I DECIDED TO DIP MY TOE INTO THE X (TWITTER) UNIVERSE BY MAKING THIS POST, WHICH WAS MY FIRST!

Drone Mania —  Add Me To The List!

As I write this little post in December of 2024, I think it would be the understatement of the year to acknowledge there are some weird things going on in the world, and apparently that includes my little world here at Lake McQueeney.  Most recently there has been a lot of interest regarding drone sightings, mainly in the Northeast part of the United States.  I really hadn’t taken much notice of the topic, until the evening of Thursday, December19, 2024.  Around 8 p.m. I received an email notice that Amazon had delivered a package to my gate.  As I was walking out to the gate, I noticed an unusual object in the night sky to the southwest, which is the direction of Randolph AFB, about 15 miles away.  When compared to the stars, etc. in the sky, the object was large, and didn’t appear to be moving or making any noise.  After retrieving my package, I grabbed my binoculars and took  another look — the object was bright, but with just my binoculars I couldn’t make out any details.  I thought no more of it that night. 

Last night (Friday, December 20, 2024) at about 6:30 p.m., I was cooking steaks outside when I noticed the object again, pretty much in the same part of the sky as it was the night before.  After dinner, I went back outside and the object was still there so I decided to take some photos with my Nikon D500, outfitted with my 500 mm prime lens.  Since I recently lost my tripod, I took the photos hand held, or propped against a fixed object.  My photos, as you can see below, don’t really show any details of the object.

IN THIS CELLPHONE PHOTO, YOU CAN SEE THE OBJECT JUST ABOVE THE ROOF OF MY LITTLE SHOP, BETWEEN THE TREES. THIS WAS PRETTY MUCH MY VIEW AS I WAS COOKING STEAKS OUT BY OUR CARPORT.
CELLPHONE SHOT THAT I TOOK OUT BY THE FRONT FENCE. AS YOU CAN SEE, THE OBJECT WAS MUCH LARGER AND MORE PROMINENT THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE SKY.
A SHOT OF THE OBJECT THAT I TOOK WITH MY D500 NIKON OUT BY THE FRONT FENCE.
ANOTHER NIKON SHOT FROM OUT BY THE FRONT FENCE.
ANOTHER IMAGE OF THE OBJECT THAT APPEARED TO BE HOVERING NEAR RANDOLPH AFB.

After taking some photos of the object from out front by our gate and fence, I was walking back to our house when I realized there was a second object in the sky that was visible from our parking area and back yard.  So I took some photos of that object, first with my cell phone, then with my D500. 

THE SECOND OBJECT, AS SEEN FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY BOATHOUSE STAIRS.
A ZOOMED IN CELL PHONE SHOT OF THE SECOND OBJECT.
THE D500 SHOTS OF THE SECOND OBJECT PRODUCED SOME STRANGE IMAGES!
ANOTHER D500 PHOTO OF THE SECOND OBJECT.
THERE APPEARED TO BE NO RHYME OR REASON WHY SOME IMAGES SHOWED THE OBJECT AS HORIZONTAL, WHILE OTHERS SHOWED IT AS VERTICAL. WITH THE NAKED EYE, I COULDN'T SEE ANY SUCH DETAIL.
THE OBJECT I PHOTOGRAPHED FROM MY YARD WAS VERY STRANGE INDEED.
ONE FINAL SHOT OF THE OBJECT HOVERING OVER SEGUIN.

As you can see from my photos, the shots that I took from the back yard appear to have more detail.  I wondered why.  So I looked on Google Earth and discovered that the distance from my home to Randolph AFB is 14.81 miles, while the distance to Randolph’s Auxillary Field over by Seguin is 8.68 miles (see maps below).  So, could this distance variant be responsible for one set of shots providing more detail than the other?

DISTANCE FROM LAKE MCQUEENEY TO RANDOLPH AFB.
DISTANCE FROM LAKE MCQUEENEY TO RANDOLF'S AUXILLARY FIELD OUTSIDE OF SEGUIN.

I posted some of my photos on X (formerly Twitter), but have received no responses.  I plan to post some of the photos of this object on Ugly Hedgehog and see what they have to say.  As of the time I am writing this blog post, I have no idea what these objects are, or whether they are objects at all, just the result of my poor camera skills.  I will keep you posted!