Thread: Black line crosses moon

I saw this last night (using binoculars, full moon so it was extremely clear):

A black line or thin deep black and rigidly straight shadow crossing the Moon in the direction from SE to SSW. Amazing! I can't figure out what it could have been since the line advanced till it sectioned the Moon then slowly disappeared from the same direction.

In addition the section seemed to reduce in size by the time the line had crossed, even though the line remained straight and wasn't warped at all. Weird.

This was around 19h30-35 GMT.

Can anyone enlighten me?

If you were using binoculars, it must have been close up since if it was on or near the Moon it would have been huge and visible to all. The black line must have been something close to you. Could a cable have blown in your direction? A contrail from a jet? Even some kind of reflection hitting your binoculars, or an abberation in your binoculars. It could not have been a satellite going over?

I think it could have been a cable. If it was indeed anything mysterious, the space agencies watching the moon would have easily seen it, and by now it would have been in the news.

Ah you guys are no fun.

It was aliens.

Of course it wasn't a cable, nor anything near me like that, nor anything trapped in or on the binoculars. I'm not stupid, you guys.

It advanced in a straight line like a very long arrow. Once the front part had reached the other edge of the Moon the line ran right across the visible surface, then started to disappear by the 'tail' end. An aeroplane, even very high up, should have had visible lights against the contrasting night sky, yet there were none to be seen (and I'm very used to seeing aeroplanes). I suppose it's possible that the angle prevented me from perceiving the lights though. But why would the line have been so long I ask myself?

I've never seen anything like it before and if it were merely an aeroplane then I should have noticed this many times before on nights when the Moon is full.

Sorry I asked anyhow. I'll now go off and buy some chocolate to cheer myself up.

Then maybe it was small meteoroid hitting the atmosphere.

Originally Posted by Numsgil

Ah you guys are no fun.

It was aliens.

There is no such thing as aliens, Earthman. If you give us your address, Zkg and myself will visit you later and explain it to you in short words even an Earthman can understand.

Do you have a mischevious little brother who can fly a kite in the dark? - if not it was probably an 'eye floater' these are tiny strands of loose material within the eye that cast a chadow on the retina and appear to float across your vision, if not perhaps it was Mary Poppins broomstick floating past...

Like megabrain said, it was just a floater! (Which is entirely feasable seeing as you were looking as someone's moon.) :P

Last night I saw something similar to what moonwolf described... atleast what was described is the closest thing I've been able to find online. Last night was very foggy here (Bay Area, Ca) so the moon was very hazy.It was also big and bright since the full moon was daybefore yesterday.
Went out to have a smoke and noticed a black line, or shadow of some kind, going across the moon left to right at the very top. Then the line started moving down. It wasn't quite as slow as you would expect, say, a cloud to move. But it was a solid black stripe. It moved down passing over the moon completely. Then it seemed to stop moving down at all and I could see light from the moon bouncing off if it. It seemed to move to the left, or east away from the beach and the reflection of the moons light faded.

But I have no clue what 'it' was. I've never seen a cloud like that before. I've never really seen anything like that before. Would be interested in the scientific explanation of anyone is familiar.
Thanks

Approximately three years ago during the summer I witnessed the same black line cross from one side to the other. I first saw the line mid afternoon. It was sunny but the moon was full and fully visible. Later that night I went to a grocery store where my mother and I both witnessed the event. Till this day I haven't the slightest clue to what it was. Im thinking a shadow from an object in space that crossed between the sun and moon? Let me know if you hear any more on it.

Originally Posted by MoonWolf

Of course it wasn't a cable, nor anything near me like that, nor anything trapped in or on the binoculars. I'm not stupid, you guys.

This is contradictory. If you are not stupid you will understand that it could have been a cable or something relatively close to hand. Yet you deny it could have been such a thing and you deny that you are stupid. Someone much smarter than I shall have to resolve that paradox.

Originally Posted by marcutio

I first saw the line mid afternoon. It was sunny but the moon was full and fully visible.

If you saw a full moon, then the sun was behind the earth at the time. Were you in the land of the midnight sun? No, that does not work. Did you read your watch using a flashlight? Was the watch ticking? Did the flashlight have good batteries?

I think it was most likely an aircraft. You might not have noticed the aircraft's running lights for a couple reasons: 1) it might have been further ahead than the viewing area of your binoculars, with the contrail forming in the moisture of the air as the engine vortex changed temperatures. If you observe planes in the day, sometimes you'll see a contrail forming well behind the aircraft. 2) the lights may have been obscured or diminished by distance and the atmosphere as well as the contrail itself (the plan may have been traveling at an angle in a direction away from you.

hi
on the evening of 25 dec 2010 i saw a vertical black line which went right across the visible moon and passed slowly from left to right.

did anyone else witness this or have a reasonable explanation?

