2005-01-07 - Miami, FL - Other

Unusual object traveled at rapid speed across Miami nighttime sky

On the evening of January 7, 2005, I was with my friend in his back yard observing the comet Machholz, through his telescope. It was a relatively clear evening in that part of Miami and we eventually turned our attention to the constellation of Taurus. Sometime between 8:51-8:53 p.m. that evening, while viewing the constellation without the aid of the telescope, a moving object traveling through that section of sky caught my attention. I have seen shooting stars and satellites before and this did not resemble either. It was like no sky object I had seen before. I made sure my friend’s attention was focused on the object as I asked him what he thought it could be. It stayed visible for about 10 seconds as we discussed and tracked it in an east to west direction across the sky. I dismissed the possibility that it was a plane since it moved much too swiftly, there was no engine sound, and had no noticeable navigational lighting. My friend concurred. It appeared to me to have what I describe as a dull, orange-red glow. Its intensity and shape did not change as it passed over us. It did, however, deviate slightly and rapidly from a straight line path two times before disappearing into the skyglow. The object had a shape that was wider than it was long with a bulge in the center. It traveled with the wider side oriented from north to south.