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UFO enthusiasts are claiming damage to a Lincolnshire wind farm turbine was caused by a mystery aircraft.

The turbine at Conisholme lost one 66ft (20m) blade and another was badly damaged in the early hours of Sunday.

County councillor for the area Robert Palmer said he had seen a "round, white light that seemed to be hovering".

Ecotricity, which owns the site, said while investigations continued they were not ruling anything out - but the extent of damage was "unique".

The turbine is one of 20 at the Conisholme site, which has been only been fully operational since April 2008. The broken blade has been recovered and is being examined.

Local ufologists said they had received many reports of activity in the area and had teams searching for clues.



Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 09:55:17 AM EST
You would have thought they would go after the ones in Shrivenham first--having already visited the area...

by asdf on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:09:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Maybe that was their warning with a clue as to where they would strike next if we didn't meet their demands. Perhaps the human race is too stupid to understand that the symbols mean, "World peace or next time, you'll be sorry".

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:16:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
as long as it's not an appeal for new episodes of a 1960's TV series that has just passed their planet.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:23:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
While on the subject of aliens, there are lots of other things to worry about as well. For example:

Biological contamination from space samples is a remote but accepted possibility. Signals received by searches for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) could also contain harmful information in the spirit of a computer virus, the so-called "SETI Hacker" hypothesis. Over the last four decades extraterrestrial intelligence searches have given little consideration to this possibility.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V1N-4H21K3K-1&_user=10&_rdoc= 1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVers ion=0&_userid=10&md5=00c26a87aa03043a27af57a9b49a86ee

by asdf on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:32:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Someone's been watching too much Independence day.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:52:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Not to worry, the latest Mac OS comes with a built-in defense mechanism that will automatically upload a virus to the mothership of any alien attacker within the solar system. Way more practical than it used to be back in the day!

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
by NordicStorm (michael<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:56:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
And you think Steve Jobs and Bill Gates come from where - hmmm?
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:06:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Binary fission?

"The basis of optimism is sheer terror" - Oscar Wilde
by NordicStorm (michael<-at->sturmbaum.net) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:23:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Careful.  They're going to have you turning your iPhone in to the ministry for that Jobs/Gates comparison.

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:17:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"Someone's been watching too much Independence day."

Generally I would agree with you (Independence Day was on TV a few days ago), but this discussion about alien computer viruses is in a serious article...

by asdf on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:01:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
thta dosent mean the author hasn't watched it too many times.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Fri Jan 9th, 2009 at 08:14:53 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Just tell them to stay away from the Forests of Fontainebleau.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:33:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
well you have to send the trainees out sometimes, and they do make mistakes.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:18:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Like this?
by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:35:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes probably.

Oh I don't know, maybe it was a one horn cow.  I wonder if we should create a poll for this?

Do ETers think the damage was caused by a trainee alien or a one horned cow?

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:37:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A ball lightning. Can I change my vote?

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:33:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
No.

But it reminds me of a great book that I have had since I was quite young that details various phenomena such as that, and UFOs and men in black, and spontaneous human combustion.  I'm tempted to start a series based on that.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:39:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hey, don't dis ball lightning.

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:54:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I am not dissing ball lightning, indeed I was extremely fascinated by it - and was introduced to it by this book of mine, which has some interesting stuff as well as weirdy stuff.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:58:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I was introduced to ball lightning by Nikita Mikhalkov.

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 01:04:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Possibly more credible than my book.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 01:13:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's a shame that the explanation of "spontaneous human combustion" is so mundane. The idea of people just walking along and then exploding in flames is just so interesting in a calvin and Hobbes kind of way.

Reality's a bitch

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 01:12:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I was going to look for that.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:53:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Heh. Sorry to steal your post.
by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:54:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Well if I had had as much luck finding that as finding a certain travel document, wed have been here all day.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:57:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
perhaps it's bats loosening bolts in revenge?

Wind farms cause thousands of bats to die from trauma - Times Online

Wind turbines pose a far more serious risk to bats than birds because their blades cause air pressure imbalances that can inflict fatal trauma.

A six-week study at two wind farms in the eastern United States recorded 1,764 and 2,900 bat fatalities. Another American project found that bat deaths outnumbered bird deaths in Montana by two to one. Though death rates in Europe are generally lower than this, extensive bat casualties have been reported in Britain.



Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:44:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Like anyone believes that bats with spanners can fly.

Please.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:07:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
who needs spanners when you have sucker feet?

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:17:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Or a giant glowing eye and secret telekinetic powers?
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:28:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
you keep mentioning things like that and you'll find the vans motor failing in the middle of nowhere, and then you'll be dragged off and probed.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:31:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
By telekinetic bats who don't like wind power?

This isn't Wales you know.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:37:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I know, you're heading for parts even more foreign.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:08:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
["We can't stop here - this is bat country" Alert™]
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:37:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well I somehow doubt that the contents of the rear of your vehicle will be anywhere near the same.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:44:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
European bats or African bats?

