Strange phenomenon: Blood moon makes a series of creatures 'free fall'

The ghostly full moon makes a series of flying creatures of the Earth seem to be sucked in, soars very high, and then suddenly loses altitude at the same time when the normal moon turns into a blood moon.

The study, just published in the scientific journal Current Biology, tracked the northern black swift (Cypseloides niger borealis), a bird that flies non-stop during its eight-month migration.

Blood Moon

A strange phenomenon has happened to this bird as well as some other flying animals: when the moon is full, they seem to be sucked in by the moon, soaring high. But every time a total lunar eclipse (blood moon) or partial lunar eclipse occurs, these flying animals suddenly lose altitude.

To record this mysterious phenomenon, biologist Anders Hedentrom from Lund University (Sweden) and colleagues mounted sensors on a number of northern black swifts. The results show that the full moon can make them fly to an altitude of 2,000 meters above sea level.

Northern black swallows and many other small birds tend to fly higher at night to avoid birds of prey, but the scientists note that appears to be an unnecessary altitude.

They claim that flying higher on a moonlit night is a "moonlight effect" that many animals suffer from, just as sharks are more likely to become aggressive on a full moon.

The simple reason for the sudden loss of altitude, like being in a "free fall" during a blood moon, a new moon, with an altitude of sometimes only 700 meters, is because the light from the Moon dims.