Observed bright light traveling rapidly northwest to northeast.
Time of sighting is approximate; we went outside at 18:45 and had been out for several minutes at the time of the sighting. Observed bright light traveling roughly northwest to northeast from our location (approximately 36.317N, 119.204W). Light was about 30 degrees above the horizon. The light was traveling very fast. The light faded in and out similar to an Iridium satellite, but much faster and not as high in elevation. Also, we have never seen an Iridium traveling in this direction. When the light faded, there were no marker lights visible. It was very dim when it faded, but still barely visible. Before we went out to stargaze, I printed out a list of satellites from the Heavens Above website. Using the flashlight, I looked on the list for something of a similar brightness, time and direction. The brightness was matched for ISS, but it was in the south. The next would have been the Shenzhou III, but we saw it several minutes later; the altitude was much higher (59 degrees) compared to the earlier light. The light appeared to be at an elevation similar to a jet, but did not make any sound. We are close to several flight paths, primarily Fresno (FAT) and Lemoore Naval Air Station. After the light disappeared, I looked around for any planes; saw what appeared to be a jet to the northwest that was at a much higher elevation and farther away and I could hear jet noise. We are familiar with the local air traffic, satellites and meteors; this did not appear to be any of those. Weather was clear, temperature probably close to 70 degrees or a little above. No breeze noted.
((NUFORC Note: We are always grateful to receive such an excellent report, as this one appears to us to be. PD))
Time of sighting is approximate; we went outside at 18:45 and had been out for several minutes at the time of the sighting. Observed bright light traveling roughly northwest to northeast from our location (approximately 36.317N, 119.204W). Light was about 30 degrees above the horizon. The light was traveling very fast. The light faded in and out similar to an Iridium satellite, but much faster and not as high in elevation. Also, we have never seen an Iridium traveling in this direction. When the light faded, there were no marker lights visible. It was very dim when it faded, but still barely visible. Before we went out to stargaze, I printed out a list of satellites from the Heavens Above website. Using the flashlight, I looked on the list for something of a similar brightness, time and direction. The brightness was matched for ISS, but it was in the south. The next would have been the Shenzhou III, but we saw it several minutes later; the altitude was much higher (59 degrees) compared to the earlier light. The light appeared to be at an elevation similar to a jet, but did not make any sound. We are close to several flight paths, primarily Fresno (FAT) and Lemoore Naval Air Station. After the light disappeared, I looked around for any planes; saw what appeared to be a jet to the northwest that was at a much higher elevation and farther away and I could hear jet noise. We are familiar with the local air traffic, satellites and meteors; this did not appear to be any of those. Weather was clear, temperature probably close to 70 degrees or a little above. No breeze noted.
((NUFORC Note: We are always grateful to receive such an excellent report, as this one appears to us to be. PD))
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Farmersville
USA
10-15 seconds
10-15 seconds
36.30
-119.21
light
CA
Occurred : 3/29/2002 19:00 (Entered as : 03/29/02 19:00) Reported: 3/29/2002 8:18:26 PM 20:18 Posted: 4/8/2002 Location: Farmersville, CA Shape: Light Duration: 10-15 seconds
Observed bright light traveling rapidly northwest to northeast.