NUFORC Sighting 38589

Occurred: 2004-08-11 00:00 Local
Reported: 2004-08-11 10:25 Pacific
Duration:


Location: Wenatchee, WA, USA

Shape:


Peter, I've noticed that some reports describe a starlike object that gets incredibly bright and then dims. I have seen this myself many times. The first time I saw this the increase in brightness was so dramatic that I thought I had witnessed an explosion in space! After some research I realized that what I was seeing was an Irridium flare. These are communication satellites that reflect the sunlight back to Earth when their solar panels are at a certain angle. These manmade objects reflect sunlight at night because they are out of the earths shadow. There are websites that will tell you when these objects pass over your area, these sites predict irridium flares accurately. Please don't think I'm a debunker, I know there is an unexplained phenomenae {ufo's!} because I have witnessed them myself. But some strange lights in the night sky are known manmade. Just thought I would try to seperate the wheat from the chaff. You are doing a great and necessary thing with this website. Wish you the best.



NUFORC Note:

We are aware of Iridium satellites, and the bright flash of light they give off, when their solar panels catch the Sun at a certain angle, relative to the observer's location. PD


Posted 2004-08-11

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