5 ms·

Mystery object falls from sky, area sealed off by military

50 points by cdvonstinkpot 13y ago

anigbrowl 13y ago
http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborhood-turns-out-to-be-weather-balloon-217677901.html http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborho...
guard-of-terra 13y ago
How strange should the item be in order me to call for "authorities"?
- mindcrime 13y ago
  Well, if it's a turkey, I wouldn't bother[1]. Otherwise, all bets are off. [1]: http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/turkeys-away-an-oral-history/ http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/turkeys-awa...
- ekianjo 13y ago
  If something non-human comes out of it, that may be a good reason to call :)
mtgx 13y ago
Is it Thor's hammer? I guess it could be some spy satellite or drone they had.
- axefrog 13y ago
  While the nerd in me wants it to be a crashed alien probe, the most plausible scenario is that it's a crashed military satellite, drone or similar.
  - AmVess 13y ago
    It's best not to check out a meteorite that hit the ground near here, Han, old buddy. Always let the professionals take care of things.
- javajosh 13y ago
  No because they put it in a truck and drove it away, therefore it is not Thor's hammer.
Andrenid 13y ago
I always just assume these things are pieces of space junk that lost orbit. Is that even viable? Or is the junk all small enough to completely burn up on re-entry?
- davidcuddeback 13y ago
  Space junk mostly burns up on reentry.
- brazzy 13y ago
  Almost all of it is small enough. And orbiting junk is monitored really closely (so we can time rocket launches to avoid it), so when anything large enough to reach the ground comes down (most prominently Mir: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir), people know in advance. Hey, there's even a schedule: http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries/ http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-...
rangibaby 13y ago
This at the end of the article made me chuckle > The truth is out there here and here. ® Linking to http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborhood-turns-out-to-be-weather-balloon-217677901.html http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborho... and http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/suspicious-package-investigation-underway http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/suspicious-p...
kbar13 13y ago
is the register a legitimate news source? The copy makes me feel like I'm reading a conspiracy theory rag. EDIT: It also doesn't help that their site is utter trash.
- laumars 13y ago
  While I wouldn't rank el Reg as one of the most respectable of online publications, they're usually better than this. I suspect this article was written partly as a joke (to be ironic or just "tongue in cheek").
- vidarh 13y ago
  They're "legitimate" in that they don't tend to outright lie or write stuff they should know is wrong, but their overall style and tone is always halfway between serious newspaper and The Onion. E.g. they for years ended "everything" in all articles about Yahoo! with exclamation marks to mock Yahoo's use of exclamation marks in their name. Unless you appreciate British humour in general and sarcasm in particular, you might find them.. odd.
WestCoastJustin 13y ago
Spoiler alert: Was a balloon, and it was sealed off by the bomb squad to see what is was (they happened to be from a near by military base). Events like these will likely continue to rise as the barrier to get to near space lowers. There have been several stories in recent years about students who have used these High-altitude balloons [1, 2] and there are even sites which teach you [3]. UPDATED: bomb squad from bomb squid ;) [1] http://www.space.com/14397-teens-lego-man-space-stratosphere.html http://www.space.com/14397-teens-lego-man-space-stratosphere... [2] http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-... [3] http://android.hibal.org/ http://android.hibal.org/
- tessierashpool 13y ago
  bomb squid: best typo I've seen in a long time. the story provokes the imagination as-is, but gets a lot better with the addition of a bomb squid.
- derleth 13y ago
  The Bomb Squid is one member of the Suicide Squid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squiddy_Awards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squiddy_Awards http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/9343-suicide-squid http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/9343-sui... http://everything2.com/title/Suicide+Squid http://everything2.com/title/Suicide+Squid
Sanddancer 13y ago
While I love me a good conspiracy theory, in this case, sometimes a weather balloon is just a weather balloon.
- INTPenis 13y ago
  We don't actually know that though, considering how quickly government forces swept it away. The information came from the government. I'm not trying to say anything, I'm not a believer and I really don't care about this stuff. All I want to point out is that there is no way for anyone here on HN to know what it was for sure. There is only trust in the media, who trust in a press release, from the government.
  - nspragmatic 13y ago
    > We don't actually know that though, considering how quickly government forces swept it away. > All I want to point out is that there is no way for anyone here on HN to know what it was for sure Take another look at the last sentence. :P
    - INTPenis 13y ago
      I'm afraid I don't follow. Perhaps my english is not the best.
  - derleth 13y ago
    "We don't know, therefore aliens" is, perhaps, not the most solid of logical chains.
    - INTPenis 13y ago
      Neither is "the government said so, therefore it is known."
      - derleth 13y ago
        Except we have no evidence to cast doubt on them, so Occam's Razor says we shouldn't.
tehwalrus 13y ago
As soon as I saw the picture of it on their linked sites (see rangibaby's comment) I was like "that looks like every homemade space camera I've seen on youtube." May have been a "weather monitoring device" rather than a homemade space camera, same difference. Definitely human-made (polystyrene, circuit boards, string.)
thejosh 13y ago
They say it is a weatherballoon, but how do we know it was made on this planet? It could be a weather balloon from another planet containing aliens.
taproot 13y ago
I haven't read anything more than the title or any comments and I trust the reputable sources at the register completely. So i gotta say: Yup, aliens.
funnyland 13y ago
Maybe this explains it... http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/happy-fun-ball/n10032/ http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/happy-fun-ball/...
mikecane 13y ago
Weather balloons, bomb squad. Reminded me of World War II: Japanese Balloon Bomb attack on the US http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/balloon.html http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/balloon.html Also MeFi: http://www.metafilter.com/60948/WWII-Japanese-Balloon-Bombs http://www.metafilter.com/60948/WWII-Japanese-Balloon-Bombs