If you could be a bit more descriptive it might help, since a small cloud will cause the moon to appear darker, a jet/vapour trail may appear as a thin dark line.

Originally Posted by colstev

hi
on the evening of 25 dec 2010 i saw a vertical black line which went right across the visible moon and passed slowly from left to right.

did anyone else witness this or have a reasonable explanation?

Could it have been a contrail from a high flying jet plane?

I like the Contrail theory. Contrails are more common than people think.

Jets (and even turboprops) do naturally leave contrails. From the engines heating up cold air and humidifying suspended water particles which will then form contrails, to lowering air pressure sharply over the wings causing visible vortexes. These are 2 different effects that look similar but will be produced from different parts of an aircraft. (vortexes from the wings, especially but not exclusivley from the wing tips, and contrails from about 20 to 100 feet behind the engine exhausts). Variations in the presence, thickness and persistence of these effects come about through variation in air temperature, humidity, air pressure, dewpoint, windspeed and altitude.

Here's a nice shot I got with a quick google search. looks like a fairly high magnification with good lighting. No idea of the aircraft's altitude.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66303308@N00/5100689380

Are there devices here on Earth monitoring moon surface temperatures on a 24 hr basis?(Don't know why but just in case). :wink: If a thin shadow moved across the face would there not be a corresponding temperature dip recorded? In the same vein, is the moon under constant surveillance from Earth (around the clock video)?

Originally Posted by musicalaviator

Here's a nice shot I got with a quick google search. looks like a fairly high magnification with good lighting. No idea of the aircraft's altitude.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66303308@N00/5100689380

Awesome pic!

Originally Posted by musicalaviator

Here's a nice shot I got with a quick google search. looks like a fairly high magnification with good lighting. No idea of the aircraft's altitude.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66303308@N00/5100689380

Holy crap! There's not one but two missiles after that jet!

On the 20th January 2011 at approx 07.30am-07.40am,in the county of Hampshire,South UK,
We had a very large full moon and there was a tinge of orange in colour,I noticed a black line sim to that of a pencil line move from the base of the moon toward the top then it went over the moon top and vanished this took aprox 20 seconds to complete its journey!
I never mentioned this but my husband then said "What was that black line thats just gone over the moon"
so he saw it as well,i then told him what Id seen also!

Does anyone know what this was??

It wasnt a plane trail,it wasnt a wire and it defo wasnt our imagination!!
Jilly :-D

It was probably a contrail. I'm curious what evidence you have that it wasn't that allows you to state it so confidently that it "wasn't a plane trail."

Originally Posted by SkinWalker

It was probably a contrail. I'm curious what evidence you have that it wasn't that allows you to state it so confidently that it "wasn't a plane trail."

well I accept your point out, but I have seen many plane trails and this wasnt one, this was more like someone has drawn a line with a pencil! No smoke trails as you would get with planes! lasted about 20 sec approx :-)

It was a contrail. What is the alternative? A pencil line?

Another possibility might have been a flock of birds. A contrail would have been illuminated by the moonlight.

Originally Posted by JILLY73HANTS

No smoke trails as you would get with planes! lasted about 20 sec approx :-)

Contrails aren't smoke trails. They are almost entirely made up of water ice crystals.

Originally Posted by MoonWolf

I saw this last night (using binoculars, full moon so it was extremely clear):

A black line or thin deep black and rigidly straight shadow crossing the Moon in the direction from SE to SSW. Amazing! I can't figure out what it could have been since the line advanced till it sectioned the Moon then slowly disappeared from the same direction.

In addition the section seemed to reduce in size by the time the line had crossed, even though the line remained straight and wasn't warped at all. Weird.

This was around 19h30-35 GMT.

Can anyone enlighten me?

This was NOT something passing over your binoculars; my friend and I saw it too!

It was March 19th right? Where were you in the world when you saw it? We were looking out if my brother's bedroom window (open) in the South East of London at around half past 7. We saw the exact same thing. A black line appeared over the moon, and then, fairly slowly, passed accross it and out of sight. The 'end' or 'tip' of it seemed to linger at the edge for a few seconds extra as well, before it passed out of sight. We thought it looked something like a pencil in shape, with a point at the end...

We both saw it at the same moment, and were viewing with the naked eye, no magnification or cameras. It was strange man! I'm glad somebody else saw it. I've just been scouring you tube but can't seem to find anything of it. Very interesting!

