Why "Racetrack" UFOs are mostly Starlink Flares
- Thread starter Mick West
- Start date
Regarding my post above, in which I said....
Got a reply from the witness on PPrune... (I was right!)
Checking in-the-sky.org it shows (as expected) that the conditions for flaring Starlink satellites were present again.
Got a reply from the witness on PPrune... (I was right!)
Checking in-the-sky.org it shows (as expected) that the conditions for flaring Starlink satellites were present again.
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Ravi
Senior Member.
On one hand I cannot blame pilots to not be aware of the extreme amount of Starlink satellites orbiting. But, on the other hand, should that not be at some point become common knowledge? The Starlink constellation will only get bigger. I mean, they (pilots) must at some point come to a kind of consensus, right?
Yes, there needs to be something official published and widely circulated, either by an Aviation Authority such as FAA, CAA or EASA, or perhaps by a professional body such as https://www.balpa.org/ , to ensure that aircrews are made aware of this. Although it isn't a genuine flight safety risk for collision, it can't be good for pilots to be distracted or confused when they see such a phenomenon.
Ann K
Senior Member.
I think the time will come - soon - that other pilots will publicly laugh at them for not knowing what they are, and the number of reports will dwindle toward zero. Peer pressure will get to them faster than scientific analysis.
So this was posted on TikTok & Reddit earlier today. Sounds like he's seeing Starlink again.
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshfit4flight/video/7171617548033592622?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=mobile&sender_web_id=7102303869933225478
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@joshfit4flight/video/7171617548033592622?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=mobile&sender_web_id=7102303869933225478
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Discussion of the new Mid-Atlantic "Racetrack" UFO Cockpit Video from Reddit has been moved to:
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/mid-atlantic-racetrack-ufo-cockpit-video-starlink-again.12787/
https://www.metabunk.org/threads/mid-atlantic-racetrack-ufo-cockpit-video-starlink-again.12787/
Easy Muffin
Senior Member.
Unfortunately the flight playback and the ATC messages didn't get synced properly so that might give a false impression.
For example there's FDX1403 checking in with Ft Worth at what appears to be 0943Z.
Although in actual fact that flight had only just departed Memphis airport at that time.
Very rough estimate here, but going by the border between Memphis Center and Ft Worth Center they would have first talked to Ft Worth around 1010Z to 1020Z or so.
The border runs from Tulsa past Forth Smith to Texarkarna, roughly speaking. https://skyvector.com/?ll=34.9246734040739,-94.57965087780295&chart=304&zoom=4&fpl=undefined if you want to have a look yourself.
This is the sun position at Fort Smith at 1010Z, prime conditions for Starlink flares.
The direction of 90° matches well, too. DAL722 says earlier that they see the lights in the direction of Razorback, which is a VOR station near Tulsa and would have been pretty much due east (or straight ahead) from the plane's POV.
For example there's FDX1403 checking in with Ft Worth at what appears to be 0943Z.
Although in actual fact that flight had only just departed Memphis airport at that time.
Very rough estimate here, but going by the border between Memphis Center and Ft Worth Center they would have first talked to Ft Worth around 1010Z to 1020Z or so.
The border runs from Tulsa past Forth Smith to Texarkarna, roughly speaking. https://skyvector.com/?ll=34.9246734040739,-94.57965087780295&chart=304&zoom=4&fpl=undefined if you want to have a look yourself.
This is the sun position at Fort Smith at 1010Z, prime conditions for Starlink flares.
The direction of 90° matches well, too. DAL722 says earlier that they see the lights in the direction of Razorback, which is a VOR station near Tulsa and would have been pretty much due east (or straight ahead) from the plane's POV.
Nice observation. I was just starting to look into this and the time / location / sun angle didint seem to line up as I was expecting. This explains it. Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) boundaries are split like this:
You can see US ARTCC Boundaries on ADSB Exchange - the purple lines in this image. Here we can see that Fedex1403 only entered the Fort Worth ARTCC at 10:20 UTC Time, which is 37 minutes later than the 'synchronized' audio on the video suggests.
It suggests that the video is about 35mins behind the audio - agreed?
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Easy Muffin
Senior Member.
I tried to get the ATC comms from the LiveATC archives since they always seem to have pretty accurate timing information but couldn't find anything for Fort Worth. However I did manage to track down FDX1403's prior contact with Memphis (look for KFYV, Jan 14, 1000-1030). They are handed off to Ft Worth shortly before 1018Z. There's also a short interaction where ATC asks them if they are seeing any lights, I guess that's him relaying Ft Worth's inquiry as mentioned in Hansen's video.
Sadly 135.45 doesn't appear in the LiveATC archives.
So yeah, 35 minutes seems correct. At that point in the video anyways. It's difficult to keep track of the time as the video goes on what with all the cuts he made.
Just thought I should do the due dilligence and check the parameters on this sighting.
First of all , we need to take into account the poorly-sync'd video and audio that @Easy Muffin noted above. This is so we can get an accurate time & position for DELTA722.
So at 10.05UTC aircraft DELTA722 was actually between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
10:10UTC = 04:10 CST. Also the 'they're moving up higher in the sky as we approach' comment is consistent with what we know about the position of Starlink flares. They rise with the rising sun.
The sun position at this location and Time was 42 degrees below the horizon on a Bearing of 088.
https://www.suncalc.org/#/35.7777,-96.6852,8/2023.01.14/04:05/1/3
Checking In-The-Sky.org planetarium view for starling satellites above the sun.
This sighting fits for the conditions under which we have seen Starlink Flares in the previous cases. Its highly likely that this is what was seen.
First of all , we need to take into account the poorly-sync'd video and audio that @Easy Muffin noted above. This is so we can get an accurate time & position for DELTA722.
So at 10.05UTC aircraft DELTA722 was actually between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
10:10UTC = 04:10 CST. Also the 'they're moving up higher in the sky as we approach' comment is consistent with what we know about the position of Starlink flares. They rise with the rising sun.
The sun position at this location and Time was 42 degrees below the horizon on a Bearing of 088.
https://www.suncalc.org/#/35.7777,-96.6852,8/2023.01.14/04:05/1/3
Checking In-The-Sky.org planetarium view for starling satellites above the sun.
This sighting fits for the conditions under which we have seen Starlink Flares in the previous cases. Its highly likely that this is what was seen.
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FatPhil
Senior Member.
Has there been an explanation for what inputs were being used to synchronise the two, and therefore how it went wrong. Helping them avoid such accidental mistakes in the future would be useful.
Easy Muffin
Senior Member.
None that I'm aware of. I'm not sure it was ever meant to be an accurate recreation anyway, more likely I think is that the FR24 playback was put there simply because it made for a more interesting alternative to something like a solid black background for the ATC messages to play out in front of, and that's about all the thought that went into it.
Any confusion that stems from this wouldn't be intentional (and to be fair, it's only us people that are posting from deep inside the Starlink flare rabbit hole that would even notice). Nonetheless a small disclaimer sure would have been helpful.
Mendel
Senior Member.
I suggest pinning this thread for a while. @Mick West
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