Located within a 13 arc minute circle from M42 (Orion Nebula) several light strobes were witnessed, looking like the flash of an iridium satalite but not moving. The mag at it's brightest was about the same as the trapezium's mag in Orion but no two flashes had the same intensity. This flashing lasted from 3 - 5 minutes, then the area was quiet.
Last night, I was looking at M42, Orion's nebula with a pair of 10x50 mounted binoculars. At 2221 I was waiting to see a pass of an iriduim satellite that was due at 2236. For this is my hobby, looking for Iridium satellites, and keeping track of Mir and the ISS. While I waited, I turned to Orion and observed through the binoculars a flash of light just like an Iridium satellite makes when It's main array catches the sun. The weird thing was that the flashing didn't move. It stayed about 13 arc minutes to the east of M42. Flashing about once every 8 seconds. The intensity of flashes was not the same, and the interval was not the same between the flashes. But the big flashes seemed to be around 6 - 10 seconds apart. The biggest flashes were about the same magnitude as the Trapezium stars at about 5. This went on for about 2 minutes, then the flashing seemed to move to the north west of M42 keeping within a 13 arc minute circle from the center of M42. This went on for about a minute or two. Then all was quiet. This may sound funny, but it looked like I was witnessing a battle or explosions that were localized in that area. My quardinates are 49.2330 degrees N, 7.3170 degrees E. I am a retired Air Force Msgt working for ((company name deleted)) as a civilian at Ramstein Air Base Germany What the hell did I see? Are there any geostationary satellites that blink or flash
Last night, I was looking at M42, Orion's nebula with a pair of 10x50 mounted binoculars. At 2221 I was waiting to see a pass of an iriduim satellite that was due at 2236. For this is my hobby, looking for Iridium satellites, and keeping track of Mir and the ISS. While I waited, I turned to Orion and observed through the binoculars a flash of light just like an Iridium satellite makes when It's main array catches the sun. The weird thing was that the flashing didn't move. It stayed about 13 arc minutes to the east of M42. Flashing about once every 8 seconds. The intensity of flashes was not the same, and the interval was not the same between the flashes. But the big flashes seemed to be around 6 - 10 seconds apart. The biggest flashes were about the same magnitude as the Trapezium stars at about 5. This went on for about 2 minutes, then the flashing seemed to move to the north west of M42 keeping within a 13 arc minute circle from the center of M42. This went on for about a minute or two. Then all was quiet. This may sound funny, but it looked like I was witnessing a battle or explosions that were localized in that area. My quardinates are 49.2330 degrees N, 7.3170 degrees E. I am a retired Air Force Msgt working for ((company name deleted)) as a civilian at Ramstein Air Base Germany What the hell did I see? Are there any geostationary satellites that blink or flash
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Wattweiler, Zweibruecken (Germany)
Germany
3-5min
3-5min
Occurred : 3/6/2000 22:21 (Entered as : 03/06/00 2221) Reported: 3/7/2000 04:49 Posted: 3/7/2000 Location: Wattweiler, Zweibruecken (Germany), Shape: Duration: 3-5min
Located within a 13 arc minute circle from M42 (Orion Nebula) several light strobes were witnessed, looking like the flash of an iridiu