Uhhh, no the original post is from Mar 12, 2009

This time of year, my prime suspect would be a flock of geese...

Originally Posted by MoonWolf

I saw this last night (using binoculars, full moon so it was extremely clear):

A black line or thin deep black and rigidly straight shadow crossing the Moon in the direction from SE to SSW. Amazing! I can't figure out what it could have been since the line advanced till it sectioned the Moon then slowly disappeared from the same direction.

In addition the section seemed to reduce in size by the time the line had crossed, even though the line remained straight and wasn't warped at all. Weird.

This was around 19h30-35 GMT.

Can anyone enlighten me?

I saw it tonight. it was just leaving the moon when I looked up. it had to be clear because I could see the moon through it. it was only effecting the moon light. when it cleared the moon it looked white in the darkness of the sky. I thought it might be my eyes but I looked to other parts of the sky and couldn't see the same thing. then when I looked back to the place I had originally saw it it was still there...

It was a contrail from a passing plane. Against the brightness of the moon the contrail looks black, against the sky it will appear white (if there is enough light to see it). Contrails drift with high level winds which would cause the line to move on the moon surface. Contrails also disperse oldest part first, which would result in the line being erased in the same direction it was made in.

Me and my wife also saw it yesterday night here in Switzerland !

A thin vertical line, very black, very sharp, nothing comparable to a plane, cloud, trail, etc. Disappeared after 10-20 seconds.

A total eclipse is forecasted for tonight, could it be some kind of early manifestation ? What do you think ?

It is a contrail, and it happens all the time.

See the following link. Remember that these photo's are taken with magnification so the detail shown will be greater than what your naked eye will see.

http://www.skystef.be/contrail-special.htm

The lines appear black since the moon is brighter than any reflected light off the contrail. The line disappears when the contrail dissipates, which is why it disappears in the same direction as it was formed in. Direction of the line does not have any bearing since the plane can cross the moon in any direction. "Bottom" of the moon is not down, in the Northen hemisphere it would be south. So a plane travelling south to north would bisect the moon "bottom" to "top".

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I'm sure there's a logical explanation and it may well be a contrail as you suggest... It's disturbing though that not one picture of the site looks like what we have seen, which was thinner and sharper, but as you say it may be because of the camera.

Another thing annoys me. If it was a contrail, it had to be very far away because I could see and recognized easily other nearby contrails in the sky that night and this line was a lot thinner. If it was indeed far away, the real distance flight by the plane so that the line crossed entirely the moon as seen from my position must have been long. How come then that the line disappeared entirely in 10-20 seconds ? If the wind was strong or the conditions where fulfilled for the trail to dissipate very quickly, then the end of the trail should have been erased before the plane had time to fully "cross" the moon from my perspective, see what I mean ?

BTW, the full eclipse last night was beautiful

Contrails exhibit a number of different behaviours as they form and dissapate, depending on the temperatur and humidity of the environment. Sometimes they last mere seconds, sometimes they become permanent clouds. Sometimes they expand, sometimes they remain very thin. Sometimes they twist, sometimes they remain straight as a pencil line. Sometimes they form, sometimes they don't.

I find it fascinating to watch them.

We saw the black line across moon as well except it wasn't moving across. It was a thin black line starting at center of moon (stretching across horizontally). The line was moving down NOT across so it was not from aircraft.

When you say the line was moving down, not across, you mean down towards the horizon? If that is the case, why can't it be an aircraft?

Originally Posted by JILLY73HANTS

On the 20th January 2011 at approx 07.30am-07.40am,in the county of Hampshire,South UK,
We had a very large full moon and there was a tinge of orange in colour,I noticed a black line sim to that of a pencil line move from the base of the moon toward the top then it went over the moon top and vanished this took aprox 20 seconds to complete its journey!
I never mentioned this but my husband then said "What was that black line thats just gone over the moon"
so he saw it as well,i then told him what Id seen also!

Does anyone know what this was??

It wasnt a plane trail,it wasnt a wire and it defo wasnt our imagination!!
Jilly :-D

Last night my partner and I were watching the moon while driving in the countryside, we noticed a pencil sharp black line vertical across the moon, it was still but then the line moved downwards as in it's entirety. The whole procedure only took minutes. I just had time to stop the car and make a picture but when put on my computer the line did not show up on the photo. It might have been a contrail all right, I went checking some of the recommended links on this forum and the photos on there are somewhat similar only that 'our' line was so thin and it did not move from right to left or the other way round.

It all depend on the winds at the level where the contrail is created. I've seen all kinds, since as a meteor observer, I spend hours watching the whole sky when I am out.

