Could this have been what you saw?
Posted on 02/17/2008 7:07:25 PM PST by Names Ash Housewares
Space Weather News for Feb. 17, 2008 http://spaceweather.com
DOUBLE FLYBY: If all goes according to plan, space shuttle Atlantis will undock from the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday morning, Feb. 18th, at approximately 4:30 am EST. This is good news for sky watchers across North America who will be able to witness a rare double flyby on Monday evening. Atlantis and the ISS will appear as a tight pair of lights, as bright as Jupiter or Venus, gliding in tandem across the twilight sky--an unforgettable sight. Favored cities include Los Angeles, New Orleans, Dallas, Jackson (MS), Pensacola, Philadelphia, Reno, San Diego and others. Double flybys continue on Tuesday, Feb 19th, albeit not as tight because the shuttle will be moving away from the ISS as it prepares to land on Wednesday, Feb. 20th.
You can receive telephone and email alerts when the spacecraft are about to fly over your backyard by subscribing to Spaceweather PHONE (http://spaceweatherphone.com) or look for flyby timetables at Heavens Above (http://heavens-above.com). And should you miss the event, visit http://spaceweather.com for images and movies.
It’s very unlikely that you saw a satellite at 1:00 AM. Low Earth orbit satellites would be in the earth’s shadow and higher orbits too far away (most likely) and moving too slowly against the background stars to pick up. Probably an aircraft. Or ET.
Best time to view LEO satellites is just after sunset or just before sunrise, when you’re in darkness and they’re high enough to catch the sun.
Also, almost all satellites orbit from west to east, in the same direction as the earth rotates. Taking advantage of the earth’s rotation saves fuel. NE/SW would be a retrograde orbit. Very rare, I know of no examples.
“If It Ever Stops Snowing & The Sky Clears” Bump!
Wow, you're old, I didn't think Mt Whitney even existed way back that far!
Seriously, its a beatiful area, I have climbed Mt Whitney twice, once from the back with a big group, and once from the front solo. It is a great place to be if you want to view the heavens. Not such a great place if you want to breathe.
Last Fall I saw two very bright satellites flying together. They didn't show up on any of the tracking sites, and they weren't the ISS or the Shuttle. It was about the same time that the Syrian nuke plant got blasted.
I think what you saw might have been the flight that delivered an alien Scientolotot to the couch-jumping Cruise and his next potential life partner, “’til divorce do us part,” Kat.
Kind of an intergalactic stork?
Kind of :)
I was able to observe once, shuttle, Mir, and a Soyuz.
All crewed one passing after the other.
Could this have been what you saw?
After moving to Oceanside, California in 1992 I was startled to see a dark lightless bat-like object pass through my peripheral vision while gazing up at a moonless sky. It was not until I heard what I assumed to be the sound of jet engines did I realize what I had just seen. Amazing technology.
Either they are not very high or they really are moving fast.
SPY-SAT UPDATE: Rumor has it that the US Navy may make its first attempt to hit USA 193 this Wednesday evening as the satellite passes over the Pacific Ocean. http://spaceweather.com:80/
and that thing is as big as a Locomotive!
The weapon the Pentagon wants to use to shoot down a failing satellite has one weakness, Or so says... http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/the-weapon-that.html
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