Personal sighting - Was it a satellite?

[r13]

Hi all at UM.

I'm relatively new to the forums but I thought I'd share with you what I and several other friends all saw last night at our camping trip out to the countryside.

It was around 1am near the village of Condover, Shropshire. Many people had gone to bed, so it was just a small group of 5-6 of us. I was observing the stars as it was a very nice clea night. All of a sudden my eyes were drawn to a brighter, moving light which was moving in the sky behind the high branches of a tree next to us. I waited until the light moved into the expanse of clear sky before alerting the group. It was brighter and nearer than any star, and of course was moving at speed. It was silent. As we watched it move across the entire night sky, people speculated that it was probbably a satellite however they soon doubted this theory as the object managed to come into our vision, clear the entirety of the sky above us and dissapear into the horizon within a matter of around 20-30 seconds. My peers also stated that they had never seen a satellite so bright or large. It also seemed strange as the object seemed to almost slowly curve in the direction it was taking starting at 45 degrees and ended up moving at 270 degrees. ( sorry for the bad directional measurements, it's not a strong point, these are based on 0 degrees being the direction I was facing at first sighting.)

A few quick questions before I jump to conclusions, as I would love for this to have been a UFO sighting, I am aware that there are things to be taken into account:

1. Can satellites in orbit move this fast and seem this close? (I know it's hard to imagine without a picture but to try and help here, the ball of light was a significant blob in the sky, much too large to be a low flying crafts light)

2. Is there a reliable way to track satellites in the area to determine if this was the case at the time?

3. Any other possible explanations?

Thank you for your time.

Edited June 10, 2012 by rcarp89

[Phoenix1k]

Can you make a sketch showing the approximant size of the object? Go to http://www.heavens-above.com and enter in the coordinace you were at and the date and time of the sighting, the site should be able to tell you if a sattilite made a flyover and possibly the name of it.

[r13]

Hi Phoenix1k

Firstly thanks for replying, and for your link. Following my online check I have determined that only one satellite was visible from the location at 1pm and that it could be viewed for a period of ten minutes. However as I have stated before the object was seen from one side of the sky to another within a maximum possible period of around a minute, two at a massive push. The satellite is called JAS-1B. I'm not sure what this means, and whether it rules out the possibility of the object being a satellite or not.

On your first question, I could make a sketch, however my drawing skills aren't fantastic, but I will attempt to give it a go and post it up here when I get the chance.

Again thank you for the swift reply.

[+and-then]

Hi all at UM.

I'm relatively new to the forums but I thought I'd share with you what I and several other friends all saw last night at our camping trip out to the countryside.

It was around 1am near the village of Condover, Shropshire. Many people had gone to bed, so it was just a small group of 5-6 of us. I was observing the stars as it was a very nice clea night. All of a sudden my eyes were drawn to a brighter, moving light which was moving in the sky behind the high branches of a tree next to us. I waited until the light moved into the expanse of clear sky before alerting the group. It was brighter and nearer than any star, and of course was moving at speed. It was silent. As we watched it move across the entire night sky, people speculated that it was probbably a satellite however they soon doubted this theory as the object managed to come into our vision, clear the entirety of the sky above us and dissapear into the horizon within a matter of around 20-30 seconds. My peers also stated that they had never seen a satellite so bright or large. It also seemed strange as the object seemed to almost slowly curve in the direction it was taking starting at 45 degrees and ended up moving at 270 degrees. ( sorry for the bad directional measurements, it's not a strong point, these are based on 0 degrees being the direction I was facing at first sighting.)

A few quick questions before I jump to conclusions, as I would love for this to have been a UFO sighting, I am aware that there are things to be taken into account:

1. Can satellites in orbit move this fast and seem this close? (I know it's hard to imagine without a picture but to try and help here, the ball of light was a significant blob in the sky, much too large to be a low flying crafts light)

2. Is there a reliable way to track satellites in the area to determine if this was the case at the time?

3. Any other possible explanations?

Thank you for your time.

You can use STELLARIUM.ORG and plug in your GPS as well as the time it happened and it can show what satellites would have been visible also.

[Phoenix1k]

Your Welcome

Jas-1B is the sateilites designation, I took the liberty of looking up its info, its a Japanese Communication satellite that was launched in Feb. 1990, but back to you sighing. How mutch of the sky was visable, were you in a wide clearing. Satellites do vary in speed but, I have never seen or even heard of one crossing the entire sky in less than a minute. Seeing your sketch will help but, based on the time you said it took to cross the sky I'm leaning twords it beeing something else.