I once got an effect like this, and it look me ages to figure out what had happened.
Now I can repeat it everytime.

My small telescope has a shiny metal tripod, and if I use a tourch to check anything it can reflect a bright line into my eyes.
If the then look at the moon this turns into a dark line where the eye is less sensertive to light.

Not saying this is what you saw, but it spooked me at the time.

Hi,
I am new and yesterday 11/1/2012 about 7.45am whilst driving home, I saw 2 black lines going from top to bottom of the moon and slightly to the right, it was a full moon with a lovely sunrise aboout 30mins earlier, these weren't vapour trails as they started and and finished at the edge of the moon, from when I saw them they lasted about 1 minuit and then disappeared, they were the same thickness from start to finish and didn't fade at either end, it did look like a cable but as said both ends finished at the edge of the moon, my friend was driving in front of me and she also saw exaclty the same, any light on this would be most appreciated

Sounds like contrails from a twin engine jet. Likely with the sky behind slightly bright (being opposite the sun) they were hard to notice against the sky, but stood out against the much brighter moon. Especially since you were concentrating on driving, right?

I saw this with my Husband and it was a clear night no clouds and the moon was not close to any cables or trees, if there was a plane we did not see it. We just saw the line and it was a single thick line not like the multiple lines from the planes, It cut threw the moon about 2/3 s the way down horizontally all the way across and it almost apeared as if the bottom portion of the moon might fall off. I hope it was a contrail but whatever it was, it was very strange.

There are many single engine jets. The contrails can persist for seconds, minutes, hours, or seed an overcast sky depending on the atmospheric conditions at that altitude, so the jet can be long gone while the contrail is still there.

As a meteor observer, I spend many hours watching the whole sky during dozens of nights a year. I've learned a lot about how contrails behave, enough to make me curious enough that I pay special attention to them during the day whenever I go outside as well.

I thought that all contrails were horizontal but these lines were definately vertical,

Like meteors, they can go in any sky direction, depending on the path of the jet, or meteor.

Originally Posted by MAZBAZ

I thought that all contrails were horizontal but these lines were definately vertical,

An airplane that flies overhead and then disappears over the horizon (or vice versa) will leave a vertical contrail.

A line that goes from the horizon to directly overhead is a vertical line.

Hi all, I saw this on Tuesday evening 6th February 2012 from Preston Lancashire UK, about 5.50pm, a straight black line moving across the moon from a SW to NE diagonal direction. I moved steadily and took about 15 seconds maybe and then was gone. It had been a really foggy day and still was at this time so there was a thick like light haze around the moon but none of the shadow was on this just on the moon. My son was with me and saw it too. It was a very clear full moon you could see the all the craters or 'face' on it really clear, looked it up and it was actually the day before a full moon.
I'm not into aliens and UFO's so I'd love to know what it was, the line was thickish like a pencil width and had very clear straight edges not like a cloud or plane contrail and it moved steadily kind of like something scanning or you'd think possibly like the shadow of a plane wing but it didn't look anything like a plane wing it was just a line and there was no shadow in the light around the moon. Possibly could have been the shadow of the line of a satelite wing? but big enough to cover the whole moon? Really odd, I don't know much about physics and how things can cast shadows like that, does anyone know what it might have been?

I have been reading other posts and looking at some of the picture links, is it possible to get a contrail line shadow that has very straight edges and is a dark black line that does not fade and is the same width all along till it passes? it was a thick black line so would it have to have been the shadow of something near the moon or near the earth? Help

Roxy

Yes, it is quite possible for a contrail to look like that. Spend some time looking up in the daytime at them and you will see a great variety of shapes, sharpness, and lifetimes.

So a meta analysis: We have an unusual phnomenon observed by observers all over the world but not at the same times. So it is very likely a real thing that they are seeing.

It can be observed by people without optical devices. So an artifact of the optical device is less likely.
Human eys are fallible and are subject to various visual abnormalities however the appearence of staight lines across the visual field is not particularly common as a medical effect and surely these observers would hace noticed if there were straight lines across everything they looked at.

The contrail photos are pretty convincing. Sounds like the most likely answer.

My wife and I also witnessed this on a drive from Illinois to Wisconsin about a year ago. Once again, the edges of the object or shadow were distinctly squared; right angles at all edges. I think this is the reason the contrail explanation is unsatisfactory to those who have witnessed this.

Originally Posted by MoonWolf

I saw this last night (using binoculars, full moon so it was extremely clear):

A black line or thin deep black and rigidly straight shadow crossing the Moon in the direction from SE to SSW. Amazing! I can't figure out what it could have been since the line advanced till it sectioned the Moon then slowly disappeared from the same direction.

