NUFORC Sighting 23241

Occurred: 2002-06-09 23:00 Local
Reported: 2002-06-11 00:26 Pacific
Duration: 20seconds
No of observers: 2

Location: Glenoma, WA, USA

Shape: Unknown
Characteristics: Aircraft nearby

I was outside looking at the stars sitting next to a fire with a friend of mine just relaxing in general.We were noticing that the birds in the trees were acting up and that his hybrid wolves were acting agitated.We even joked and said "Isnt it past theyre bedtime? "Well anyway out of the corner of my eye I caught a bright flash which I thought was a meteor but this was different.My friend also noticed it as well.This was as bright as a half moon and very intense .A white light is the best way I can describe it and is was moving from west to east.The sighting lasted maybe 20 seconds or more and we followed the course of the object till it faded from site.Approximatly 1/2hour after that we saw it again but this time it was traveling from north to south and was more intense this time.My first impression was that it was a flare but Ive seen counter measures and flares before and this didnt match.The other thought I had is that it was a piece of space debris like an old solar panel left behind from a shuttle mission and that it was reflecting sunlight as it turned end over end in orbit.I think the fact that whatever it was was seen twice and that it was traveling in two different directions within a half hour made me think it might be something a little odd.The animals acting odd got me a little concerned and there was alot of air traffic activity afterwards which was a bit odd as well.I dont know what it was but I would like to have some feedback if possible.Im curious if there were other sightings of these objects in the sky .Thanks

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NUFORC Note:

We do not know what direction the witnesses were looking, or how accurate the time of their sighting is. However, the International Space Station passed over the State of Washington at 22:26 hrs. on this date. Please see the following URL for details:

http://heavens-above.com/passsummary.asp?lat=46.515&lng=-122.159&alt=0&loc=Glenoma&TZ=PST&satid=25544&Date=37409.7916666667&Mag=

PD))

Posted 2002-06-12