Eburacum

But no compass. (edit, it does appear they took one, but may not have used it much in the dark). What is a 'trained SP investigator', and what would they be trained in? Security policemen?

Quite plausible. However I note that (in Dr Clarke's timeline) the guy who reported 'they're back' actually stated this on Friday night; site’...

No, but Sirius was south of Halt, and gradually losing altitude, as described in the tape. At 0400 it was approximately the same height off the horizon as Halt stated ('five to ten degrees' ) . Note that any object that hangs around in the sky...

So it has gone completely now, it seems. The last time I was in that part of the country it was to visit the archaeological site at Sutton Hoo, but we drove past the Rendlesham forest.

Bear in mind that the lighthouse was not a point source; indeed, it was a complex source issuing from a Fresnel lens.

Nope, those aren't Airy rings of point sources. Something like 80% of the light is within the first dark ring. Something to do with Bessel functions and things that are way beyond my pay grade right now. I'm not saying what you're showing aren't...

Airy disks are quite variable, and depend on the focus and optics of the device; but some do have darker circles in the centre.

how about 2 ounces? heres a 6inch ashtray someone actually weighed. (didnt like the depth for a pie/tart plate.. maybe quiche? is Mrs. Trent buying specialized mini quiche trays? but they'd still be somewhat heavy, although not as heavy a metal...

It's easy to see that the wires do not hang in a smooth catenary, but have miscellaneous jogs and bends. That shows that they are not very flexible at all, and I would expect them not to be affected by a light-weight object hanging from a slender...

EDIT: Cross posted with Ann K above about the same thing. The 3 big wires in the background are distribution wires that run from utility pole to utility pole which are usually around 300' apart in rural areas: They are typically spaced about...

I think they are probably the same effect, appearing on different types of electronic imaging devices.

Those look like Airy disks. The instrument Halt was using to look at the lighthouse was a Starscope photomultiplier, which produces a lot of artifacts, including flares and glare. According to Ridpath, a very bright light could burn out the...

The only problem I have with the hypothesis that this object was suspended from the wire seen in the photo, is that a freely suspended wire hanging from two points will form a smooth catenary curve, but if you hang a weight from the midpoint it...

well we can see the back hole of the light. but not the glass side facing the sea. but you're saying: like a spotlight reflecting off distance clouds. so even though the movie footage is horrible and i cant see any loom (beam), in real life...

Yes, perhaps so. A thin layer of mist would be enough to show the beam quite clearly. Judging from this photo, the loom would have reached around almost to the location of the observers, so it would have shone over their heads briefly before...