MOOfoN investigation falls short

MUFON has recently promoted a case on the open minds forum that they have declared as “unknown” after an investigation. It
involved a video and eyewitness report from Nashville, Tennessee on August 15, 2016. After examining the original report,

noticed that some details were missed by the investigators that prevented an explanation.

The sighting report

The witness told a story where he went out on a smoke break at 3AM on August 15th. He noticed a bright yellow line low in the sky near the horizon and recorded it on video. The witness originally thought it was the moon behind clouds but would state that it could not be the moon because the moon was overhead. He added that he had an uneasy feeling (like he was being watched) several hours prior to the sighting.

Missing details

As is typical for MUFON, they only present the report and do not bother to give us how the investigation was conducted. One would think MUFON would bother to publish specifics about the investigation because important details were missing from the witness’ report and their press release.

• We have no idea what type of cell phone was used to image the sequence.

• We have no idea what direction the witness was facing.

• We have no idea where the witness was located other than “Nashville”.

  I am sure these details were known to the investigator but why weren’t they made available to everyone else? Is there a reason that MUFON fails to release their formal investigation reports when they make public announcements?

  Getting the direction

  The one detail that was most important was the direction the observer was facing. I managed to determine the direction by look- ing at the photograph the witness took in daylight. Fortunately, the EXIF data was in the image and it states that it was taken at 7:12 AM on August 15th. In the image, we can see the shadow of the photographer. The azimuth angle of the sun at that time was about 80 degrees, which means the shadows would extend towards the 260 degree angle. Since the shadow of the photographer extends parallel to the right of the image. This means the direction of observation was towards the Southwest. Was there some- thing in that direction that might have been the source of the observation?

  The probable source

  One has to wonder about the witness statement about the moon. A cursory check of Moonrise and Moonset times indicates the

  2
  moon was not overhead at 3AM as the witness stated. In fact, it set at 3:17 AM for Nashville on August 15th. The azimuth for

  moonset was 247 degrees, which is in the southwest. If this is true, where is the moon in the recording?

  The weather that morning was not clear. Weather records indicate scattered clouds at the time of the sighting.3 The daylight pho- tograph, taken four hours later, shows high clouds. Therefore, the probable solution is exactly what the witness had suggested but then dismissed. It was the setting moon visible through the clouds.