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While the sketches by the witness are suggestive, an exploration with the 3D visualization tool Carrara (MetaCreations), can assist in developing more precise ideas of geometry, spatial arrangement, and angle.
| At first sight |
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| At near disappearance |
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The geometry suggested by the sketches is as follows:
| Perspective View |
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| Front View |
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| Left View |
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| Top View |
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There are a number of possible variations in wing thickness, inclination and length.
In this arrangement
The two objects are approximately the same diameter.
The sphere is slightly above the centerline of the bullet, sightly ahead of the central axis, and very close to the bullet.
If the objects were directly level with the observer, the angle of pitch would be about 30 degrees and roll also close to 30 degrees. Because of the fact that the witness was looking upward at an estimated angle of 25 degrees, both pitch and roll would be greater than thirty degrees.
Note that the constraints on the appearance are fairly stringent due to the presence of the "wing" on the arrowhead. The wing on the far side must not be able to be seen, which constrains the roll of the object and also, to a lesser extent, the pitch.
A similar analysis of the appearance at departure, using the same arrangement, results in a close match:
However, it seems that a closer match could be attained by allowing the sphere to be slightly further back toward the center axis of the bullet, as follows:
The result if this is seen from the position of the view at first sight is not consistent with the sketch:
This suggests that the sphere moved back along the bullet before departure.
Obviously, the sketches may or may not be fully accurate, so this must be considered a provisional conclusion.
This is a fairly crude simulation of an alternate blended stub wing shape:
This is a possible representation of the configuration sketched. However, note that the arrowhead configuration can account for the one witness' impression of a longitudinal seam.
This site is an archive of the content of the MUFON CT website from the late 1990s. The current MUFON CT organization should be contacted through the MUFON web site.