In addition the section seemed to reduce in size by the time the line had crossed, even though the line remained straight and wasn't warped at all. Weird.

This was around 19h30-35 GMT.

Can anyone enlighten me?

I saw a shadow or line across the moon tonight. at first I thought it was caused by shadow from clouds. but when I pulled my truck over to take a picture I could see it was a clear sky around the area of the sky where the moon was. I'm hopeing the picture that I took shows A clear view..

Did you look for a contrail or just clouds in general. Here in the northeast US, it's been long lasting contrails all day and light long; condistions must be ripe at 30,000 feet.

could a shadow from a contrail on the western sky leave a shadow that big on the moon. The moon was very low to the Horizon as it was raising in the sky. Maybe the earth was too far to leave a shadow but the Contrail was still in its path....The picture I took was blurry. it was with my Phone camera.

It wouldn't be a shadow, but rather a contrail in front of the moon from your viewpoint. Nothing on the earth can leave a shadow on the moon, except the earth itself (see Lunar Eclipse). The moon is 250,000 miles away.

at approximately 7 pm massachusetts time I seen a blackline go straight thru the moon. it is a full moon and not been disrupted my eyesight I clearly seen something weird

Other people around my area saw it too. It was definitively a black line. and the moon is very close to the Earth right now. its only a mere 226,525 miles right now. LOL

I actually witnessed a rather large dark area that blacked out the bottom quarter-section of the moon from right to left on Feb. 6, 2012. I have spent hours and hours looking and reading to see what the heck it was. It lasted approx 3-4 seconds and was an irregular round shape that appeared on the lower right hand side of the moon and passed across it to the left. I was in my car, it was a very clear night and I seen it very clearly. It was way to big to be any type of contrail from an airplane, not to mention that in no way was it the right shape. What I seen literally blacked out the portion of the moon that it went in front of. I have racked my brain to think whether or not it was something between the moon and the sun or the moon and the earth, by the way it moved and the direction of the shadow it had to be something between the earth and the moon, not just the sun's reflection on the moon being blocked out by something....I hope I am explaining that clearly enough so that it is being properly understood. I live in Central-Northern Michigan and it was just before 10:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. It was such an unnatural thing to witness that it quite literally left me nauseated. I do not like seeing something that I don't understand haha. Any clue what it could be? I have been an avid sky watcher since I was just a small child. I live in the country where the sky is much clearer and brighter than in a city or town. I know when something is abnormal, and what I witnessed was abnormal. I was actually wondering if there was any chance that a plume of swamp gas or any type of gas really, could have made a large black mass that moved like that, or even if it could have possibly been dark matter? Any legitimate insight is very much appreciated. It definitely had a rounded appearance...as in the top portion that I could see blacking out the moon was rounded, not a full circle or sphere that I was able to see, imagine the moon is a basketball and somebody is holding another basketball down and to the right so that just the top of the lower basketball passes in front of the bottom portion of the one representing the moon. That is about as good of a description I can give....approx 3-4 seconds total.

It was a cloud!! Probably low cumulus (or scud). It happens ALL THE TIME! It's especially profound if you live in an area with little light pollution, there the clouds are just black holes in the sky. Here in NJ, you can see all the clouds and contrails, so nothing is a surprise if you spend the time watching.

Jeez, people who don't look at the sky all the time like I do will never accept the parsimonous explanation.

It was not a cloud, if you had read my entire post you would have seen that I am an avid sky watcher, your reply was somewhat cocky and assumptive. I also noted that it was a very clear night. Either this is a science forum or it isn't, so far I am not too impressed. Either read the entire post or don't comment. I don't know much about NJ, but here in N. Michigan where I am, I am in a very unpopulated area...as a matter of fact I am 17 miles from the nearest mini-mart or blinking stoplight. The view I have of the sky is better than a good majority of people ever see. I am very accustomed to watching the sky as it is a big hobby of mine, and I have been doing it since I was just a little kid. I got my first telescope at age 7. Do not assume that I am some uneducated twit that doesn't recognize a cloud. Please excuse me for being annoyed, but I find your reply to be very arrogant. The reason I was questioning whether or not it could be some type of gaseous cloud is because of the particular spherical shape that they can take on. What I seen completely blacked out a noticeable portion of the moon at once and it was definitely much larger than just the area that I was able to see blacking out the moon. I am very interested in hearing different theories, but I will not be typed down to from some random person on a random forum...I do not care that much, it will not change the fact of what I seen. I don't want any religious b*s* explanations either. I want logic. Not cocky assumptive logic, but creative and curious.

