Interesting Claim

[astroron (Ron)]

What will they blame UFO's for next
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/e...re/7817378.stm

[mabsj2]

the evidence is not substantial enough to claim its a UFO

[Jen]

[Ric]

Clouds Ron, we can blame them for the clouds.

That was an interesting read and a bit of a chuckle. I'd be interested to hear what actually did hit it.

Cheers

[Hagar (Doug)]

It wasn't my wife she was home in bed. She is an alien I'm sure. Definitely a heavenly body but not of this planet.

[Hagar (Doug)]

They would take some breaking like that. I have seen them hit a pelican at full speed and all they do is kill the pelican then trip the generator on protection circuits. They certainly would take some breaking. Most blades in Aust are about 50 to 60 M long and travel at just below the speed of sound at the tips.

[xelasnave]

Still this is strange 170 feet what are we to think... if it was a flock of pelicans there would be traces lots of traces you would think bird flocks could reasonably be ruled out if there are not some feathers and blood one could think.

I have to look at it again I certainly will be interested what could do that and not notice .. a large jet maybe.. any ideas ...is it a hoax???

alex

[xelasnave]

Was just on the BBC the company rep sounds as if ufo is their best bet as they are really dont have a clue... could this be history unfolding... they have sent residue off to be tested...imagine if it came back... absolute proof that it could only have been an alien ship ... would that not make one feel strange...anyways they have my attention ...must be an add unfolding... when do they get the report back from the lab I need to know ....
alex

[Wavytone]

There is one possibility.

These blades are known to fail eventually from stress fractures developing due to the massive forces at the root of the blade as it swings through each revolution. If one blade failed its quite likely that in doing so it collected the next blade, the piece that snapped would be both heavy and strong enough to cause the massive bend seen in the photo.

It takes an phenomenal wallop to bend one of those blades, let alone break one - no birds even come close to being big enough, and there is the question of debris on the ground - more the lack of it, apart from the broken blade.

Gotta love the way people immediately leap to assuming UFO's or aliens did something, rather than look for the rather mundane reason. Von Daniken would be very pleased.

[Smirnoff]

^^ ^^ your theory is almost certainly correct. Could've been faulty engineering on that particular blade - very possible, or perhaps a case of metal fatigue etc. judging by the intact blade in the photo, The blade seemed to have broken off right at the point where it joins to the hub assembly. The collar holding the blade suggests that the blade and hub are separate (i.e. not a one-piece assembly) and were joined together. This makes it even more likely that the blade separated due to metal fatigue and/or poor engineering, as such a join would be an obvious weak point and would be the first to fail.

It could'nt have been aircraft, because then the news would be filled with the ensuing fatalities etc;

certainly not pelicans or any other bird, the only result would've been bloody bird gibs all over the blade;

those "white lights" that they claimed to have seen near the time of the incident could've been a light-coloured bird , or an aircraft in the distance that happened to be along the same line of sight, these could look surprisingly like "UFOs" when seen from afar or from an angle which renders these otherwise familiar objects in an usual shape/form as seen by the observer. One fellow i nthe article is quoted as saying that the light appeared to be 'hovering"; A high altitude jet seen at a distance, and when travelling directly toward/away from the observer, can appear virtually stationary.

[KenGee (Kenith Gee)]

Simple answer is best http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1396/

[renormalised (Carl)]

Hovering white light....damage to metal structures....some form of ball lightning?? I'd check the the crystal structure of the metal where the blade broke off under a SEM to see whether it's been recrystallised. You can tell the difference between recrystallisation caused by metal fatigue and that caused by a sudden input of energy.

Something just crossed my mind....it wasn't a "what" but a "who". Notice they had an advert for "Top Gear" on before the article on You Tube??. I know what caused it all. It was the boys doing some stupid stunt and it went wrong on them. Either that, or The Stig missed a corner and went airbourne

[Hagar (Doug)]

I really wasn't sugesting a bird strike would have caused this sort of damage. The blade system of most wind turbines is made from Fibreglass and flexible wooden stays internally. In the event of a blade destructing generally the entire tower,Nacelle and blades are fully destructed.
An example of the forces involved. The blades on the wind turbines at Wattle Point in SA. Opposite Adelaide are 60M long and weigh in at 12 Tons. Out of balance forces with these weights are huge.

[TrevorW]

Flying elephants, anyone seen Jumbo lately

[Jen]

Originally Posted by TrevorW

Flying elephants, anyone seen Jumbo lately