Think I've just seen a meteor

downfader
downfader Posts: 3,686
edited December 2009 in The bottom bracket
Went out to the shed to open the freezer anmd get some grub 20 minutes ago and a bright orange light took my attention. I often see aeroplanes, sometimes helicopters circling around but this was completely different.

It was super-bright and very fast, twice the speed planes fly at. And it was kind of pulsing as if it was rolling, if you get me. It also want flying that staight and there was wobble to its trajectory.

Very cool.

Comments

  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    How long did it last?

    A meteor would be there one second, gone the next.

    Here's a bit of wikipedia info about them:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteor
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    johnfinch wrote:
    How long did it last?

    A meteor would be there one second, gone the next.

    Here's a bit of wikipedia info about them:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteor

    Hmm maybe it wasnt then. I watched it for over 20 seconds.
  • bagpusscp
    bagpusscp Posts: 2,907
    This is life but not as we know it :lol:
    Leave the malt alone :wink: I see all sorts when I have had a wee one. :lol:
    bagpuss
  • nicensleazy
    nicensleazy Posts: 2,310
    I have told you before.....too much LSD !!!!!!!!!!!
  • finchy
    finchy Posts: 6,686
    downfader wrote:
    johnfinch wrote:
    How long did it last?

    A meteor would be there one second, gone the next.

    Here's a bit of wikipedia info about them:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteor

    Hmm maybe it wasnt then. I watched it for over 20 seconds.

    Maybe it was a satellite. You can see them from the ground and sometimes they appear quite bright, but not usually twice as bright as an aeroplane.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    johnfinch wrote:
    downfader wrote:
    johnfinch wrote:
    How long did it last?

    A meteor would be there one second, gone the next.

    Here's a bit of wikipedia info about them:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteoroid#Meteor

    Hmm maybe it wasnt then. I watched it for over 20 seconds.

    Maybe it was a satellite. You can see them from the ground and sometimes they appear quite bright, but not usually twice as bright as an aeroplane.

    Nah I've looked at satelites through the telescope and binoculars. They dont tend to travel quite that much. This was from one horizon to the other...

    ..and no, I dont drink or do drugs. :lol:
  • OffTheBackAdam
    OffTheBackAdam Posts: 1,869
    Probably one of these chinese lanterns.
    Remember that you are an Englishman and thus have won first prize in the lottery of life.
  • Homer J
    Homer J Posts: 920
    maybe someone was playing catch with a very bright torch.
  • freehub
    freehub Posts: 4,257
    OffTheBackAdam wrote:
    Probably one of these chinese lanterns.

    They don't fly twice the speed as planes though.

    Just looked out the window to see if it was snowing to see a red little pulsating object in the air, looked to be moving fastish, that was a chinese lantern, moving in the direction of the wind, no where near the speed of a plane.
  • VinceEager
    VinceEager Posts: 247
    did it try and probe you?
    ...the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon...
  • scwxx77
    scwxx77 Posts: 1,469
    Possibly ISS? It takes about that amount of time to cross the sky.

    If you go to this website you can put in your location and get times and sky maps for when it goes overhead. http://www.heavens-above.com/
    Winner: PTP Vuelta 2007 :wink:
  • balthazar
    balthazar Posts: 1,565
    From "Emily" by Joanna Newsom:

    "That the meteorite is a source of the light
    And the meteor's just what we see
    And the meteoroid is a stone that's devoid of the fire that propelled it to thee

    And the meteorite's just what causes the light
    And the meteor's how it's perceived
    And the meteoroid's a bone thrown from the void that lies quiet in offering to thee"
  • on the road
    on the road Posts: 5,631
    It might have been an Iridium flare. You can find out if was by going to http://www.heavens-above.com, just type in your latitude and longitude. You can get Iridium flares for the last 48 hours or for the next 7 days and beyond.
  • andy162
    andy162 Posts: 634
    A Foo Fighter??

    Might be knock on door from The Men In Black in a bit.
  • Hooligan Bill
    Hooligan Bill Posts: 27
    scwxx77 wrote:
    Possibly ISS? It takes about that amount of time to cross the sky.

    /

    NASA website shows two passes of the ISS over the UK today, but they were 0536 and 0730.
  • downfader
    downfader Posts: 3,686
    Hooligan Bill wrote:
    scwxx77 wrote:
    Possibly ISS? It takes about that amount of time to cross the sky.

    /

    NASA website shows two passes of the ISS over the UK today, but they were 0536 and 0730.

    Depends which parts of the UK it "flew" over, so it could be. :? Dont think it was a lantern as they're pretty obvious and they tend to fall apart in high winds (which would be what would have to push it at that speed imo), seemed too high up too. It is hard to guage size and distance though with things like that.
  • stevewj
    stevewj Posts: 227
    on the road wrote:
    It might have been an Iridium flare. You can find out if was by going to http://www.heavens-above.com, just type in your latitude and longitude. You can get Iridium flares for the last 48 hours or for the next 7 days and beyond.
    Iridium flares don't last that long unfortunately (used to be one of my hobbies photographing them).
  • on the road
    on the road Posts: 5,631
    Another thought is the posibillity of a military satellite, they're usually too far away to see but sometimes they come down low. They are often in threes and form a triangle, but sometimes there is just the one.
  • ynyswen24
    ynyswen24 Posts: 703
    just had a look at the satellite predictions in yesterdays guardian and it listed Lacrosse 5r as being the final stage of the rocket that lifted the Lacrosse 5 satellite, seems these can tumble as they orbit and appear to change brightness quite dramatically. Some satellites, especially military have pretty large solar arrays and these can 'flare' a hell of lot if they catch the sun fromwhere you are. Then again I've been convinced that Venus is 'moving' in the sky a few times even when I've known that its Venus I'm looking at.

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