I'm not just a random poster from teh Interwebz. I'm someone, as a meteor observer, who spend more time watching the night sky than 99.999999% of the human population, and as a weather observer spend more time looking at the daytime sky that 99.999% of the population.

I have a lot of experience intepreting descriptions into what was actually observed.

I knew you wouldn't believe me (look at this thread for previous examples) but that doesn't mean I should not post what is the most likely explanation.

As I said, in truly dark skies, clouds are invisible...they only show up as holes in the star field, or shadows on the moon.

Like I said, lots of experience.

Hey mr MeteorWayne...your not the only one who owns a telescope There were no Contrails in the area of the sky where the shadow on the Moon was...the sky was very clear as the moon came up.... I have read other forums about this and. Seams to happen alot. As I was typing this I was looking at the Picture I took...I noticed that the Shadow extends pass the edge of the moon on the upper edge....That would support the Contrail Theory. But I still could not see any.

Never mind...

could u people stop commenting on your experiences and only comment on what the freak it is?

Yeah, it's contrails or birds.

Happy now?

I know this is a few years too late, but I know what you're talking about. I saw it too - last night. My family and I all went out to dinner at a restaurant on the beach and the moon was gorgeous. My friend and I took my camera and a telephoto lens - which we had with us because we were feeling touristy earlier in the day - and started taking pictures of the moon. I could see some weird, black line almost coming off of the moon and my friend, who was looking at the moon using her naked eye, asked me if I saw "the black thing on the moon," which, until she said that, I thought was a camera glitch. It wasn't. No clue as to what it might be. Here's a picture of the black line - it was fixed in that spot for a little under a minute and then quickly moved off the moon leaving a trail behind it. DSC01433_2.jpg

I saw it too, and with my naked eye. There was no cable - your argument was nothing but a faulty case of semantics and, on top of it all, an ad hominem attack. There was no cable and for you to assume that he is stupid for being able to realize there was no cable involved says a lot more about you than he. Open your mind.

No aliens? I don't believe in aliens nor do I deny their existence - but do you understand how vast the universe is? How many suns their are besides our own? How many moons? How many other planets there are that we haven't even come close to discovering? We are ants compared to the vastness of it all and for us to assume that we are the only planet - one planet in a never-ending arena of space, and stars, and matter - is ignorant and close-minded.

I'm not saying that aliens exist for certain - I'm saying it's far more likely that they do exist than not.

Originally Posted by myanjita

I know this is a few years too late, but I know what you're talking about. I saw it too - last night. My family and I all went out to dinner at a restaurant on the beach and the moon was gorgeous. My friend and I took my camera and a telephoto lens - which we had with us because we were feeling touristy earlier in the day - and started taking pictures of the moon. I could see some weird, black line almost coming off of the moon and my friend, who was looking at the moon using her naked eye, asked me if I saw "the black thing on the moon," which, until she said that, I thought was a camera glitch. It wasn't. No clue as to what it might be. Here's a picture of the black line - it was fixed in that spot for a little under a minute and then quickly moved off the moon leaving a trail behind it. DSC01433_2.jpg

It's a cloud! Why is the simple explanation so hard to understand? It could have been a dissapating contrail...

Originally Posted by myanjita

I saw it too, and with my naked eye. There was no cable - your argument was nothing but a faulty case of semantics and, on top of it all, an ad hominem attack. There was no cable and for you to assume that he is stupid for being able to realize there was no cable involved says a lot more about you than he. Open your mind.

Don't open your mind so much that your common sense and reason falls out.

Originally Posted by myanjita

No aliens? I don't believe in aliens nor do I deny their existence - but do you understand how vast the universe is? How many suns their are besides our own? How many moons? How many other planets there are that we haven't even come close to discovering? We are ants compared to the vastness of it all and for us to assume that we are the only planet - one planet in a never-ending arena of space, and stars, and matter - is ignorant and close-minded.

I'm not saying that aliens exist for certain - I'm saying it's far more likely that they do exist than not.

Whether they exist or not, they are too far away to get here, so it's a moot point.

I noticed a little, squiggly line floating around in my eye-fluid last night while looking @ the moon ::: does that count?

Behold, everyone...
This might be the answer that you're looking for:
fault line of moon (greatness of almighty ALLAH) - YouTube

Well that's a load of pseudoscientific garbage

Well if you had a true scientific mind you would be open minded for any probability

Being open minded is not that same as accepting unsubstantiated hocus pocus.

Rilles are common features on many solar system bodies, caused by extensional or compressional stresses.

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth. Sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it.

Originally Posted by diane444

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth. Sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it.

