What in the world is this? First time in 25 years I can't explain something in the sky

[Edsplace]

Last night I saw this strange object I can't explain.  The story and images I captured are below.  It was some sort of satellite that "broke up" this might have been by design.  The images are poor because I was using the shutter button to take the images and had a Bahtinov bask on the scope. 

Waiting to polar align last night,  I was my focus mask on the telescope the tracking was turned on, cameras on and plugged in, sky still in twilight and only the moon visible.  I look over at the moon and see a bright star, this was unexpected but thought I could focus the camera now and then polar align when done.  I started aiming toward the star and looking through the finder I thought it had an odd shape and noted I need to focus it when I had a chance.  I centered the star and turned the camera on (DSLR) I centered the "star" in the finder and noted that my rough polar alignment was poor because this star was drifting quickly.  I tried to focus but the shape was off and I couldn't get good spike off the "star" with my Bahtinov focus mask.  Suddenly trails of stars started to trail behind the object.  At first I thought it was a problem with the camera, none of it was making sense in the moment, everything happening was not expected or normal.  At about this point it all came together and it dawn on me this was something orbital and it was shedding something.  I looked up and the "star" was starting to dim and no trail was visible. I just started to take photo's with the shutter button just to get a few images.  The main satellite continued on and is the brightest speck leaving this odd trail strewn behind it, the first part of the tail had the most dense cloud of objects with the number of objects becoming fewer as the "core" moved on.    I have not idea what this was.  The shape and range was not Starlink as the pieces are scattered not in the typical Startlink  line of satellites.  Also there was no Starlink launch and the number of pieces is well about the 50 or so a Starlink launch puts in oribit. This also doesn't seem to be the Russian satellite that disintegrated a couple days ago either as it seemed to fall apart in front of my eyes.  Now as this was happening as I watched.  This happened around three degrees east of the moon at about 42.48N and -81.11W and 8:48EDT.  Any Ideas, 25 years of astronomy and astrophotography I've never seen anything in the sky I couldn't explain till last night.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Cornelius Varley
background colour removed

[Bizibilder]

No idea but your quoted Long and Lat shows several military bases nearby - maybe they are something to do with it?

[cajen2]

I had a similar one three nights ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bright "star" to the NNE. I didn't think much of it at first but then I thought "Just a minute, there aren't any bright stars there (well to the north of Arcturus, which I could also see). "So it's a plane's landing lights, then". I lived next to airfields all through my childhood (father in the RAF) plus Bournemouth and Bristol airports and it was definitely too fuzzy for that. Suddenly, it winked out, leaving no trace. I suppose it might have been a Chinese lantern, but I strongly doubt it.

[Edsplace]

2 hours ago, cajen2 said:

I had a similar one three nights ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bright "star" to the NNE. I didn't think much of it at first but then I thought "Just a minute, there aren't any bright stars there (well to the north of Arcturus, which I could also see). "So it's a plane's landing lights, then". I lived next to airfields all through my childhood (father in the RAF) plus Bournemouth and Bristol airports and it was definitely too fuzzy for that. Suddenly, it winked out, leaving no trace. I suppose it might have been a Chinese lantern, but I strongly doubt it.

A Satellite moving into darkness will blink out like that.  I think that might have been what happened at the end of this, they all drifted into the Earths shadow.

[Mr Spock]

Looks like aircraft chaff to me.

[jjohnson3803]

On 08/05/2022 at 12:12, cajen2 said:

I had a similar one three nights ago. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a bright "star" to the NNE. I didn't think much of it at first but then I thought "Just a minute, there aren't any bright stars there (well to the north of Arcturus, which I could also see). "So it's a plane's landing lights, then". I lived next to airfields all through my childhood (father in the RAF) plus Bournemouth and Bristol airports and it was definitely too fuzzy for that. Suddenly, it winked out, leaving no trace. I suppose it might have been a Chinese lantern, but I strongly doubt it.

I've recently had two observations like that.  First one was an orange "orb" in the bowl of the Little Dipper that didn't move as far as I could tell that simply faded out.  The second was another orange "orb" that tracked north of Cygnus.  Caught it out of the corner of my eye, watched it for a second, and it faded out.  Looked away and then back up and it was back for a couple of seconds.  No unusual motion though.

I assumed satellites, but none showed at those times / locations on Heavens Above.  Then I thought aircraft landing lights, but I've never seen orange lights and I'm under / between approach and departure paths for two major airports, so I see a lot of aircraft of all types including helos.  🤔

[dobblob]

I saw something exactly like this some years ago around noon on a clear bright very windy day.  I only had a small cheap pair of binoculars in the car but they were good enough to reveal  what it was.

You have probably seen those used car dealerships with a fenced lot surrounded by the awful aluminum coated flag streamers flapping and twinkling in the breeze to attract our attention? And they do.

A whole stream of them had obviously been torn away by the wind and become air born to some altitude to produce exactly the effect you image, even disintegrating as I watched.

They would have looked the same even near darkness and without binos I would have been flummoxed ( and excited) as to what they were.

So for me, alas,  a potential UFO sighting seen to be an unusual but terrestrial used car phenomena. 

I want to believe!!!

[part timer]

Aircraft chaff basically is lots of bits of aluminium foil dumped into the air, so that would fit.