New evidence emerged today that a mysterious spiral light display which appeared in the dark skies over Norway yesterday morning was caused by an embarrassing failed test launch of a jinxed Russian missile.
The Bulava missile was test-fired from the Dmitry Donskoi submarine in the White Sea early on Wednesday but failed at the third stage, the Russian military confirmed today.
New video also emerged today showing a simulation of what would happen if such a missile were to fail - video that bore an uncanny resemblance to the light display seen in the Norwegian sky. The video, a 3-D simulation of what may have occurred to produce the light display, was put together by a British engineer named Doug Ellison. Ellison runs the forum unmannedspaceflight.com.
On YouTube, Ellison, who is an animator and multimedia producer for a medical firm in Leicester, described the video as 'a set of rendered views using 3DS Max to produce a coarse simulation of what may have occurred to produce the beautiful formation in the sky over Norway'.
'Once I saw the photos, and knowing a fair amount about space flight, the cause of the beautiful pattern seemed quite obvious to me,' he told the MailOnline. Trying to explain it in layman's terms is quite hard, so I used some basic animation tools to try and emulate the effect. I bolted two virtual particle emitters onto a small box - spun the box, then moved it at speed and low and behold, the spiral pattern, and the trail behind, both emerged as a result. The people in northern Norway are lucky to have been in the right place, at the right time!'
The confirmation of a test launch emerged despite earlier reports denying a missile launch yesterday. (Daily Mail)