Exactly. You choose what you want to belive, scientists are forced to by the pure nature of the findings.

Originally Posted by diane444

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth.

Personally, I flip a coin.

Originally Posted by Dishmaster

Originally Posted by diane444

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth. Sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it.

Exactly. You choose what you want to belive, scientists are forced to by the pure nature of the findings.

Right you are, Dishmaster. Just like when most of the mankind believe that the world is flat while it's actually round. We all will get there one way or another. Some people get there faster. It's all in the minds...

Originally Posted by Flick Montana

Originally Posted by diane444

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth.

Personally, I flip a coin.

Hahahah..yeah let's do that!!

Originally Posted by diane444

Just like when most of the mankind believe that the world is flat ...

When was that, exactly? Or could it be something you believe with no evidence?

Originally Posted by Strange

Originally Posted by diane444

Just like when most of the mankind believe that the world is flat ...

When was that, exactly? Or could it be something you believe with no evidence?

Personally, it's something that I believe first and the facts lined up afterwards. But for you, well it's your own choice. I might point out that in that video I understand an ancient Indian king Chakarwati Farmas mentioned witnessed the splitting of moon in an old manuscript in the India Office Library, London (Ref # 2807-152-173, if you care to check it). And NASA mentioned in this video:
What does NASA say about Moon's ancient past, Moon splitting in Quran - YouTubehat the fault line is relatively young. The fact that people can sometimes see it today is one of the indication, otherwise small meteors would have reduce the visibility of the fault line overtime.

Originally Posted by diane444

Originally Posted by Dishmaster

Originally Posted by diane444

Believe whatever you like. We all have our own way in finding the truth. Sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it.

Exactly. You choose what you want to belive, scientists are forced to by the pure nature of the findings.

Right you are, Dishmaster. Just like when most of the mankind believe that the world is flat while it's actually round. We all will get there one way or another. Some people get there faster. It's all in the minds...

I am sorry to disappoint you, but this belief was mostly spread among the uneducated, not the scientists.

You must also understand that (natural) science as it is done nowadays is completely different to how it was conducted up to the 17th century. You may have some reason to accuse those early skilled men and women of being stubborn, because the were often guided by dogmatism (religion, ancient philosophy) instead of reason and empirism. Contemporary science is based on facts, not wishful thinking. Every theory is constantly put to the test by experiment and observation. It is a constant struggle. Nothing in science is carved in stone as it is with dogmatic "truths".

Maybe you also don't know, what science is about. Here is a quote from the famous Danish physicst Niels Bohr:
"It is wrong to think that the task of physics is to find out how Nature is. Physics concerns what we say about Nature."

Read more at Niels Bohr Quotes - BrainyQuote

Originally Posted by diane444

And NASA mentioned in this video:
What does NASA say about Moon's ancient past, Moon splitting in Quran - YouTubehat the fault line is relatively young.

As young as "200 million years" or less, which is recent in geological terms, and means the moon is still geologically active.

How long do you think that humans have walked the Earth for?

Well that's exactly what I'm trying to say, Dishmaster. I might differ on your definition of scientists (well I think it's not a degree in science that makes us scientist, we are all scientist on a certain degree..but again, that doesn't makes us right all the time), but aren't we now being stubborn and guided by (probably) reasons alone? While there are many things that our mind can not acknowledge. For a simple example, we can only see certain lengths of light waves and hear certain range of sound wave. That is a proof that our mind can only acknowledge to a level but we can still understand it to a higher level.

Originally Posted by SpeedFreek

Originally Posted by diane444

And NASA mentioned in this video:
What does NASA say about Moon's ancient past, Moon splitting in Quran - YouTubehat the fault line is relatively young.

As young as "200 million years" or less, which is recent in geological terms, and means the moon is still geologically active.

How long do you think that humans have walked the Earth for?

How long do you think that 'less' means?

A few 10's of millions of years, perhaps. But not the 198 million years less that means ancient hominids might have seen something, or the 199,800,000 years less that means that modern hominids might have seen it, or even the 199,980,000 years less that means it would form part of human history.

Originally Posted by SpeedFreek

A few 10's of millions of years, perhaps. But not the 198 million years less that means ancient hominids might have seen something, or the 199,800,000 years less that means that modern hominids might have seen it, or even the 199,980,000 years less that means it would form part of human history.

Well, as I mentioned before:
" I might point out that in that video I understand an ancient Indian king Chakarwati Farmas mentioned witnessed the splitting of moon in an old manuscript in the India Office Library, London (Ref # 2807-152-173, if you care to check it)"
Would that means that it's part of human history? And it's not included a number of hadeeth that stated the account of eyewitnesses (well let's not go there if you don't believe it..again, it's your call).

