Moving star like object, fading in and out, and moving different directions.
For the last few months, me and my father have been watching the night sky over Vacaville, CA, looking for the "orange lights/Fireballs" that have been largely reported over the last year or so. I've still never witnessed them myself (my father did while on business in Charleston, SC, last month), but I did see something interesting this night. On June 21st I began looking up at the sky at roughly 10 pm.
A few minutes before 11 PM, (I know it was slightly before 11 because of the TV program on in My garage) as I was looking towards the East above my house, I noticed what appeared to be a quite bright star or satellite, moving from South to North, at a slightly faster speed than the satellites I see often.
Naturally, I assumed this was a satellite because it appeared to be so far away and had just one solid light (Looked just like a star), but I just kept watching it anyways, as I wasn't even seeing airplanes this night (Which is pretty odd because I live minutes from the Vacaville private Airport, and only 12 miles from Travis AFB.)
After about 20 seconds, the light began to slowly fade and was about to be blocked from my view by trees in my front yard. So I moved to the side of my house (which faces South) and continued to watch it move North until it completely faded away. It took roughly 15 seconds for it to go from fading to completely invisible.
I didn’t think much of it at first because I know satellites and debris can reflect the sun and create this "fading light" effect, but after about 10 seconds the light reappeared almost in the exact same spot it became invisible, this time moving in the complete opposite direction (North to South). It moved completely the same, in a straight line and at the same slightly faster than a satellite speed. The fade-in to visibility was much quicker than the fade-out, maybe 5 seconds till it appeared as bright as it was the first time.
I moved to the center of my driveway at this time, still facing East looking over my house. Then it faded away completely again, only being visible this time for roughly 20 seconds, including the fade time, which was much quicker than the first time (it took only about 6-8 seconds).
I kept looking in the same area where it disappeared this time (which was directly above my house, about half the distance from where it originated), still facing East, when it reappeared yet a third Time, this time moving either up or West/slightly north (It was hard to tell because of how high it was in My view). It continued moving the same as previously, and was visible for about the same amount of Time as the second time before fading away completely. This all happened under 2 minutes. I figured it would continue to do this (or hoped I should say), so I ran into my house from the drive way through the Garage to get my Father.
We ran out into the center of the driveway and looked East at the area where I had just seen it 2 minutes earlier, but did not see anything. Then about 12 minutes later, my dad spotted it directly above our heads, moving from East to West in the same manner as before, short fade in to a longer fade out. It was longer visible after about 20 seconds. I looked at my phone for time, and it was 11:14 PM. We continued to search for about an hour, then we gave up.
The whole thing has really got me interested in finding out what me and my father saw. If there is a good explanation, I would really like to hear it, or if anyone else saw this or has seen this in the Solano County Area, I would also really like to know.
((NUFORC Note: Could not have been the ISS; it was not visible at the time indicated above, and on the date indicate. PD))
For the last few months, me and my father have been watching the night sky over Vacaville, CA, looking for the "orange lights/Fireballs" that have been largely reported over the last year or so. I've still never witnessed them myself (my father did while on business in Charleston, SC, last month), but I did see something interesting this night. On June 21st I began looking up at the sky at roughly 10 pm.
A few minutes before 11 PM, (I know it was slightly before 11 because of the TV program on in My garage) as I was looking towards the East above my house, I noticed what appeared to be a quite bright star or satellite, moving from South to North, at a slightly faster speed than the satellites I see often.
Naturally, I assumed this was a satellite because it appeared to be so far away and had just one solid light (Looked just like a star), but I just kept watching it anyways, as I wasn't even seeing airplanes this night (Which is pretty odd because I live minutes from the Vacaville private Airport, and only 12 miles from Travis AFB.)
After about 20 seconds, the light began to slowly fade and was about to be blocked from my view by trees in my front yard. So I moved to the side of my house (which faces South) and continued to watch it move North until it completely faded away. It took roughly 15 seconds for it to go from fading to completely invisible.
I didn’t think much of it at first because I know satellites and debris can reflect the sun and create this "fading light" effect, but after about 10 seconds the light reappeared almost in the exact same spot it became invisible, this time moving in the complete opposite direction (North to South). It moved completely the same, in a straight line and at the same slightly faster than a satellite speed. The fade-in to visibility was much quicker than the fade-out, maybe 5 seconds till it appeared as bright as it was the first time.
I moved to the center of my driveway at this time, still facing East looking over my house. Then it faded away completely again, only being visible this time for roughly 20 seconds, including the fade time, which was much quicker than the first time (it took only about 6-8 seconds).
I kept looking in the same area where it disappeared this time (which was directly above my house, about half the distance from where it originated), still facing East, when it reappeared yet a third Time, this time moving either up or West/slightly north (It was hard to tell because of how high it was in My view). It continued moving the same as previously, and was visible for about the same amount of Time as the second time before fading away completely. This all happened under 2 minutes. I figured it would continue to do this (or hoped I should say), so I ran into my house from the drive way through the Garage to get my Father.
We ran out into the center of the driveway and looked East at the area where I had just seen it 2 minutes earlier, but did not see anything. Then about 12 minutes later, my dad spotted it directly above our heads, moving from East to West in the same manner as before, short fade in to a longer fade out. It was longer visible after about 20 seconds. I looked at my phone for time, and it was 11:14 PM. We continued to search for about an hour, then we gave up.
The whole thing has really got me interested in finding out what me and my father saw. If there is a good explanation, I would really like to hear it, or if anyone else saw this or has seen this in the Solano County Area, I would also really like to know.
((NUFORC Note: Could not have been the ISS; it was not visible at the time indicated above, and on the date indicate. PD))
No
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Off
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Vacaville
USA
2 mintues
2 mintues
38.36
-121.97
light
CA
Occurred : 6/21/2011 23:00 (Entered as : 06/21/11 23:00) Reported: 6/29/2011 7:52:50 PM 19:52 Posted: 7/4/2011 Location: Vacaville, CA Shape: Light Duration: 2 mintues
Moving star like object, fading in and out, and moving different directions. ((NUFORC Note: Could not have been the ISS. PD))