[ARCHIVED THREAD] - I just saw something in the sky that boggled my mind like nothing else. What was it? (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 2/14/2024 8:31:21 PM EDT
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I was outside, and I happened to see a satellite, but it was foggy, while all the stars were perfectly clear. It was pretty bright, probably about 0-1 magnitude, and it was followed perfectly by a smaller satellite about 3 magnitude, about 1/3rd of a degree away from the main satellite. Again I reiterate, the satellite was hazy, while the stars were perfectly clear. It seemed to be moving more slowly than I would have expected a satellite to travel, but I could be wrong about that. Then suddenly it put out a burst of gas that was most certainly an extremely high-altitude or outer space major outgassing event that spread in a sphere like a bubble. Eventually it went behind the Earth's shadow and disappeared. By that time the outgassing bubble had expanded to about 2 degrees in diameter at least. I have no idea what I witnessed, but it was something very, very unusual. |
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Quoted: That sounds like a really cool thing to see I honestly couldn't believe what I was seeing. I love astronomy and I have been a space program nerd since I was a little kid, and I cannot fathom what could have caused what I saw. All I can think was that a very large orbiting object was slowly releasing gas, and then released a huge amount suddenly, all while a smaller object was orbiting next to it. It wasn't the ISS, I just checked the tracker, it's on the other side of the Earth. |
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Quoted: Sounds like a rocket launch. It has to be, but why were there two objects in the exact same trajectory? If the haze was the engine exhaust, the two objects would have been falling away from each other, and I can't imagine what the two objects would be anyway. Not the first stage, and if the second stage were firing, what's the other object? And then what was the burst? And I'm in Indiana, seems unlikely for an active rocket to pass over me. |
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Wonder if it was the second stage of USSF-124 venting after today's launch. Was it like either of these videos?  Starlink 4-14 Second Stage Deorbit Burn and Venting  SpaceX Falcon 9 Second stage venting fuel |
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Quoted: Wonder if it was the second stage of USSF-124 venting after today's launch. Was it like either of these videos?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXfdetvlPtY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnmq2fMudRsDon’t know about op but wife said it looked similar to the top video. |
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Quoted: I lack imagination. At least put up a blurry pic or 1st grade level art of what it looked like FFS. Sorry, I'd love to be able to, but I really can't draw it, and I didn't have time/was utterly mesmerized too much to snap a pic, and besides, I doubt my camera could have really gotten a good recording of it. |
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I saw the same thing. It was east of my location in SW Virginia. I went to FlightAware, found nothing. It was surreal, just like OP described it. It first appeared to be a bright star behind fog but then it expelled a gaseous cloud which appeared to be below it. From my perspective it appeared to be stationary or moving very slow. Then it faded from view. |
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I think Elon the fraud has 3 launches today. One from Florida, one from Texas, and one from California. The one from Florida earlier he somehow managed to con space force into letting him launch a classified payload. (He is a really good conman I hear, but Iwouldntknow) Anyway, maybe that is what you saw OP. |
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Quoted: No idea wife was looking east when she saw it OK, I'm in SE Indiana, and it was a bit to my south and traveling slightly north, so checking Google Maps and drawing a line, it may well have passed over West Virginia. When it outgassed it was very far downrange, so it was probably over or past West Virginia by then. Was it about 25 or so minutes ago? Unless you are far north WV, I would guess that the object passed overhead slightly to the north? |
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Quoted: OK, I'm in SE Indiana, and it was a bit to my south and traveling slightly north, so checking Google Maps and drawing a line, it may well have passed over West Virginia. When it outgassed it was very far downrange, so it was probably over or past West Virginia by then. Was it about 25 or so minutes ago? You don't feel like you've been probed do you? |
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The gas sounds like a satellite steering in space burning fuel to maneuver. That's an "expensive" movement so done with a purpose. The fuzziness could be a projection off the side of the first satellite towards your position playing with the light field. Most satellites have large solar arrays that would be faced towards the sun and directional antennas that would be pointed towards the earth. You wouldn't happen to have downloaded and used FlightTracker24 did you?  |
