SIGHTING: LAUSANNE (SWITZERLAND)
Witness Testimony
"Strange dots noticed upon inspection of photos of a lightning stormHi, I was just looking through some photos of a lightning storm that I took on the 22.06.07 in Switzerland when I noticed some strange dots on a few of them. The attached photos were taken from my 3rd floor balcony on 200 asa film with a 35mm reflex camera with a 28/70mm zoom on a tripod facing West with a shutter time of about 3-5 secs and the crane in the image is about 100-120 metres distant. The images come off a CD which was made with the development. The photos were taken between 11.20pm and midnight so when there is no lightning the sky is black black black, so I did not see anything when I took the photos. I have only removed some noise and the jpeg motif from these images in the way of retouching. (the set of retouched photos from that storm can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/9400459@N03/sets/72157600519687915 When looking for the points of interest look at the photos at 200% In 07 the point of interest is on the right hand side of the photo to the left of the balcony on the edge of the image.In 13 look to the right and above the crane weight.In 24 it's halfway between the crane tip and the top of the photo.In 32 look directly above the crane stand two thirds the distance from the crane to the top of the image.I think 07, 34 and 32 are clearest but they are small in all photos. I've ruled out a speck on the lens or mirror as a cause, because a roll of 36 exposure film was used in about 30-40 mins, the camera moved only once and one or two adjustments to the zoom and the specks appear in different places but not on every photo. If it were an emulsion spot it would appear as a splodge not a pixellated dot with the same pixel intensity as the rest of the photo.What do you think? ((name deleted))((NUFORC Note: Witness forwards four excellent photos of lightning bolts. The objects he alludes to above are very small, indistinct specks, which we are unable to identify. They may be birds, or perhaps trash, but we cannot be certain. PD))"
