Am I going Insane?

Saturday night ~11:00 MST I was out on my way back from the bars admiring the western night sky when I noticed a bright object amout 2deg nw of Jupitor. It was about the same Mag as my gassy old friend ~-2.0. I knew it didn't belong, and it didn't move, but slowly dimmed till it was gone. I went home and checked the maps and sure enough nothing was there > mag 5. It wasn't a plane, nor a train and not a spot in my eye. What could it be that I saw in the sky?

Bill Russell

You can never be sure that it was not a plane. Is there a air force base anywhere within several hundred miles of your home? I'm no expert at this stuff but it seems to me that it could have been a jet fighter that hit the afterburners and was flying directly away form your line of sight.

Planet X. Well, that or a UFO anyway. Nothing else is possible at all! :^)

Could have been a meteor heading straight for you. I've seen this phenomenon once. During a group observing session, a bright spot appeared in the sky and slowly dimmed.

Dave

What about a geosynchronous satellite? Wouldn't they appear to be stationary right near the ecliptic and fade slowly? I've always wondered why I don't notice more of them, as I think they'd be rather common.

Perhaps we don't see them because their orbit is so high, thus they appear too dim to be noticed. Maybe you caught one just right with the sun's reflection on a panel or something.

That's my theory, anyway...

Jeff