Synopsis: According to the witness, at 1845 hours on of 21 Nov 12, he was outside his home and saw an object in the sky that made him curious. The witness used his camcorder to zoom in on the object and, according to him, captured a “plasma UFO” on camera.
Evidence Submitted: Original video.
Initial Action: This UFO case was opened as a AN1, an anomaly that left no lasting physical effects, such as lights in the sky and similar phenomena.
Investigation and Findings: The investigator interviewed the witness of this investigation (three times) and was deemed sincere and credible. An analysis of the celestial map the witness observed on 21 Nov 12; and an analysis of the witness’s video indicated a celestial object in/out of focus. On 24 Nov 12, at 1845 hours, API conducted an on-site investigation and observed the celestial object the witness reported. Investigators used a Canon 60D DSLR with a 70-300 mm telephoto lens and recorded several stars, including the star Menkalinan. When the camera’s optics attempted to focus on the Menkalinan, the star came in/out of focus giving them the appearance that it was a glowing orb; the red, blue, and purple colors, which the witness believed was plasma, is a natural phenomena called atmospheric scintillation. On 01 Dec 12, the investigator met with the witness and agreed the object was the star Menkalinan.
Object Details: The star Menkalinan in/out of focus combined with atmospheric scintillation. Menkalinan is a class A star with a temperature of 9200 K, not very different from Vega or Sirius. From its distance of 82 light years, we calculate a luminosity of 95 times the Sun’s, somewhat brighter than a normal class A main sequence star should be.
