Jan 24, 2008

Chapter 4: Sam sees an Aurora Australis

Update: 14:15 GMT Thanks to The Morning Edge who has found a researched ship ship by the same name. Complete with Heli-pad!

http://www.researchvessels.org/country/Australia/Aurora_Australis/


**UPDATED** Thanks to Rafaella for confirming that Sam sees an Auroral "Australis" (Southern Hemi) not Borealis.

Here is a screencap to compare:



**UPDATED** Is there a hidden face in the water!?

Initially I was thinking it could just be the shading in the water, but then based on everything else going on in the game I figured it was worth a post even if there is nothing to it.

Thanks to Jose for the heads up and screencap.

(Click to Enlarge)


During the video we see Sam look out to the see to see what looks like an Aurora Borealis also frequently seen in the Northern Hemisphere and known as "Northern Lights" and occur in areas of high magnetism.

Here are the screencaps:



23 comments:

Rafaella Albuquerque said...

Is a Aurora Australis, not Boreal.. I send a email to Dark and Odi with a pic and a explanation...

Hoku said...

I saw it (the face), but I thought it was an "X". I kept trying to click on it LOL

Dr. Candle said...

Along the same lines, I thought I saw a series of dots and dashes moving across the screen and hidden in the waves. I know morse code has been used before in the game. Anyone else see it, or am I looking to hard for something thats not there.
Namaste

Anonymous said...

i though it looks like the cloverfield monster lol

thebruce0 said...

If you look at the rest of the water, it's just the tiling effect they used to fill up such a large area. There are other spots where the water seems simmetric on either side. This one just happens to be somewhere that looks like it forms a face. it's not.

Graft said...

How can it even be confirmed to be one over the other? Aurora borealis and australis are the same phenomenon, just called by different names depending on which hemisphere it is in.

Josh Tielor said...

While searching into the Aurora Australis I discovered a research ship by the same name. Complete with Heli-pad.

http://www.researchvessels.org/country/Australia/Aurora_Australis/

Anonymous said...

I was wondering how on earth he was seeing the Northern Lights down where he is! You have to goto up to the north of Scotland to catch a glimpse. Didn't know about the Australis Lights, but suppose it makes sense that the South Pole would also have them, I know Jupiter has them too.

Unknown said...

It's thin, but the same IP address that editted the wiki page for the Aurora Australis (icebreaker) on 12/27/07, also editted the HMS Orion (A210) and HMS Carlskrona on the same day. These are the only other edits by this IP address.

Josh Tielor said...

I find it interesting that the Aurora Australis can carry 3 "Squirrels" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_Ecureuil or 2 "Sikorsky S-76s" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikorsky_S-76.

That would be an explination as to why we se so many choppers including the crashed Naomi chopper.

Josh Tielor said...

Aurora Australis - Research Ship / Icebreaker

HMS Orion - Signals intelligence gathering vessel

HMS Carlskrona - Retired Minelayer / replacing HMS Orion as signal intelligence gathering vessel.

Both HMS ships are Swedish Navy and launched in the early 80s.

Josh Tielor said...

The Aurora Australis specifications page:

http://portal.pohub.com/portal/page?_pageid=51,49056,51_49148:51_49554&_dad=pogprtl&_schema=POGPRTL

interesting excerpt: Capability to load/discharge dry/liquid cargo independently in open roadsteads and undeveloped harbours.
Capability of supporting medium lift helicopters with hangar, helideck and fuel for aerial supply operations.

Josh Tielor said...

Another excerpt: The Aurora Australis is designed to transport expeditioners to and from isolated bases and camps as well as accommodate chatterer's support staff and general representatives during research voyages and other expeditions.

CW said...

Does anyone know how common it is to see the Aurora at that latitude? We should consider that this could be an "unnatural" sighting since the Auroras are, in part, caused by electro-magnatism which may be doing crazy things in this strange area. I think that is the whole point of why he saw it.

travis said...

That's a good question, CW. I would think you'd have to be south of Australia to see it, but I guess it depends on the intensity of the storm.

Here's a shot from space that show the Aurora over the Antartica. Australia is clearly visible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Aurora_australis_20050911.jpg

My question is if the island has some kind of weird magnetic properties, why haven't the losties seen an Aurora?

travis said...

BTW, the wikipedia entry on Auroras mentions Faraday!

MoniQuinha said...

I´m pretty sure what Sam saw was kind of a residualmagnetic stuff due to the explosion of the hatch, when, supposedly, ended the magnetic field of the island...

tvwatcherinvt said...

I think shimmr was a clue looking to the aurora and that the aurora itself has to do with the release of energy on our island. That is why the aurora is so compacte and now over the whole sky....

Matt said...

Maybe it's a coincidence, but on the bottom of the mentioned page about the Aurora Australis ship there is even a link labeled "OCEANIC", wich links to 404 error. But there is an further description about OCEANIC if you open just the base of the linked URL: http://www.cms.udel.edu

inprison said...

www.researchvessels.org, as provided by the morning edge, also leads to a site named ALIAS polar.
Arctic Logistics Information and Support.
For what it's worth.

Aelith said...

Does Jose's screencap of the water have a huge watermark? when I reversed and inhansed his picture I can see moto, banner, shield, etc. clearly in the middle of the picture.
How do I upload my image?

Anonymous said...

I don't think it's that strange that he saw an Aurora. I've seen an Aurora before (beautiful by the way) and I wasn't in a polar region. I think they can sometimes just occur elsewhere.

Gideon said...

If you really stare at that screencap of the water, I believe you can see more that one person/face. To the lower right of the face is what appears to be a baby sitting next to the body associated with the face...and possibly a third person sitting on the opposite side. Am I the only one seeing this? It's very odd...