50 points by cdvonstinkpot 13y ago

http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborhood-turns-out-to-be-weather-balloon-217677901.html http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborho...

guard-of-terra 13y ago

How strange should the item be in order me to call for "authorities"?

mindcrime 13y ago
Well, if it's a turkey, I wouldn't bother[1]. Otherwise, all bets are off. [1]: http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/turkeys-away-an-oral-history/ http://classictvhistory.wordpress.com/2012/11/21/turkeys-awa...
ekianjo 13y ago
If something non-human comes out of it, that may be a good reason to call :)

mtgx 13y ago

Is it Thor's hammer? I guess it could be some spy satellite or drone they had.

axefrog 13y ago
While the nerd in me wants it to be a crashed alien probe, the most plausible scenario is that it's a crashed military satellite, drone or similar.
- AmVess 13y ago
  It's best not to check out a meteorite that hit the ground near here, Han, old buddy. Always let the professionals take care of things.
javajosh 13y ago
No because they put it in a truck and drove it away, therefore it is not Thor's hammer.

Andrenid 13y ago

I always just assume these things are pieces of space junk that lost orbit. Is that even viable? Or is the junk all small enough to completely burn up on re-entry?

davidcuddeback 13y ago
Space junk mostly burns up on reentry.
brazzy 13y ago
Almost all of it is small enough. And orbiting junk is monitored really closely (so we can time rocket launches to avoid it), so when anything large enough to reach the ground comes down (most prominently Mir: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deorbit_of_Mir), people know in advance. Hey, there's even a schedule: http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-reentries/ http://www.aerospace.org/cords/reentry-predictions/upcoming-...

rangibaby 13y ago

This at the end of the article made me chuckle > The truth is out there here and here. ® Linking to http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborhood-turns-out-to-be-weather-balloon-217677901.html http://www.wvec.com/news/local/Package-discovered-neighborho... and http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/suspicious-package-investigation-underway http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/suspicious-p...

kbar13 13y ago

is the register a legitimate news source? The copy makes me feel like I'm reading a conspiracy theory rag. EDIT: It also doesn't help that their site is utter trash.