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:29:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
bats not swallows.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:32:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Iknow, but maybe an African bat could fly carrying a spanner (or a monkey wrench).

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:49:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
and you can't use two as spanners dont have husks.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:45:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, if it's an adjustable spanner, you can put a string through the handle's hole...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
by Melanchthon on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:51:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Perhaps you should use mole grips instead.

Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:55:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
asdf, did I hear right, on cpr, that it was 64º in Denver today?

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 05:45:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Not asdf but yes.  But that's Fahrenheit, don't forget.

The Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states are having above average temperatures this winter.

by ATinNM on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 06:04:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
it's 60º for xmess in Denver, but January is usually the coldest.  I wish I were there, since it has been below freezing all day, with dark gray skies.  I counted about 10 snowflakes per minute around 3 pm...

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 06:43:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually I think Colorado Springs and Denver have been having their usual really-cold-then-surprisingly-warm sort of weather. It was quite cold a couple of weeks ago, -5 F at my house which is, er, -20 C or so.

Recall that this area, east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the 100th meridian, is formally a high altitude desert. ("The Great American Desert.") It is typically hot (35 C) and dry during summer days, and cold (10 C) during summer nights, and can be pretty warm during winter days and then quite cold at night. Today it was about 17 C, but the prediction for Saturday night is -15 C.

I believe that the climate here is similar to that of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, one of our "sister cities." They're quite a bit lower that us (800 m versus 1900 m) but situated in a similar relationship to nearby mountains...

by asdf on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:21:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
thinking 'it never really snows here', around 600 m.

This morning we had a good inch and keeps snowing steadily in big flakes.  The palm tree across the street is drooping white and looks more out of place than usual.  

It's a whole, new, world perspective when everything is white, here.  Any snow shakes the locals enough to be more social and talkative, so it's almost pleasant.  

The north coast and even Barcelona have had snow on the beaches, so it shouldn't surprise us, inlanders.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Fri Jan 9th, 2009 at 06:22:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The wind farm turbines are from German manufacturer Enercon, I assume E44s.  (44 meter rotor.)  It's one of the first variable speed turbines, is gearless, and has a history of very high reliability.  Check it out. there's a diagram.

it could be ice damage, though that would be absolutely a freak occurrence.  I'm somewhat sceptical that it was an UFO, more likely a convergence of Ley Lines, is what we usually find at the end of the day, or the rainbow.   I'm not ruling out a cow dangling from a black helicopter, but i'm categorically ruling out a cow jumping or flying that high.  Unless it was a one horn cow, then all bets are off.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin

by Crazy Horse on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:18:30 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Maybe it was a one horn cow? That can fly, without a helicopter.  If it was ley lines then mystics could be involved, I think a cow is more plausible.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:35:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
There's nothing mystical about ley lines, but one-horned cows are way out there on the metaphysical scale.

And this is nothing compared to what goes on in Malta.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 10:59:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Why? What goes on in Malta?

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:03:28 AM EST
[ Parent ]
It concerns dogs and one-horned cows. I'd rather not go into details.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:06:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
* shuts eyes *

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:07:31 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You forgot (or was it deliberate?) to put the true answer in the poll:

Pluto is in Capricorn.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:04:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah it was deliberate. I wanted to see who would spot it first. Well done.  Pot of gold from the rainbow for you.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:06:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I wanted to see who would spot it first.

The usual lame excuse.

In fact, you're a grey.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:09:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No, I'm one of David Icke's reptiles.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:15:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Even scarier.

So you broke that windmill?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:21:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
As if I am going to admit to that on a public forum.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:33:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
That's as good as an admission. Lame again, lizard!
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:36:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

What is he doing there?

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:12:08 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The usual deeply satisfying Maltese exchanges.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:17:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
deeply satisfying Maltese exchanges

Now, that sounds interesting... Could you elaborate?

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:27:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I couldn't, I'm afraid. Pluto could. Sarko probably could, too.
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:33:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No, seriously. Since Lincolnshire is not far from where she lives, (and not because of broken windmills or aliens), I was wondering how Sassafras is?
by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:27:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I guess she's fine. She sent me a happy new year message and I said we all missed her in reply.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:46:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Sassafras is fine - back at home, back at work, and as healthy as can be expected.

I think she's been catching up with things that should have been done while she was ill - also, Christmas - so she hasn't been posting much.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:17:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
huh, I know nothing. What happened ?

Are these things designed to work at -10 ?

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:42:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes.  They work at both poles.

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." - Anaïs Nin
by Crazy Horse on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 04:48:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It was a case of ball lightning, clearly.

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 12:32:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Swamp gas, surely?
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 02:18:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Doesn't Interwebz tradition require Pie as an option in all polls?

Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 01:46:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Do you mistake us for any old blog? We have our own way of doing things here. It doesn't involve pie in polls.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Jan 8th, 2009 at 03:21:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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