‘Do not be alarmed.’ Stanislaus Sheriff’s Office responds to 911 calls about lights in sky
Stargazers got a treat Wednesday night when the two brightest planets in the solar system, Venus and Jupiter, appeared within a half degree of each other. But it was a post by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office about the encounter that got most of the attention in Stanislaus County.
Along with a stock photo of the planets taken from Hungary on Feb. 22, the post read: “If you are seeing these lights in the sky, dispatch has received multiple calls regarding this. Do not be alarmed, as NASA said that Jupiter and Venus would appear in the western sky on March 1st.”
The post was shared nearly 600 times, including by the Stanislaus County Office of Emergency Services, and hundreds more people left comments.
Many were baffled that someone would call 911 for a celestial event, while others said they’d wondered about what they saw and appreciated the information.
And then there were the jokes.
“LED spy balloon??” one commenter said.
Another said the planets were also a topic of discussion on the Nextdoor app. “I think a lot of our Modesto neighbors are the ones turning in the planets for suspicious activities.”
In fact, spy balloon was a concern of at least one 911 caller, while others thought the planets were drones or spacecraft, said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Erich Layton.
He said 12 people called the Stanislaus Regional 911 dispatch center and CHP dispatchers also reported receiving multiple calls.
“Knowing that it was a natural astronomical event, we felt that it would be good to put that out to hopefully cut down on some of the calls that were coming into 911.” said Lt. Tom Letras.
He said the number of calls did decrease after the Facebook post.
The astronomical meetup is called a conjunction, according to AccuWeather. One astronomer likened it to the two planets kissing.
While their proximity added to the spectacle Wednesday night, the two planets have been visible throughout February and even aligned with the moon last week, according to USA Today.
And in a post late Thursday morning on Facebook, the NASA Solar System Exploration said, ‘If you missed yesterday’s conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, don’t worry too much. The pair will still appear close together in the sky for several days. Look to the west just after sunset.’’
Did you get a picture of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter? Send it to local@modbee.com.
This story was originally published March 2, 2023 at 12:51 PM.