laumars 13y ago
While I wouldn't rank el Reg as one of the most respectable of online publications, they're usually better than this. I suspect this article was written partly as a joke (to be ironic or just "tongue in cheek").
vidarh 13y ago
They're "legitimate" in that they don't tend to outright lie or write stuff they should know is wrong, but their overall style and tone is always halfway between serious newspaper and The Onion. E.g. they for years ended "everything" in all articles about Yahoo! with exclamation marks to mock Yahoo's use of exclamation marks in their name. Unless you appreciate British humour in general and sarcasm in particular, you might find them.. odd.

WestCoastJustin 13y ago

Spoiler alert: Was a balloon, and it was sealed off by the bomb squad to see what is was (they happened to be from a near by military base). Events like these will likely continue to rise as the barrier to get to near space lowers. There have been several stories in recent years about students who have used these High-altitude balloons [1, 2] and there are even sites which teach you [3]. UPDATED: bomb squad from bomb squid ;) [1] http://www.space.com/14397-teens-lego-man-space-stratosphere.html http://www.space.com/14397-teens-lego-man-space-stratosphere... [2] http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-mit-students-beat-nasa-on-beer-money-budget/ http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/the-150-space-camera-... [3] http://android.hibal.org/ http://android.hibal.org/

tessierashpool 13y ago
bomb squid: best typo I've seen in a long time. the story provokes the imagination as-is, but gets a lot better with the addition of a bomb squid.
derleth 13y ago
The Bomb Squid is one member of the Suicide Squid: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squiddy_Awards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squiddy_Awards http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/9343-suicide-squid http://knowyourmeme.com/forums/meme-research/topics/9343-sui... http://everything2.com/title/Suicide+Squid http://everything2.com/title/Suicide+Squid

Sanddancer 13y ago

While I love me a good conspiracy theory, in this case, sometimes a weather balloon is just a weather balloon.

INTPenis 13y ago
We don't actually know that though, considering how quickly government forces swept it away. The information came from the government. I'm not trying to say anything, I'm not a believer and I really don't care about this stuff. All I want to point out is that there is no way for anyone here on HN to know what it was for sure. There is only trust in the media, who trust in a press release, from the government.
- nspragmatic 13y ago
  > We don't actually know that though, considering how quickly government forces swept it away. > All I want to point out is that there is no way for anyone here on HN to know what it was for sure Take another look at the last sentence. :P
  - INTPenis 13y ago
    I'm afraid I don't follow. Perhaps my english is not the best.
- derleth 13y ago
  "We don't know, therefore aliens" is, perhaps, not the most solid of logical chains.
  - INTPenis 13y ago
    Neither is "the government said so, therefore it is known."
    - derleth 13y ago
      Except we have no evidence to cast doubt on them, so Occam's Razor says we shouldn't.

tehwalrus 13y ago

As soon as I saw the picture of it on their linked sites (see rangibaby's comment) I was like "that looks like every homemade space camera I've seen on youtube." May have been a "weather monitoring device" rather than a homemade space camera, same difference. Definitely human-made (polystyrene, circuit boards, string.)

thejosh 13y ago

They say it is a weatherballoon, but how do we know it was made on this planet? It could be a weather balloon from another planet containing aliens.

taproot 13y ago

I haven't read anything more than the title or any comments and I trust the reputable sources at the register completely. So i gotta say: Yup, aliens.

funnyland 13y ago

Maybe this explains it... http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/happy-fun-ball/n10032/ http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/happy-fun-ball/...

mikecane 13y ago

Weather balloons, bomb squad. Reminded me of World War II: Japanese Balloon Bomb attack on the US http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/balloon.html http://www.bookmice.net/darkchilde/japan/balloon.html Also MeFi: http://www.metafilter.com/60948/WWII-Japanese-Balloon-Bombs http://www.metafilter.com/60948/WWII-Japanese-Balloon-Bombs