Re: UFO Saturday Night HELP

Whatever you saw, it couldn't have been the Soyuz reentry. It was way over your horizon by the time they hit the ballistic portion of the flight. The retrofire only shaves a few hundred MPH off orbital velocity, so the spacecraft looks like any other medium-sized satellite in a low orbit - crossing horizon to horizon in five minutes or so. Entry interface, when they begin aerodynamic deceleration, sees the spacecraft still doing about 17,000 mph. The aerodynamic drag pulls the spacecraft down to a free-fall at airliner altitudes, with the drogue chute deployed, in about 8 minutes. No hanging around for half an hour.

Jim

Well, that would have been my opinion but Soyuz was the only thing that even remotely fit. I do believe the object was in orbit and not sub-orbit. Although in either case it should having been moving at an apparent high speed.

I can offer plausible explanations for most of the observations except the fact that it didn't move (maybe a little) over 1/2 hour.

What bugs me is that in a clear sky I can find no record of anyone else who saw it. I can't believe I was the only person with knowledge of what should be in the sky that was out looking up at that time. I would have thought some other astronomer would be setting up their scope for cooling down prior to what was a great night of viewing.

Thank God I wasn't alone when I witnessed it. If I don't get a good answer this will bug me the rest of my life.

I did send an inquiry off to NASA, if they every bother to answer.

Thanks.

Daryl