[meteorite-list] Satellite Reentry Witness 4

[GeoZay at aol.com]

>>The light was low on the horizon, about 10-15 degrees 
above  it. After a few seconds it seperated into several glowing fragments, 
and  then a shower of debris, all travelling at the same leisurely pace 
across  the sky. It was visible for about 20 seconds before it faded out. At 
first  I thought I had seen an aircraft breaking up in flight, but after no  
aeroplane crashes were reported, it became obvious that what I had  witnessed 
was the re-entry of a satellite. I will never forget it, and I  have not seen 
another one since. I have seen many, many meteorites streak  across the sky 
and the slowest of those was still much faster than the  re-entry that I had 
witnessed. They are indeed a rare thing to  behold.<<
 
Kevin, From what you wrote, part of me wants to think that you actually saw  
a meteor and not a re-entering satellite. The reasoning is that a bright 
meteor  fireball that occurs low on the horizon, will appear very slow...even a 
fast  velocity meteor could appear very slow at that altitude. The meteor would 
be  very far away...something like 200 miles or more distance. The other thing 
is  the time duration of 20 seconds. This is well within the range of fireball 
 meteor durations. You said it traveled "across the sky". If it indeed  
travel across most of the sky within that time frame...then my money is  definitely 
on it being a meteor. It would be way too fast for it to  be a re-entering 
satellite. Most earthgrazing type meteors usually travel a  lot faster than the 
20 seconds you reported...like perhaps less than 5  seconds. Yes, reading your 
words very closely, I feel confident stating  that you actually saw a 
fireball.
George Zay 





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