Post by swamprat on Mar 24, 2011 11:40:47 GMT -6
The Sarasota Herald Tribune
Devoid
March 24th, 2011 09:53am
The skywatchers, cont’d.
by Billy Cox
Skywatching in Englewood, 3/21/11, a couple of days after Saturday’s supermoon, in Jamie Havican’s back yard again. His hawkeyed wingman, Dave Ryals from up the road in Venice, also hobbles in.
Physically, the guys are pretty banged up. Havican moves stiffly from a 4-year-old back injury and is still fighting for disability benefits. Ryals remains on crutches, the result of a 2010 ladder tumble that tore ankle ligaments and left him with confounding blood clots.
But the setbacks haven’t stopped the steadfast UFO hunters from teaming up at regular intervals, shortly after sunset, to scan the Milky Way. And as Havican’s setup indicates, they’ve made some impressive leaps since their nocturnal vigils began in 2009.
Havican’s tools include a Yukon Ranger 5×42 digital night vision scope and a Night Owl illuminator, both of which he will alternate onto a tripod purchased from Goodwill. But he’d like a better platform; this one doesn’t allow much flexibility.
Havican hooks the Night Owl into a camcorder plugged into a laptop, and the darkening sky blazes off the screen and illuminates his face. Ryals has brought a couple of high-beam flashlights. They also have a grid laser, just in case, for who knows what.
Havican opens up a Google sky map window; low-earth orbit is littered with half a century’s worth of spent metal, but no satellite traffic is scheduled for this corner of Florida tonight. He opens another window onto Inception Radio Network, which he got up and running last July. It carries programs like Angelia Joiner’s Joiner Report and Future Theatre with Bill and Nancy Birnes of UFO Magazine. “We’ve got over a million hits since then,” he says. Advertisers are beginning to take notice. Maybe one day Inception will make money.
It’s been a dry couple of months in southwest Florida, but tonight is buggy enough for a spritz of repellent. Ryals, the navigator, usually gets the first glimpse of movement in the sky. When things pop out, he vectors Havican onto the target with his beam.
Tonight’s activity is fairly routine — a depthless bead of light here and there, moving across the stars — until Havican sweeps the heavens and something jumps out at him through the Night Owl around 9:30. And he gets excited. “Whoa, whoa … whoa …”
To read more and see video: devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11766/the-skywatchers-contd/
Devoid
March 24th, 2011 09:53am
The skywatchers, cont’d.
by Billy Cox
Skywatching in Englewood, 3/21/11, a couple of days after Saturday’s supermoon, in Jamie Havican’s back yard again. His hawkeyed wingman, Dave Ryals from up the road in Venice, also hobbles in.
Physically, the guys are pretty banged up. Havican moves stiffly from a 4-year-old back injury and is still fighting for disability benefits. Ryals remains on crutches, the result of a 2010 ladder tumble that tore ankle ligaments and left him with confounding blood clots.
But the setbacks haven’t stopped the steadfast UFO hunters from teaming up at regular intervals, shortly after sunset, to scan the Milky Way. And as Havican’s setup indicates, they’ve made some impressive leaps since their nocturnal vigils began in 2009.
Havican’s tools include a Yukon Ranger 5×42 digital night vision scope and a Night Owl illuminator, both of which he will alternate onto a tripod purchased from Goodwill. But he’d like a better platform; this one doesn’t allow much flexibility.
Havican hooks the Night Owl into a camcorder plugged into a laptop, and the darkening sky blazes off the screen and illuminates his face. Ryals has brought a couple of high-beam flashlights. They also have a grid laser, just in case, for who knows what.
Havican opens up a Google sky map window; low-earth orbit is littered with half a century’s worth of spent metal, but no satellite traffic is scheduled for this corner of Florida tonight. He opens another window onto Inception Radio Network, which he got up and running last July. It carries programs like Angelia Joiner’s Joiner Report and Future Theatre with Bill and Nancy Birnes of UFO Magazine. “We’ve got over a million hits since then,” he says. Advertisers are beginning to take notice. Maybe one day Inception will make money.
It’s been a dry couple of months in southwest Florida, but tonight is buggy enough for a spritz of repellent. Ryals, the navigator, usually gets the first glimpse of movement in the sky. When things pop out, he vectors Havican onto the target with his beam.
Tonight’s activity is fairly routine — a depthless bead of light here and there, moving across the stars — until Havican sweeps the heavens and something jumps out at him through the Night Owl around 9:30. And he gets excited. “Whoa, whoa … whoa …”
To read more and see video: devoid.blogs.heraldtribune.com/11766/the-skywatchers-contd/