Thread: Black lines crossing the moon?

About a year ago I was outside gazing at the moon on my break at work when I saw what appeared to be a black line coming from the bottom of the moon going upward, it went all the way across. I was in shock and told my boyfriend who I was on the phone with about it and he couldn't explain it either. Not only was it one black line but when it was almost at the top another line appeared from the bottom following it. It almost looked like some thing scanned the moon. Like the black lines that go across a tv when the channel blacks out...it was very very strange, there were no clouds at all around the moon, I was viewing it when my own eyes so there is no way it could be some kind of camera glitch or anything of the sort....someone, help me understand this.

Planes, leaving contrails that cast lines of shadow over the moon.

But there were no planes. And the lines were only across the moon, perfectly straight, moved at a constant speed... I saw nothing in the sky other than the moon. Like I said, there were no clouds. No planes, no contrails. That's why it has my mind so boggled haha.

How do you know there were no high altitude planes? And if the moon light is behind the control, you will not see it except where it crosses the moon

Because the sky was insanely clear and I looked really really hard for anything that could have caused it and there was nothing no blinking lights for a plane in the sky no small clouds No Big clouds nothing clouds are there was nothing. Just the Moon

Not to mention how perfectly straight the lines were there is no way any type of cloud or contrail could have been that symmetrical

And contrails aren't straight?

Typically you won't see or hear a highflying jet, and at night brightness is a moot issue

Is there any possibility of a thin layer of opaque gas forming in the atmosphere?

No.

Originally Posted by Phantisee

Because the sky was insanely clear and I looked really really hard for anything that could have caused it and there was nothing no blinking lights for a plane in the sky no small clouds No Big clouds nothing clouds are there was nothing. Just the Moon . . . And the lines were only across the moon, perfectly straight, moved at a constant speed.

Right. Contrails last a long time after the airplane has departed. And they are almost perfectly straight, and impossible to see at night (unless they are passing in front of the Moon or something.) The 'constant speed' is a giveaway - you were watching the Moon pass behind a contrail.

It's fascinating that every time this comes up there are people (including me) who think every single aspect of the description confirms contrails as the cause and, on the other hand, people who think those same factors rule out contrails as a cause!

Originally Posted by PhDemon

No.

Like (but I just hads to ask)

To turn it on its head:
If two passing airplanes left contrails, in a light, high-altitude wind, and the Moon passed behind them, the OP's description is exactly what it would look like.

So, OP, in what way is this phenomenon not explained?