PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A UFO over Portland? Ah, probably not.
A Redditer posted a picture of a bright shiny object hovering in the Portland sky. That set off a flurry of “what is it” conversations that, of course, became other worldly quickly.
Not so fast, said OMSI‘s Jim Todd.
After looking at the picture and doing some research and calculations, Todd told KOIN 6 News it’s likely “an ascending weather balloon reflection.”
He added there was no reported fireball or bright object noted by the American Meteor Society Fireball logs in our region. Since this object seemed to hover and lasted quite a while, it’s “likely not a fireball.”
The International Space Station sightings were recorded at 4:18 a.m. and 5:55 a.m. It takes the ISS 6 minutes to cross the sky, so it’s likely not the ISS, nor is it a bright satellite, which also takes 6 minutes to cross.
There was no bright star of planet at that location around 8 a.m. And it’s probably not a commercial plane reflection.
So there you have it. Weather balloon.
Just like in Roswell……………..