# Wind-drift and angular-size check for a low sighting

> Compares a witness-reported course with the downwind direction from the nearest hourly station, and the reported size and motion with what a small…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFY8Q1Y8EZG/wind-drift-and-angular-size-check-for-a-low-sighting  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

---

[Methods](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods)[Meteorology; observational geometry](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods?kind=statistics-and-information)Wind-drift and angular-size check for a low sighting

Method · meteorology; observational geometry

# Wind-drift and angular-size check for a low sighting

Compares a witness-reported course with the downwind direction from the nearest hourly station, and the reported size and motion with what a small drifting balloon would show.

**Meteorology; observational geometry** Version **1.0** Licence **MIT1** runUsed on **1** mystery

## Questions it answers

- [Do the object's reported course, size and motion fit a small balloon drifting on that evening's wind?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/incident-88/questions/QST0DFY75MM5T34/do-the-objects-reported-course-size-and-motion-fit-a-small)

## Code Python

[Download module (.py)](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/private/c99084960e1fdc5f02e1e15022187530ee3544abaa30f775be850faf3b5cc5d5)`hackensack_check.py`[View source](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/private/c99084960e1fdc5f02e1e15022187530ee3544abaa30f775be850faf3b5cc5d5)

## Runs and results 1 run

| Run | Mystery | Measured | Result | Against | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RUN0DFY94JHJTNT | Incident | Course minus downwind (degrees) | -41.4 | 0 (moving exactly with the surface wind) | |

## Applied to

![Incident 88: the Hackensack disc, 3 August 1947](https://mysteriesdept.com/media/folio/incident-88-lead)

**[Incident 88: the Hackensack disc, 3 August 1947](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/incident-88)1 dataset** Teterboro Airport hourly surface observations, 1947 (NOAA ISD 99999994741)

[Download module](https://mysteriesdept.com/files/private/c99084960e1fdc5f02e1e15022187530ee3544abaa30f775be850faf3b5cc5d5)

Category

Meteorology; observational geometry

Version

1.0 · 3 Nov 2026

Licence

MIT

Language

Python

Inputs

Hourly ISD CSV; witness course endpoints; reported height and size

Output

Wind table, sun position, course minus downwind, angular size and rate table

Cite

[BibTeX](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFY8Q1Y8EZG/wind-drift-and-angular-size-check-for-a-low-sighting/cite.bib) · [APA](https://mysteriesdept.com/methods/MTH0DFY8Q1Y8EZG/wind-drift-and-angular-size-check-for-a-low-sighting/cite.txt)

Develop this method

Methods are versioned like code. Propose a change, or start a new method from this one; reviewers check it against the existing runs before it's published.

 [Start a new method from this](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)[Propose a change](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)[Run on a dataset](https://mysteriesdept.com/developers)

Authors

**[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)** Wrote version 1.0