Re: [meteorite-list] Satellite Reentry Witness 4

[GeoZay]

>>The light was low on the horizon, about 10-15 degrees above it. After a few seconds it seperated into several glowing fragments, and then a shower of debris, all travelling at the same leisurely pace across the sky. It was visible for about 20 seconds before it faded out. At first I thought I had seen an aircraft breaking up in flight, but after no aeroplane crashes were reported, it became obvious that what I had witnessed was the re-entry of a satellite. I will never forget it, and I have not seen another one since. I have seen many, many meteorites streak across the sky and the slowest of those was still much faster than the re-entry that I had witnessed. They are indeed a rare thing to behold.<<   Kevin, From what you wrote, part of me wants to think that you actually saw a meteor and not a re-entering satellite. The reasoning is that a bright meteor fireball that occurs low on the horizon, will appear very slow...even a fast velocity meteor could appear very slow at that altitude. The meteor would be very far away...something like 200 miles or more distance. The other thing is the time duration of 20 seconds. This is well within the range of fireball meteor durations. You said it traveled "across the sky". If it indeed travel across most of the sky within that time frame...then my money is definitely on it being a meteor. It would be way too fast for it to be a re-entering satellite. Most earthgrazing type meteors usually travel a lot faster than the 20 seconds you reported...like perhaps less than 5 seconds. Yes, reading your words very closely, I feel confident stating that you actually saw a fireball. George Zay

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