If anybody puts in a significant degree of eyepiece time, they are going to see this:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/space-junk-expert-on-why-nasa-needs-to-clean-up-space.html
I mean when you consider you're essentially looking up through a soda straw field of view and you see this stuff whizzing through the field, sometimes to or more at a time, then you begin to realize how much junk actually orbits the planet...
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/09/space-junk-expert-on-why-nasa-needs-to-clean-up-space.html
I mean when you consider you're essentially looking up through a soda straw field of view and you see this stuff whizzing through the field, sometimes to or more at a time, then you begin to realize how much junk actually orbits the planet...