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What Did I See?

LukeSkywatcher

By LukeSkywatcher
in Observing - Reports

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LukeSkywatcher

LukeSkywatcher

Posted
Posted

Hi all. Not so much of a report but rather a strange object i saw and a couple of questions about it.

On Saturday afternoon (1pm approx), i was out and about. It was a lovely warm sunny day. The sky was clear apart from the odd high thin wispy cloud. I was watching a plane pass over when i spotted something odd. The plane was at a height of about 10-15,000 ft as it was on approach to Dublin airport (about 35 miles away). Suddenly i spotted a small white spherical shaped object travelling from the NW headed SE (approx). It was much much higher then the plane and it became obscured from view a couple of times as it passed above/through the clouds. There were absolutely no wings on this object and no con-trails either.

I cant even hazard a guess as to its speed but i would say (if i had to) that it was going half the speed of the plane. It didnt change in colour as it crossed the sky. It remained pure white. Here's my thinking as to what it may have been and then i have a question.

In my opinion, the object was either a high altitude weather balloon or one of those foil balloons that reflect light (or even just an ordinary while balloon. These would make sense apart from the fact that it was travelling in a perfectly straight line and did not deviate from this path for the whole time i watched it (a good 3-4 mins). To me, it looked like it was being controlled either by a person or on-board computers.

Now for my question:

Is it possible to see either the ISS or another man-made satellite during the day (a very bright sunny day)?. I'm thinking not, but is there even a remote chance it was either?.

It certainly wasn't a meteor/meteorite entering the atmosphere (ive been lucky enough to have seen one of those at the same time of day and on a clear warm day).

I have a feeling that it could have been a weather balloon released from the weather station a few miles away in the grounds of the national tv broadcasting corporation (RTE). I have heard that they release about 3 a day for their morning,afternoon and evening weather reports on tv.

The question still remains...............is it even remotely possible to see a man-made satellite (including the ISS) during the day?.

Thanks for reading. All comments welcome.

*NOTE*

Not once did i call this object a "UFO", apart from just now. LOL. 

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Scott

Scott

Posted
Posted

Paul, My guess would be either a weather balloon up high or there is a child nr you crying his/her eyes out after losing their balloon ;). I think you would be hard pressed seeing the iss during the day although I'm quite prepared to bow to the experiences of others.

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RikM

RikM

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Posted

It is possible to see irridium flares during the day if they are bright enough and you know exactly where to look. I don't think ISS is visible during the day though.

I think you are right that the most likely thing would be a weather balloon, especially if there is a ground station in the vicinity that sends them up. Either that or you need to get your tin foil hat ready :evil6:

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