Dramatic Wavy Orb Motion Over US Flag

Photo date: December 30, 2014. Photographer: Mark Mahin.

The photo below was taken in Grand Central Station in New York.

Here is a closeup of the strange thing in front of the stripes of the US flag.

We seem to see here an example of what photographers call ghosting, produced when an object moves much faster than the shutter speed of the camera. Since the camera had an effective shutter speed of about 1/1000 of a second, what we see here is almost certainly an object moving very fast -- far, far, faster than any insect can move. We also seem to see no less than three different changes of motion direction in a small fraction of a second, something impossible for any insect or bird. As if this wasn't dramatic enough, we seem to see an orb face. All in all, a photo that seems inexplicable through any natural phenomenon we are aware of.

You might call this just about the strangest "flag wave" ever.