Fast, bright UFO overtakes International Space Station

Examiner ^ | June 1 2009 | Roger Marsh

[JoeProBono]

A bright and fast object seemingly "overtook" the International Space Station May 29, according to several witnesses observing from two different states, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness database.

The first case was reported from Texas, where a man and two other witnesses were out watching the International Space Station fly over, and then observed this second object - moving at between two and-a-half and three times the speed of the space station.

A second group is reporting in from the RMCC Observatory, Mounds, Oklahoma, who say they saw the same event.

[JoeProBono]

"I include a third report from another Texas witness because the date is the same and it may be related.

The following reports and their headlines are unedited.

Please keep in mind that most UFO reports can be explained as something natural or manmade. If Texas or Oklahoma MUFON investigates and reports back on this case, I will update this page.

You can read my selected cases by type of UFO report at the UFO Traffic Report index page.

TX, May 29, 2009 - While watching the space station fly over another object appeared.

My girlfriend and I watched the ISS (international space station) fly over 2 nights ago and this time with her 14 year old daughter, the 3 of us were watching it again (on 5-29-09). Information on its position and time came form SpaceWeather.com.

We knew when and where to look and it appeared at the exact time and location predicted. We watched the ISS for about 20 seconds and then all three of us, at the same time, saw another object moving and approaching it from behind. Initially we were all in disbelief that we were actually watching something we knew was the ISS which was amazing itself and then something appeared that we couldn't explain. We were all witnessing a UFO event.

The other, unidentified object overtook and moved past by the ISS. The UFO was moving 2.5 - 3 times faster than the ISS. They were moving in the same general direction but not the exact same heading. It was definately not an airliner as it was moving much faster. It had no colored lights. It had a much dimmer appearance when compaired to the ISS. The UFO was not a constant light but did not blink, more of a random dimming and then back to bright appearance. It was moving in a strait line. We watched them both until they moved out of sight.

PS. I am a Mufon Field Investigator, #13357

OK, May 29, 2009 - The same object was seen by many at the RMCC Observatory - Mounds, OK as reported from Mt. Pleasant, TX.

There were many of us at the club's observatory tonight to enjoy the clear sky and get some observing time in. We also were watching the ISS as it passed over but noticed the same small object that came up from behind and zipped by the ISS very rapidly. It was much smaller but was moving so fast it didn't take it any time to catch up with the ISS, pass it and continue on until it was lost from sight. Basically we saw the same as the group down in Mt. Pleasant, TX., Case Number 17241. The smaller object was most certainly not a standard satellite that we are very accustomed to seeing or any aircraft that any of us was familiar with. It pulsed in brightness as it flew by. From our location it remained approximately 10 degrees to the right of the ISS at all times while in sight. It was surprising, astonishing actually, as to how fast this small pulsing object was moving. If there happens to be a satellite that moves at the same speed, well, it's the first time any of us have ever seen one and I can assure you we've seen more or less all of them.

TX, May 29, 2009 - Bright light equal to Venus, silent, never changing brightness or course, while moving away from me.

This sighting would not be unusual except the object was moving AWAY from my position and never varied in brightness, and emitted no sound. The brightness was of magnitude zero to minus one which would put it in the Venus range.

I was sitting on the front porch since before dark enjoying the early evening air. Looked up accidently and saw a BRIGHT light overhead. Object passed over central Ft Worth and moved to the South East at a speed of about 150 to 200 mph. Hard to tell the altitude which would of course change the rate of speed. Object never changed course as far as I could see; it moved over houses and trees out of sight. Saw the object about 2 minutes. No sound at all.

Being a rather avid sky watcher since High school days (I am now 57) this caught my eye as something unusual. Rather than make a move for the binocs, I continued to just sit and watch to see where it went.

No tail-postion aircraft white light was EVER this bright! This light had a bluish white color.

I have over 34 years as a private pilot, 27 years in Aerospace writing Flight Manuals for fighter aircraft, and am an avid aircraft nut and radio control aircraft modeler. I am also an amateur astronomer since High School days (not too active these days) and am pretty familar with the night sky and how aircraft appear at night.

This will have importance ONLY if someone else in the area saw the same thing to a greater extent than I. Right now I have no idea what it was, but it was VERY unusual whatever the case."

[mnehring]

....and then observed this second object - moving at between two and-a-half and three times the speed of the space station.

Speed is something they can't determine unless they also knew the distance. If it where an aircraft flying in between the space station and themselves, it may appear to be going faster when in fact, it could have been moving slowly relative to the space station.

[rjsimmon]

"Right now I have no idea what it was, but it was VERY unusual whatever the case."

Obama's ego...

[Dumpster Baby]

I hope it used its turn signals to indicate it was passing!

:^)

[JoeProBono]

[theDentist]

Since the UFO didn’t seem to change direction, so it could be an object reflecting light in space, or even a jet passing by. I’m not impressed with any of the reports.

[Winstons Julia]

Interplanet Janet she’s a galaxy girl....

[JoeProBono]

"What is this???"

