Re: star like object seen breaking up

That was probably a weather balloon. However, a couple of weeks ago, I was following a satelite wih my widefield (Orion 120mm f5) when a dim grey blur flew through my field of view, followed within 2-3 seconds by another identical object flying the same trajectory. It left me scratching my head until I identified them as Honeywell MAVs. The police deparment in our area are testing them for surveillance applications and the things are relatively silent, have no running lights, and are small enough and can fly high enough to make them look intersting as they cross your field of view.

Here is the company video:
http://www.honeywell.com/sites/portal?smap=aerospace&page=mav_video&theme=T8

Hmmmm. Why does that seem sort of creepy to me, big brother?

Oh, great! As a pilot, it's hard enough to spot other, full sized air traffic carrying running lights when called out by ATC, especially over an urban area. Now we have to contend with flying waste baskets that are apparently "above the rules" that all other air traffic have to follow and which are operated by people with no skin in the game.

Do the operators have to abide by Federal Aviation Regulations? No lights at nite--apparently not. Is ATC issuing clearances assigning altitudes, routes and/or operating areas? Can ATC track them on their radar? Is ATC even aware when these things are sent aloft?

If not, this makes a mockery of the entire aviation safety principle of "see and be seen". One of these coming through the windshield of an aircraft approaching to land could ruin the day for a lot of folks.