'What just happened?' B.C. woman hopes to identify mystery object caught on camera
A Kamloops, B.C., woman is hoping the public can help her solve a mystery about something strange she caught on camera back in early August.
Wendy Brown was testing out her new Galaxy cellphone, and was using a lightning storm to do it.
Brown was testing a feature called "Single Take" on the phone, which takes photos or video images in 10-second bursts. She was recording the storm but didn’t realize until afterwards that she appears to have caught something strange.
"I was completely shocked when I saw that clip and I was [thinking] 'Oh my god what did I just record? What just happened?' I couldn’t sleep," said Brown.
At the very end of one of the 20 or so clips she recorded, Brown appears to have captured an object trailing downwards out of the sky towards Paul Mountain.
It has the appearance of perhaps a meteorite coming down in the distance, but the very end of the clip shows the mystery light fall in front of the mountain.
She noticed the object in her video when she got home later and was checking images before deleting them.
"I was like, how did I not notice that? I was focused on hitting this button on my phone when I probably should have been looking at the mountain," she said.
Brown was outside her vehicle near a bench along the Halston Bridge overlooking the North Thompson River at the time, so a raindrop on a windshield can be discounted. Meanwhile, a raindrop on the lens of the phone itself would also likely be much larger on the final image, Brown says.
She’s baffled by what the anomaly could be.
"Is there a glitch going on with my phone? Is there something going on?" she wondered.
ACADEMIC REACTION
The question was put to a representative of the Department of Physical Sciences at Thompson Rivers University.
"With all the lightning activity the sky was pretty bright and I doubt it would have been a meteor, even though the Perseids were going on," said associate professor Dr. Joanne Rosvick.
Rosvick doesn’t think it’s anything astronomy related.
The question has also been presented to the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc, the First Nation on which Mount Paul and nearby Mount Peter are located on. Band administrators are reviewing the video as are members of the Kamloops Astronomical Society.
Brown says she was hesitant about coming forward about the mystery, saying she didn't want people to think she'd "been in the sun too long."
But she was too puzzled by the mystery to keep quiet and hopes a member of the public can help determine if something actually fell from the sky or if others are correct that it’s just some sort of illusion from the camera.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
World seeing near breakdown of international law amid wars in Gaza and Ukraine, Amnesty says
The world is seeing a near breakdown of international law amid flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiplying armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism and huge rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia and Myanmar, Amnesty International warned Wednesday as it published its annual report.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
U.S. Senate passes bill forcing TikTok's parent company to sell or face ban, sends to Biden for signature
The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok's China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that's expected to face legal challenges.
Wildfire southwest of Peace River spurs evacuation order
People living near a wildfire burning about 15 kilometres southwest of Peace River are being told to evacuate their homes.
U.S. Senate overwhelmingly passes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan with big bipartisan vote
The U.S. Senate has passed US$95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.