There has been a very large number of UFOs over the skies of Kyiv this year, according to a new preprint paper published by Kyiv's Main Astronomical Observatory in coordination with the country's National Academy of Science, Vice reported on Tuesday.
"We see them everywhere," according to the research, which is titled "Unidentified aerial phenomena I. Observations of events." "We observe a significant number of objects whose nature is not clear," with the scientists insisting that there is no indication that they are connected to the war.
The research, which according to the paper's authors was done at the request of NASA, is based on observations made at NASA's Main Astronomical Observatory in Kyiv and Vinarivka, a village south of Kyiv. The cameras are stationed approximately 75 miles apart, permitting the scientists to make repeated observations of the objects moving in the sky.
The paper cites that the astronomers are particularly seeing "phantoms" which they describe as an "object [that] is a completely black body that does not emit and absorbs all the radiation falling on it." The paper added that "phantoms are dark objects, with contrast from several to about 50 percent."
The paper also noted that the UFOs being observed are so fast that it's difficult to take pictures of them.
"The eye does not fix phenomena lasting less than one-tenth of a second," the paper said. "It takes four-tenths of a second to recognize an event. Ordinary photo and video recordings will also not capture the [unidentified aerial phenomenon]. To detect UAP, you need to fine-tune the equipment: shutter speed, frame rate, and dynamic range."
The astronomers explained that in order to adapt to the situation, they "developed a special observation technique, taking into account the high speeds of the observed objects. The exposure time was chosen so that the image of the object did not shift significantly during exposure. The frame rate was chosen to take into account the speed of the object and the field of view of the camera."
In addition to phantoms, the researchers are also observing cosmics, which "are luminous objects, brighter than the background of the sky. We call these ships names of birds (swift, falcon, eagle)."
According to the paper, "flights of single, group, and squadrons of the ships were detected, moving at speeds from 3 to 15 degrees per second. Phantoms are observed in the troposphere at distances up to 10 to 12 km. We estimate their size from 3 to 12 meters and speeds up to 15 km/s."