Well, whatever he saw, we have no evidence that it was the formation of the great wall on the Moon, which is a simple geological fault line.

If the Moon were actually to be split apart and brought back together again, the laws of physics tells us that the energy involved would cause a lot more than a simple and sharp geological fault line.

There would be a whole lot of molten rock involved, which would leave evidence of its existence. It would look nothing like a sharp geological fault line, because of the difference in energy involved. Especially if it happened recently enough to be part of recorded history - I would imagine it wouldn't have had time to cool down yet.

Well, I would leave the detailed research to someone who really had a science degree in related fields. Probably NASA has a spare budget to dig up further

The Himalayan mountain range started thrusting upwards around 50 million years ago. Nobody saw that happen either.

Originally Posted by SpeedFreek

The Himalayan mountain range started thrusting upwards around 50 million years ago. Nobody saw that happen either.

Well it doesn't mean that it didn't happen

I'm not denying the geological fault line on the Moon.

I am denying it could possibly be the result of the Moon being split apart and brought together again.

I am also denying that anyone has ever seen the Moon be split apart. I am denying that the Moon was ever seen to be split apart such that half of it was in front of a mountain and the other half was behind.

It is pure bunkum scientifically, with absolutely no evidence to back it up, so stop trying to cite NASA as backing up the idea - it doesn't.

There is nothing wrong with having your own beliefs, but stop trying to BEND science to justify them.

Seeing as you like youtube so much, try looking at NASA's own channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iSZMv64wuU

"but while the Moon has remained largely unchanged during human history"

I don't think being split apart and put back together could leave the moon largely unchanged. Do you?

Originally Posted by diane444

Well if you had a true scientific mind, you would be open minded for any probability

I love this line, I love it, because it's so much easier to accuse someone of being incompetent than backing up your own claims. Accusing someone of not being scientific, and then saying that by being open minded you are right and everyone should listen to you.

Believe whatever you like

Actually, scientists don't believe; they know.

We all have our own way in finding the truth, sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it.

You mean like realising that God is the invention of man, and by that realising that the article you provided is horsecrap? But hey as you said, sometimes it's right there in front of you if you choose to acknowledge it. If the moon had split, then there would be geological evidence for it for a start. All our accomplishments will be seen as evidence from humans (or their successors) in the future, and they will question everything we call fact today. It's called science, testing thoroughly claims made by anybody. If you can't back it up, back off.

This post gathers 12 witnesses having seen a black trail over the moon. I can add 3 witnesses for another event which was validated and fortunately observed from 3 distant locations.
I'm astronomer and some associations like ALPO (The Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers ALPO Home) have
observations programs. The moon is not filmed every second, but sometimes, testimonies confirm meteor impacts on the moon, and some are filmed
especially during meteor showers.
I would like to gather informations about these testimonies here, but one information is missing to separate contrails from what we call "lunar transcient phenomena" LTP. It is the date and hour and location. Next step for me would be to make a simulation on a planetarium. I would not risk to induce or influate on some answers, but some impacts have been validated by he past and all these 12 testimonies have value.

Agena, how would we visually distinquish a contrail from a meteor lunar impact event? I have not seen any unusual lunar events but as they say, I keep looking up.

I would say that :
* if a contrail is black during a full moon daytime , and you have the sun in the sky, this is hardly a contrail (should be white).
*If the trail is black on a full moon during night, it is probably a contrail.
*If the trail is fading from the beginning to the end, it si probably a contrail.
*If the trail is fading from the end to the beginning, it is hardly a contrail.

One of the testimony here is about a trail starting from the center of the moon.
This is hardly a contrail because airplane trails occur depending of the altitude, the motors , by default, are functionning all time during flight.
So i have the same attitude than you, i keep looking up, but i recognize myself in some testimonies.

Originally Posted by agena

I would say that :
* if a contrail is black during a full moon daytime , and you have the sun in the sky, this is hardly a contrail (should be white).

Not necessarily. Depends on the relative illumination which, in turn, depends on the angle of the sun (amongst other things). Even against a clear sky you can see contrails in a variety of colours from white to grey to balck to red...

One of the testimony here is about a trail starting from the center of the moon.
This is hardly a contrail because airplane trails occur depending of the altitude, the motors , by default, are functionning all time during flight.

There are many factors involved in the creation of contrails. It is not unusual to see contrails start and stop as a plane flies overhead at a constant altitude.

While in the army doing a stag 2 off use seen this, a black line like someone had used a marker pen moved left to right as if something very big (which it had to be) was moving in front of the moon, or past the sun.