[Dixie Yooper]

High speed space scrap?

[JoeProBono]

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I like the idea of creating “a big ball of goo” satellite, to intercept and catch a lot of space debris. It’s an interesting concept.

To start with, when the satellite is put into orbit, it extends long tubes in many directions. Attached to these tubes are a “tent”, so when the tubes are extended, they form a tent “ball” around the satellite, with just the tips of the tubes exposed.

Then an inert gas is sprayed inside the tent to fully inflate it, followed by a large quantity of high expansion foam, that solidifies into a heat and cold resistant giant polymer ball.

The purpose of the ball is to collide, at any angle, with space debris that will punch through the tent and get trapped in the foam. It is maneuvered into collision orbit by spraying gas through the various tubes.

When “full”, it and the debris it has captured burn up in orbit.

[The Flying Dutchman]

[DBrow]

Other stuff in the sky around the time of an ISS pass, seen from Mounds, OK, 5-29-2009. Are there more exact times for the sighting?

Satellite		Starts			Max. Altitude			Ends
Name	Mag	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.	Time	Alt.	Az.
TRMM	1.3	05:19:20	10°	W	05:22:36	74°	S	05:22:41	74°	SSE
ISS	-0.5	05:20:20	10°	WNW	05:22:42	22°	SW	05:22:43	22°	SW
Envisat	3.2	06:16:25	52°	SW	06:17:17	60°	W	06:22:24	10°	NNW
Cosmos 1943 Rocket	3.4	06:47:31	10°	NNW	06:52:53	77°	WNW	06:52:53	77°	WNW
SeaSat 1	3.3	09:54:11	69°	N	09:54:11	69°	N	09:58:36	10°	NNW
AQUA	3.2	10:12:07	10°	NNE	10:16:50	69°	E	10:16:51	69°	E
Cosmos 2297 Rocket	3.5	11:08:06	33°	S	11:10:42	73°	ESE	11:16:22	10°	NNE

[DBrow]

If you substiture “angular speed” it makes more sense.

With angular spped, my fingertip can move hundreds of times faster than ISS!

[theDentist]

Obama's ego, I'd guess.

It could also be a reflection of another satellite in orbit, reflections off a jet etc. There's a lot of man-made stuff floating around up there.... and as there was no indication in reports of it suddenly changing direction, there is no way of knowing of it is manned or not...

[Young Werther]

Ah yes! Space the Final Frontier! We must move forward with vigor and conquer space!

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

More like:

[Young Werther]

Oh yeah! Well yours is just a coverup!

[JoeProBono]

Yeah

[ETL]

Not long after watching an International Space Station pass this Saturday night (May 30th) from New York City, we saw an incredibly fast moving apparent satellite traveling roughly north to south. I’ve never seen one moving so quickly across the sky, and I’ve been doing this for close to 15 years now. The fairly bright object was oddly unlisted on heavens-above.com schedule. They generally list satellites far dimmer than this one as ‘visible’. HA is a website which gives schedules for space station and satellite passes for any particular area on Earth. You have to provide them your general location so that they can give you accurate info.

http://heavens-above.com/

[ETL]

Looks like the quarter Moon and the space station.

[GalaxieFiveHundred]

[ETL]

Actually it’s Venus and the space station. Check the image url. That makes a lot more sense than it being the much larger Moon. Venus goes through crescent phases just like the Moon.

[Quix]

PING TO THE LIST.

[JoeProBono]

"An insect and the Moon? A UFO near a streetlight? A Photoshop job? Nope. It’s the International Space Station, passing near Venus in broad daylight.

How cool is that? It was taken yesterday by the accomplished photographer Etienne Simian of Saint Martin de Crau from the south of France. He was using a relatively modest telescope and a webcam, which amazes me. You can actually make out details on the station! Venus, if you have been living in a basement the past few weeks, is glowing like a beacon in the west after sunset, incredibly bright. You can see it fairly easily in the daytime if you know just where to look.

The space station orbits the Earth, and you can find out if it passes overhead at your location by using any number of planetarium software packages (my favorite way is to go to Heavens Above). I go out several times a month to see it pass across the sky, in fact. For M. Simian, it happened to sail very near Venus… I looked up Venus’s stats, and it’s about 17 arcseconds across, so the ISS was about 5 arcminutes away when this image was taken. For comparison, the Moon is about 30 arcminutes across in the sky, so this was a very close encounter! But only apparently: the station was a few hundred miles from the photographer, but Venus was about 90 million miles away.

Some close encounters aren’t as close as you might think."

[JoeProBono]

[ETL]

"An insect and the Moon? A UFO near a streetlight? A Photoshop job? Nope. It’s the International Space Station, passing near Venus in broad daylight.

How cool is that? It was taken yesterday by the accomplished photographer Etienne Simian of Saint Martin de Crau from the south of France.

The pic was taken in 2007.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/05/08/not-so-close-encounter/

[JoJo Gunn]

I'm not impressed with any of the reports either, and especially considering the source, documented as one of the carnival barkers for the kook fringe, plus the fact that MUFON allows any kook into the fold, even one that creates evidence.   

