Need help identifying what I saw today

a reply to: Thorsen

Just coincidence. I can't go into any more detail though.

a reply to: Zaphod58

That's allright. Thanks for letting me know that I saw something rare though! I'm really happy right now

a reply to: Zaphod58

Are they responsible?😆

a reply to: Bigburgh

You don't seriously expect an answer do you?

a reply to: Zaphod58

Nope😆.
But i'm highly curious. Keeps me outside on clear nights. Out by 9:30pm till 11:30 12.

a reply to: Bigburgh

She passed over us on the eastern seaboard about 1030 so depending on where you are that's a good time to catch it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Pittsburgh... and just satellites so far. Nothing to bright.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: Thorsen

I know what it is and can't tell you. It has been mistaken for the ISS, but it's not.

You fellin' OK Zap? You don't seem like your usual self throwing out vague hints like this.

a reply to: Zaphod58

LOL

Zaph has a sense of humour, who would have thought

I've seen similar, only once, travelling in a southeast to northerly trajectory in the late afternoon. Still daylight. Steady speed. Shape was cigar with both ends pointed.

Definitely not a usual aircraft.

No camera as I was working in a garden at the time but called the family out and said, "have a look at this". By the time they came out the thing was in the northern horizon and looked just like a glowing pink jelly bean until it was a dot on the horizon and disappeared.

I'd say it was at about 50,000 feet and arced across the horizon in about a minute to a minute and half.

Not the space station as I have seen it before and this was much larger. No sound.

Shook my head a went back to work.

Is this similar to what your mention zaph. Happened 2 years ago.

Kind regards,

bally.

a reply to: bally001


The object you witnessed sounds a lot like the so-called Maunder's Object witnessed by an English astronomer from the Royal club in 1882 when he ventured out to check the weather. He had a remarkable sighting of a huge object that fairly slowly past overhead at a high attitude. He wrote a very detailed account of it for his Royal Fellows, but they couldn't explain it in conventional terms and basically dismissed it as a natural phenomena.

a reply to: violetly

so it was the sun shining if the iss.......cool!

Just wanted to add that you should input your exact location on this site www.heavens-above.com/ for an accurate flyover time of the ISS last night if you're interested. The time I gave was an estimate from an app on my phone for all of Rio, 6:42 could be off by a few minutes depending on where you live.

a reply to: Bigburgh

Hi, I've seen this image before but can't remember what it relates to...

...can you direct me to info, or is there a thread on ATS about it?

thanks!

a reply to: lostgirl

It's a Topaz radar imaging satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office.

en.m.wikipedia.org...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Thank you for the link!

I checked out some of the reference links at the bottom of the page as well...

a reply to: Thorsen

I saw something simIIlar in France in july. Behaved like a satellite but brighter than a plane and light wasnt blinking. Suddenly dimmed to brightness of the average satellite, then disappeared 10s later.

I assumed that it was sunlight reflecting on solar panels of a large satellite (or ISS?) and dimming when the angle changed. But that s just my guess.