Very rapid point of white light zips across night sky, then stops abruptly and remains static like the stars around it.
I am a 50 year old male who has enjoyed camping and stargazing since I was a kid. In that time, I have watched countless satellites cross the sky, and am very familiar with their relative brightness and speed, and that most of them tend to move along an equatorial route instead of a polar route. I am also very familiar with the ISS, and use a phone app that tracks its orbit.
On July 1, 2017, the skies were clear. I was outside moving items out of my brother's Dodge Siesta RV, which was parked at a rural residence between Kent and Auburn, Washington. Among the items was a pair of Jason brand binoculars, 50x magnification. They are powerful enough to see the 4 largest moons of Jupiter on a clear night.
I had been bending and lifting boxes, so I decided to take a break by laying on my back across the hood of my car and use the binoculars for stargazing. Within seconds, I caught sight of what I first thought was a satellite moving from south to north in a straight line. Immediately I knew it couldn't be a satellite because of its incredible speed, yet it was too slow to be a meteor. Typically, if I keep the binoculars still (not panning to follow movement) and let a satellite cross my field of view, it takes between 15 to 20 seconds to cross depending on my angle of perspective.
This object passed the binocular's field of view in about 4 seconds. Assuming that directly above my head is 0 degrees, the object was about 20 degrees eastward of my location. It appeared like most satellites; a single point of white light like a star moving in a straight line. The light reflecting off it was as bright as the average star. I listened for the sound of jets, but heard nothing. I figured it had to be a military jet, but a jet appearing as a single point of light through 50x magnification would have to be at an extremely high altitude, and this object was moving far too fast to be a jet at such a distance.
I tracked the object's movement for about 20 to 25 seconds. Then it stopped. It didn't gradually slow to a stop. It stopped the way an Indy 500 car stops when it hits a granite wall. I kept the binoculars trained on the point of light for a couple more minutes, but it sat motionless like it was just another star.
I told my brother what I had just witnessed, and he directed me to your sight to file a report.
I am a 50 year old male who has enjoyed camping and stargazing since I was a kid. In that time, I have watched countless satellites cross the sky, and am very familiar with their relative brightness and speed, and that most of them tend to move along an equatorial route instead of a polar route. I am also very familiar with the ISS, and use a phone app that tracks its orbit.
On July 1, 2017, the skies were clear. I was outside moving items out of my brother's Dodge Siesta RV, which was parked at a rural residence between Kent and Auburn, Washington. Among the items was a pair of Jason brand binoculars, 50x magnification. They are powerful enough to see the 4 largest moons of Jupiter on a clear night.
I had been bending and lifting boxes, so I decided to take a break by laying on my back across the hood of my car and use the binoculars for stargazing. Within seconds, I caught sight of what I first thought was a satellite moving from south to north in a straight line. Immediately I knew it couldn't be a satellite because of its incredible speed, yet it was too slow to be a meteor. Typically, if I keep the binoculars still (not panning to follow movement) and let a satellite cross my field of view, it takes between 15 to 20 seconds to cross depending on my angle of perspective.
This object passed the binocular's field of view in about 4 seconds. Assuming that directly above my head is 0 degrees, the object was about 20 degrees eastward of my location. It appeared like most satellites; a single point of white light like a star moving in a straight line. The light reflecting off it was as bright as the average star. I listened for the sound of jets, but heard nothing. I figured it had to be a military jet, but a jet appearing as a single point of light through 50x magnification would have to be at an extremely high altitude, and this object was moving far too fast to be a jet at such a distance.
I tracked the object's movement for about 20 to 25 seconds. Then it stopped. It didn't gradually slow to a stop. It stopped the way an Indy 500 car stops when it hits a granite wall. I kept the binoculars trained on the point of light for a couple more minutes, but it sat motionless like it was just another star.
I told my brother what I had just witnessed, and he directed me to your sight to file a report.
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Off
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Kent
USA
~2.5 minutes
~2.5 minutes
47.38
-122.22
light
WA
Occurred : 7/1/2017 23:50 (Entered as : 07/01/17 23:50) Reported: 7/3/2017 4:14:59 AM 04:14 Posted: 7/7/2017 Location: Kent/Auburn, WA Shape: Light Duration: ~2.5 minutes
Very rapid point of white light zips across night sky, then stops abruptly and remains static like the stars around it.