Post by purr on Aug 31, 2023 22:27:48 GMT
Aug 13, 2023 10:22:31 GMT HAL said:
There are a few things wrong with the case. For instance he was supposedly flying to an airfield that would have no facilities open. But did not request them.
This models Valentich becoming spatially disoriented after misidentifying a clearly visible constellation of the planets Venus, Mars, Mercury and the bright star Antares as the four landing lights overhead. He also somehow mistakes his Cessna's green colored navigation light on the right wing tip as the bright green 'object' he reports seeing in close proximity. The exchange concerning a brightly lit aircraft, turning out to be not an aircraft, seemingly an unidentified flying object then may be definitively explained by the pilot's own increasingly unsafe maneuvers as he tried to interact with stationary astronomical light sources.
(At the risk of overkill, there was a meteor shower in the sky overhead on display as Valentich made his way to King Island, which provides yet additional sources of light he might have mistaken for another aircraft.)
The question then, Wu, Cotes777 and HAL & thread starter Maxx, is how this tallies with the facts/"evidence" of the case. These are 1. Disappearance 2. Exchange Valentich-Flight controller.
Valentich did NOT claim, during his exchange with air control, to see a UFO! His initial query was concerning (what appeared to be) a large aircraft, with bright landing lights. As the conversation progressed, high speed observed, he asked if it could be military aircraft on his flightpath.
Of course, we could argue for or against this being a Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon. If he actually observed lights, UAP includes unidentified flying object, visual error (planets, stars, meteor shower, his own navigation lights etc.) and/or some acute neurological/psychiatric episode affecting the pilot! However Valentich himself never made a UFO claim.
To be brief, in the last part of his exchange with Melbourne Flight Service, he reported observing the object as in air "stationary', and "hovering", as well as mimicking his orbiting maneuvers while "on top" of him. Please note this clear description is given AFTER the alleged phase where some commentators would have him spinning, doing rolls, climbing straight up and diving (prior to alleged crash!!), as he mistook Venus-Mars-Mercury-Antares for erratically flying lights, a mistake supposedly caused by his own wild movements. Are we to believe he never noticed immense variation in G forces? Did he also ignore his instrument panel signaling his imminent death, hurtling to sea level? No, as a matter of fact Valentich, prompted by Melbourne Flight Service as a nearby military flight was under consideration, responded with an instrument reading: "My level is four and a half thousand, four five zero zero.". This is the point at which he supposedly climbing towards the lights, is stalling and begins spiraling down to the water surface.
Yet after all this Frederich Valentich' description must be considered in its entirety, provided by a still emphatically alive and apparently orbiting and level flying pilot, the object now having come in closer proximity, seen as "not an aircraft", having a "green light", appearing "metallic like" and "all shiny on the outside".
Dare I say that rather than claiming an UNIDENTIFIED label, this pilot gave a detailed report of the object, as not an aircraft, with green light, metallic, shiny on the outside, capable of unusually great speed, maneuvering away, towards, past, then appearing stationary and hovering, as well as closely following Valentich' plane?
Could all of the above have been caused by the visual illusion of seeing stationary objects 'move'?
Agreement: humans (as other animals) evolved to compensate for our head movements, relative to our surroundings. Included are turning, nodding, jumping, jolts, even impacts from falls and violence. Simply: we are designed by natural selection to ourselves getting hit/thrown about while remaining aware/perceptive to THE WORLD AROUND US NOT MOVING.
Modern pilots combine this natural ability (+ a set of normal faculties like 20/20 vision and mental health) with instrument flying and navigation, allowing for the large scale awareness of an airplane's position relative to distant destinations, ground/sea surface and other air traffic. Pilots are trained to be less prone to spatial disorientation than the average human being.
But there are limits. If you're jolted too hard, or during massive changes in gravity, lacking visual cues, the mind gets overloaded and loses all sense of up and down and relative position. Utter disorientation follows.
Let's do a deep dive into the specific hypothesis put forward to explain Valentich' report to Melbourne Flight Service. Namely: the 'object' he observed was stationary, like a constellation of 3 bright planets plus a star, while the illusion of movement was caused by the relative maneuvers of his Cessna?
To test its validity, we must go through his observations blow by blow. (Check out transcript in earlier post.) Valentich, flying at level 4500 ft. initially sees the object pass him overhead at an estimated below 5000 ft. In order to see this happen to a stationary object, a little bouncing about does not suffice, here he must be executing a (partial) roll, steep turn or looping. Because he sees the object pass at great speed (comparable to air force jet), the roll/turn/climb must have been fairly violent. Next he sees the object approaching from due east, necessitating another roll to his right. Then the object is seen passing over him three times at great speed, equaling necessarily three successive violent rolls. Next Valentich sees the object directly ahead, which means in the case he's chasing a stationary planet, he must now be in a radical climb. Then Valentich says the object is orbiting/turning with him, mimicking his own turn. Applying our 'stationary planets&star hypothesis' Valentich, eyes on the object, then must be already in a (near) stall while attempting to make a turn. Then he loses sight of the object, followed by the object approaching from the south-west. Thus finally he must be spinning left, presumably losing altitude fast. Splash down, THE END.
There are imho problems with this theory. If he was moving his plane about as wildly as his object=constellation observations require, he would be subjected to six minutes of extreme changes in G force, getting squashed, weightless next, causing serious nausea and disorientation. How could he not notice, and give voice to his increasing alarm? His calm conversation with Melbourne suggest his Cessna's maneuvers felt normal/mild. Secondly, he consistently reported seeing the object approach him (more than once), in the final moments at close proximity. The details he reported, green light, long shape, metallic/shiny surface, seem incompatible with stationary bright planets or stars at infinite distance.
To close, to confirm the splash down there should be wreckage. At this point no wreckage has been found, continuing Valentich' status as a disappearance of pilot and his plane while he reported a UAP in close proximity.
purr