The other, unidentified object overtook and moved past by the ISS. The UFO was moving 2.5 - 3 times faster than the ISS. They were moving in the same general direction but not the exact same heading. It was definately not an airliner as it was moving much faster. It had no colored lights. It had a much dimmer appearance when compaired to the ISS. The UFO was not a constant light but did not blink, more of a random dimming and then back to bright appearance. It was moving in a strait line. We watched them both until they moved out of sight.

I saw the Station go over Friday night, (actually for the last three nights), and at one point, in the same general area of travel, an Iridium flare appeared. I'm still kicking myself for not setting up the camera for a time exposure.   

[JoJo Gunn]

Thanks for posting the source link. Bonehead, also known as

Gitche Gumee

Son of Bigfoot

Goonch 

just never has grasped the concept of giving credit where it's due.

[Conan the Librarian]

You should double-kick yourself for not posting it afterwards.

[JoJo Gunn]

Huh?

[mysterio]

[JoJo Gunn]

Please ignore the previous "huh?". I was having a massive brain fart.

Really, that flare was a good one, and being so close to the Station... And the sky was really dark too. (The next two nights it appeared earlier).

[bgill]

“a big ball of goo” satellite, to intercept and catch a lot of space debris. It’s an interesting concept. To start with, when the satellite is put into orbit, it extends long tubes in many directions. Attached to these tubes are a “tent”, so when the tubes are extended, they form a tent “ball” around the satellite, with just the tips of the tubes exposed. Then an inert gas is sprayed inside the tent to fully inflate it, followed by a large quantity of high expansion foam, that solidifies into a heat and cold resistant giant polymer ball. The purpose of the ball is to collide, at any angle, with space debris that will punch through the tent and get trapped in the foam. It is maneuvered into collision orbit by spraying gas through the various tubes.

Covering it with double-sided scotch tape would be easier.

[Conan the Librarian]

I bet it was spectacular. I saw a pass of the ISS on Saturday night myself. It was great, even with some clouds.

I live under the flight line from Jacksonville, Fl. (I’m in Savannah, GA). From the beach, we can watch planes from shortly after take off at Jax International. They move very slow at first (it’s about 120 miles). But as they get closer, they speed up, until they are overhead. It takes about 20 minutes for them to get here.

It’s rather entertaining on a iffy astronomy night.

[ETL]

Lost In Space: "Wild Adventure"
John Robinson saves the day when Dr. Smith inadvertently sets the Jupiter 2 on a direct course towards the sun — but not before Smith can be enticed by a seductive (green) interstellar Lorelei.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/lost-in-space-wild-adventure/3558291399

[JoeProBono]

[JoJo Gunn]

Yeah, and your ex was dead on the money.

[JoJo Gunn]

Ever see this program? It’s lightweight, (doesn’t need a gorilla processor) and works with 9X. Tracks most any satellite you’d want to see.

http://www.stoff.pl/

[JoeProBono]

[JoeProBono]

[bdeaner]

[JoJo Gunn]

The picture doesn’t show, Bonehead.

Oh, and since you brought up your ex-wife:

Seeing as how you can’t talk, I was wondering what your ex had to put up with. When the preacher asked you “do you take this woman” did you whip out the Blackberry and do an image search?

God only knows what happened when you were offered sex.

[ArrogantBustard]

A) That explains everything.

B) It's almost believable.

[JoeProBono]

[yazoo]

“Right now I have no idea what it was, but it was VERY unusual whatever the case.”

Nothing like unbiased reporting. If he has no idea what it was, how can he determine it was “VERY unusual.”

[WashStateGirl]

Several nights ago here in the pacific northwest, at about 10pm which is about 30 minutes after darkness falls, the sky was finally getting dark. I walked out of the airconditioning and outside into the driveway to feel the heat of the early evening in this hellish canyon. I looked up at the Black Locust tree which was abloom with its tiny white buds giving off their thick honey smell. Then I saw it. The bright white light was up high and coming in from the northwest moving on a straight line to the southeast. It would be right on line to the local regional airport’s landing flight path. Only it didnt land and it wasn’t a plane. There was no sound as it went over, no red/green markers, no strobes, just a SUPER BRIGHT light tracking across the sky. I immediately thought satellite, only this was like 10 times brighter than any satellite I had ever seen. Even brighter than Venus. It continued tracking to the southwest and finally as it slipped behind the limb shadow where the Sun light can no longer reach it, it winked out. Just like all the satellites do. So thats what I’m thinking right now, but whatever it was in Low Earth Orbit, it must have been HUGE. Ever since those nasty UFO incidents that occured around here back in ‘94 I have been a little skittery and watch the sky at night (sometimes)...

[JoJo Gunn]

It's going directly over you, but you'll be on darkness' edge, so am not sure how good it'll look. It'll be 8:30 your time. (What shows is Central).

 

 

[JoJo Gunn]

Jeez, having brain farts all day, it seems. Better get out there around 8:15 your time. 8:30 will be too late.