowing down, presumably hitting a cross current, and moving off again.
In the dark when looking at an ill defined object, human optics have little capacity for size calculation. There seems to be a common trend for people to make out vague features of objects, and assume their sizes and heights in conditions where their visual input is restricted at best.
We released a handful of chinese lanterns a while back after a party. On a hunch I checked a couple of these sites the next couple of days. Based on the direction they flew off and the locations of the reports, I'd say in all probability they were witnessing the lanterns. When they left, they flew in a triangular formation, with one further late release being dragged off to one side by a current.
They drifted fairly steadily, before slowing down, presumably hitting a cross current, and moving off again.
In the dark when looking at an ill defined object, human optics have little capacity for size calculation. There seems to be a common trend for people to make out vague features of objects, and assume their sizes and heights in conditions where their visual input is restricted at best.