Quirky Things Seen From The Air in Your RV

[Vlad]

[Bill Boyd]

"Fly low enough, and you can make a second one..."

[David Paule]

Ages ago, I was flying to the west coast from here in Colorado. I was somewhere around Barstow, maybe west of there, and definitely past Edwards AFB, I saw a long narrow incandescent glow. It started, grew bright, and receded, all in less than a minute. It was on the ground for sure.

I don't know if it was something that heated up, something that just happened to reflect some sunlight just right, or something that heated and cooled. Could have been any of that or something else, I guess.

Being familiar with the area and having a Sectional at hand, I was able to estimate its distance from me at about 85 miles. And judging from the angle it covered on my windshield, it must have been around three miles long.

I called it in to Flight watch and they were speechless. Another airplane, nearby, came up and said that they'd seen the same thing and confirmed that my description was accurate.

We never did learn what it was and I still don't know. It's a UGO, an unidentified ground object, I suppose.

Dave

[larosta]

Could have been the Solar One demonstration project that was near Barstow back in the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Solar_Project

It created some strange glowing light across the desert under the right conditions. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System south of Las Vegas uses similar solar tower technology and can be seen glowing from many miles away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpa...Power_Facility



I have seen some interesting light effects off of the Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) installations as well. There is one at Kramer Junction between EAFB and Barstow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_...rating_Systems


-larosta

[Vlad]

Originally Posted by larosta

Could have been the Solar One demonstration project that was near Barstow back in the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Solar_Project

It created some strange glowing light across the desert under the right conditions. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System south of Las Vegas uses similar solar tower technology and can be seen glowing from many miles away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanpa...Power_Facility



I have seen some interesting light effects off of the Solar Energy Generating Systems (SEGS) installations as well. There is one at Kramer Junction between EAFB and Barstow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_...rating_Systems


-larosta

I've seen one by Tonopah very impressive.

[David Paule]

It certainly wasn't that - first, it was way on the west northwest end of Edwards AFB (I spent about five years working at Edwards and lived in the area), clear on the far side of the AFB from where I was, and second, I did the structural analysis of the heliostats on what was probably Solar One, and knew where it was and what it looked like.

This was a very long linear feature.

The structural analysis of those mirrors, by the way, was fascinating. It wasn't the strength that was the important thing, as long as there was enough of it, but the stiffness. We were mostly interested in where the beam would reflect (that is, how far from the predicted aim point would the beam actually be), and if the mirror would curve (and oh, yeah, it did) and what the shape of the beam path would be, under the temperature changes and wind loadings. At any rotation position.

That was my first introduction to the art of structural analysis for optical systems. Years later, consulting in that field eventually let me retire.

Dave

[mbauer]

Took these photos last April 2017, these are real close to Las Vegas-West of.




Best regards,
Mike Bauer

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by mbauer

Took these photos last April 2017, these are real close to Las Vegas-West of.


....

Best regards,
Mike Bauer

Neat, unless you are a bird.... From the LA Times...

A macabre fireworks show unfolds each day along I-15 west of Las Vegas, as birds fly into concentrated beams of sunlight and are instantly incinerated, leaving wisps of white smoke against the blue desert sky.

Workers at the Ivanpah Solar Plant have a name for the spectacle: "Streamers."

[joe_rainbolt]

Same plant as in Vlad's pic, near Tonopah NV. It's listed on the sectional as an "Ocular glare hazzard."

[Vlad]

The Ivanpah array is really cool. Passed by on a recent trip. Didn't look at the flashes camera did.