(meteorobs) Monday morning sighting - SW Florida

[Jim Pettit]

Keith--

You say Monday morning sighting; if the Monday you're referring to was
August 17th, what you saw was the last Air Force Delta II launch (it was
carrying the GPS 2R-21 satellite). I live in Naples--not too many miles
southeast of Estero--and got up early to watch it. It was an incredible
sight: the brilliantly-lit smoke trail in stark relief against the
brightening but still deep violet sky, arcing to the south beneath the Moon
and Venus, and slowly being twisted and ripped apart by the high-altitude
winds. If that wasn't the Monday you were speaking of, then I'm not sure;
I'm up and outside early every weekday...

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d343/
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d343/090817gallery/

--Jim


-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Keith Ridge
Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 7:50 PM
To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
Subject: (meteorobs) Monday morning sighting - SW Florida

Hi Meteorob,

 

I was walking my dogs between 6:30-7:00am this morning (17Aug09) when I saw
what looked like the largest airliner ever spewing a huge bright white
contrail. Don't let my analogy mislead you because I could not identify what
was creating this contrail but it moved across the sky as a jet would. There
was no glow, no sound and the speed may have been comparable to a fast
moving satellite but I am certain that this object was in the upper
atmosphere and was moving from north to south. This contrail seemed to have
an arc and as it moved more to the south I ran around the eastern side of
one of the buildings in my complex to get a better look and by the time I
got around the building, what was creating the contrail had disappeared. I
ran back to my building and grabbed my camera and by the time I returned
much of the contrail had dissipated. I included two pictures (shot with no
tripod) and you can see that this contrail is above the clouds in the
distance and what is visible is only about one quarter of its actual length;
it original spanned three quarters or more of the horizon.

 

At the time, I thought this may have been space junk or a large slow moving
meteor but since I was unable to judge the distance or speed, I am not sure.
After I thought about the direction this object originated from I thought
that it may have been a NASA launch since it came from almost the exact
location of the two shuttle launches I have witnessed from here in Estero. I
checked the local news, NASA's website (for any launches) and searched the
internet but have found no other witnesses. From the time that I noticed the
contrail, the object was already halfway across the horizon and I witnessed
it for around ten or fifteen seconds until the end of visual activity.

 

I've stayed up late and caught many good meteor showers, lunar eclipses,
comets and this event ranks up there with the best of them. I feel very
fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time and I hope you
may be able to shed some light on what I witnessed. Feel free to email me
and also not that the images I sent are not the entire data so if you want
the actual RAW file images, let me know and I will get them to you. I think
there are six total though the two I sent are probably the best. 

 

Regards,

 

Keith 

Estero, FL

 

 

_______________________________________________
Mailing list meteorobs: meteorobs at meteorobs.org
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email: owner-meteorobs at meteorobs.org
http://lists.meteorobs.org/mailman/listinfo/meteorobs