I think the fact that entire coastal towns have effectively ceased to exist might be more of a problem than a bit of mildly radioactive steam dispersing in the atmosphere!

Have a look at Slik if you want ultra-light and ultra-tiny. I have one of their Mini Pro 'pods which is great if you can find a table/rock/etc to balance it on, they also make larger tripods. I had a 500G which was great until the plastic collar which serves as the pan mount broke, I'm vaguely keeping my eyes open for a cheap 450G to replace it.

The Red Snapper is brilliant but you don't really want to go on lengthy walks with it slung over a shoulder - I find about two miles to be my limit for carrying the thing before bruising sets in. It would probably be comfier in the (included) bag but having to repeatedly remove it from the bag, extend the legs, fold the legs, etc would get annoying.

I have the same Red Snapper legs that SmutjeUK used to use, with their own ballhead. It's a superb combination if you need a proper tripod but can't raise £200+ for an established brand. It also takes Arca Swiss-type quick release plates so you can buy longer plates and angle brackets to adjust the camera mounting to taste.

So there's still hope for the Ever-Ready Case I ordered for my KX before xmas and never received then!

I know it was posted. Royal Fail simply couldn't be bothered to deliver it.

I keep being told to buy something like a Sigma/Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. Thing is, I don't actually want one. I find my 35mm f2.4 works incredibly well for normal stuff and if it's a case of spending money on something wider I'd rather have the Samyang 14mm with its ability to double as a fisheye on my film bodies. Primes are generally much smaller and lighter than zooms, both of which appeal when you're walking around a city centre.

I'm still amazed Pentax don't make a DA 28mm. It would after all have much the same field of view on an APS-C camera as the 43mm Ltd, which they decided was the correct standard lens for a 35mm film camera.

This is why I get fed up with people talking about "an extra hour of daylight". We could choose to have 12 noon at dawn and it wouldn't give us any more or less daylight, clocks and measured time are human inventions!

I agree, leave the clocks alone and change office hours.

I would be interested to see how the K and M 120mm lenses compare. The only comparable K and M lenses I own are the 28mm f3.5s, where I found the K sharper wide open but the two lenses equal by f8.

I tend to use these two in the same manner as the 120mm/135mm, the M would be much easier to replace if lost or broken and is also much smaller for tucking in a coat pocket with the MX.

HAARP is a series of antennae and high frequency transmitters used for researching the ionosphere. They don't fly!

Well, I've done a vaguely scientific test of the M 135mm, K 120mm and also the Samyang 85mm. Results (with captions explaining which lens and settings for each photo) here

I can't really see much in it between the two Pentax lenses. The K does look slightly sharper to me at all apertures, and interestingly it also looks slightly ahead of the Samyang although the focus may have been slightly off with the latter (I was able to get the green hexagon with the two Pentax lenses but not the Samyang, so had to focus it by eye).

All were ISO 100, on a tripod, SR off and using the two second self timer. In the case of the two manual lenses stop-down metering was used with no adjustment.

I'd be inclined to adopt the "toy helium balloon or bunch of balloons" theory too. Weather balloons are huge things and if it was at the same altitude as the jet would cause something of a panic at ATC. I would imagine their launch is restricted to areas well away from the normal air corridors for this reason!

This is why I get irritated by the occasional witless media type talking about "belief in UFOs". It isn't a matter for belief. That'd be like believing in the toaster! A UFO is anything flying that you can't identify.

Now, what you believe UFOs to be is something else entirely. I'm firmly convinced that they're "black" military projects. Consider the SR-71 Blackbird and the fact that this design dated from the 1950s (as the A-12, which was developed into the SR-71). Compare a 1950s fighter plane to a current one. Considering how much is generally spent on the top secret kit I would suggest some truly remarkable aircraft are lurking in the shadows.