Nexus - 1703 - New Times Magazine-pages

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¢ The Executive Officer "Il pointed them out to the other bridge watchstanders The Executive Officer of the USS Milius wrote the and we stood there in awe. Theories and possible following description to his family: explanations started immediately...could it be our "Last night the ship passed through a bizarre natural _—_ radars? phenomenon. Don't know what it was and have never "It became obvious that I would need to call the read about anything like it. There was energy hovering Captain; what was not obvious was exactly what to tell and spinning just above the water. It was pulsating. A him. Obviously the USN does not have a standard little like glowing mist but it spun and moved faster report format for this situation. ‘Captain, this is the than the waves and made circles and other patterns. It Officer of the Deck. We have a...strange light sped out as far as you could see and lasted over 20 phenomenon occurring up here that | can't really minutes. explain. It's..., as | remember it. His response: ‘I'll be "Like the northern lights but on the surface of the right up!’ water and not in the sky. There was also lightning in the "When the Captain arrived on the bridge, the light air and tons of fluorescent plankton in the water, and patterns had begun to change. One of the most difficult maybe that had something to do with it but not really things for me to determine was whether the patterns sure. It was definitely something like hemselves were shifting or if we were St Elmo's fire or ball lightning, and | simply driving into a different section suspect | will never see it again.” of the phenomenon. "As we progressed toward what | ¢ The Navigator believe was near the center, | distinctly This detailed report is from the "Looking at remember seeing central points that ship's Navigator, who witnessed the circles of light originated at and grew entire event: the speed and in 360 degrees. This reminded me of "| assumed the watch as Officer of pattern...I assumed he impact of a drop of water hitting the Deck with all conditions normal. he surface of a calm body of water, As the ship's Navigator, | had that it Was sound. except that this wave traveled much ey ote ee eng It Was obviously oy scientific side kicked in. I did area to our assigned night area. slower than light suspect that bioluminescence was at Tankers, dhows and other sea but much uicker eas partially responsible for the traffic made it apparent that we . ight show at hand. Generally this would have a much easier transit than anything that is caused when the ship's wake by altering course to the north, disturbs species. It tends to glow maintaining a comfortable I had ever seen in a bright green color, much like distance from a previously caused by wind hat of a phosphorescent ligh discovered uncharted oil or waves " stick. It usually splits like a gian V from the ship's hull as we pass hrough the water. If something biological was being disturbed, hen what was causing it? Looking at the speed and platform and_ eventually maneuvering to the west to assume our new station. After a quick call to the Captain, our plans had been changed to do just that. pattern...1 assumed that it was "At approximately 2030, just as sound. It was obviously slower I [was] passing the closest point of approach with the han light but much quicker than anything that I had oil platform, I glanced out to the starboard bridge wing —_ ever seen caused by wind or waves. and noticed what appeared to be strong waves hitting "That theory was quickly put to rest when the spirals us directly on our beam. The ship had less than a single began. It wasn't as if something was producing the ligh degree of list and virtually no roll, so! went out on the at the center and it was following the spiral by growing. bridge wing for a closer look. The first look at this light More like if you had a giant light that had a spiral cutou did not indicate that any swirls or circles were involved. blocking part of it and then rotated it. Like something Just long straight waves traveling from the horizon, hat belonged on a dance floor. The centers of these spanning out to the left and right as far as the eye could spirals passed directly down our ship's beam. You see. | was very impressed by the speed and consistency could pinpoint the exact center. I couldn't believe or of the waves. The distance between the waves was begin to explain what | was seeing. about the same width as the waves themselves (on the "The Captain had me call the Executive Officer and he order of ten to twenty feet [~3.5 to 6.1 mJ), but it was soon after invited the crew to the bridge. His very difficult to measure the size or the speed. description to the crew was similar to the one | had "Looking at the speed and pattern... assumed that it was sound. It was obviously slower than light but much quicker than anything that I had ever seen or waves." 62 * NEXUS APRIL - MAY 2010 caused by wind www.nexusmagazine.com