Edited June 10, 2012 by Phoenix1k

[thewonderman]

Hi Rcarp,

Im in the UK also and have witnessed two sightings which were exactly the same thing, but I don't know what it was....

Did this object look very bright orange/red in colour and moving pretty fast across the sky in the same direction?

I seen the first one and then 5 minutes later I seen the exact same thing again both were going in the same direction this is in East midlands in England and like you say it was far to close to be a sattelite as they both went straight over my head and it wasnt a chinese lanten due to the size and the speed it was moving.

[Phoenix1k]

@ and then, Setllarium is an exilent program but as of yet its satellite catalog isnt very extensive, most of the smaller or defunct satellites are not on it by defult

[Ashotep]

Does sound strange to me and so does what thewonderman said. This may of not been a satellite.

[r13]

Hi guys

Thanks for all of your replies.

In response to your question Pheonix, we were in an open field, but a tree slightly blocked the direction the object came from. If I had to put as percentage on it, I would say 90% of the entire sky was easily viewable, with the tree blocking the last 10% or so.

In response to thewonderman, it was a white light, similar to that of stars, however much, much larger and moving of course. But yes, it seemed either exceedingly large for an orbiting object, or closer. However with the absence of noise I ruled out aircraft. (We were in a silent field at the time.) As a side note, what I forgot to mention earlier is that there was no trail behind the object either.

Thanks again guys

I will update the thread with the sketch when I get the chance.

[Gorff]

Does sound strange to me and so does what thewonderman said. This may of not been a satellite.

But it could of also been 1 of thousands of pecies of junk thats also up there.

[Gorff]

And welcome Rcarp89 Btw.

[thewonderman]

But it could of also been 1 of thousands of pecies of junk thats also up there.

What I seen was not junk as both objects looked exactly the same.. it wasn't moving superfast but was not moving slow either and it was silent.

Edited June 10, 2012 by thewonderman

[Gorff]

To be honest Rcarp ive also see lots! and i mean "lots" of weird stuff going on up there.

You need to keep a nice level head on things, if you dont, your in trouble

[Phoenix1k]

Hi guys

Thanks for all of your replies.

In response to your question Pheonix, we were in an open field, but a tree slightly blocked the direction the object came from. If I had to put as percentage on it, I would say 90% of the entire sky was easily viewable, with the tree blocking the last 10% or so.

In response to thewonderman, it was a white light, similar to that of stars, however much, much larger and moving of course. But yes, it seemed either exceedingly large for an orbiting object, or closer. However with the absence of noise I ruled out aircraft. (We were in a silent field at the time.) As a side note, what I forgot to mention earlier is that there was no trail behind the object either.

Thanks again guys

I will update the thread with the sketch when I get the chance.

So this thing covered 90% of the visable sky in less that a minute. Having observed many satellites I can tell you with pretty good confidence that they cant cover that kind of ground in less that a minute and nither can space junk, and having no tail rules out meteors or re-entering space junk. This does'nt make it alien but, puts alot of doubt on it beeing a satellite. I look forward to seeing your sketch.

[Gorff]

What I seen was not junk as both objects looked exactly the same.. it wasn't moving superfast but was not moving slow either and it was silent.

Ill tell you a story, quiet a few years back i really thought i was looking at 2 UFO's.

I just finnished work, its was 5pm dark,as it was november time. I saw 2 very bright objects in the sky, 1 was tailing the other as if in formation.

There was no sound. This was the highlight of my night, untill i realised it was the space shuttle docking with the iss. Opps

[Phoenix1k]

You need to keep a nice level head on things, if you dont, your in trouble

I agree with you on this but, this certinly seems to be an unusual event, that dosen't make it alien in and of itself but, none the less interesting.

[Gorff]

I agree with you on this but, this certinly seems to be an unusual event, that dosen't make it alien in and of itself but, none the less interesting.

Totally agree

[r13]

To be honest Rcarp ive also see lots! and i mean "lots" of weird stuff going on up there.

You need to keep a nice level head on things, if you dont, your in trouble

Couldn't agree more on the level head comment. It's good to have an open mind, but first you need to personally examine all of the explanations available. If I absolutely 100% thought it was a UFO and nothing else, then I wouldn't bother even posting on here in the first place as I have no evidence whatsoever except my personal testimony (there's no shortage of those online) and that of a few others, I was merely searching for alternate explanations on the subject.

However I can't say that the second half of that sentence doesn't seem scarily ominous. Thanks for the welcome by the way, the people on these forums are an interesting bunch who seem to love a good old fashioned debate.

Edited June 11, 2012 by rcarp89