Since I didn't hear anything back here, I also submitted a report on the object as a possible fireball to the International Meteor Organization. They rejected it as not a fireball. However, before those reports disappeared from their site I was able to see that others around the South-of-Houston area also reported the same event (and their reports were also rejected). One other location also had submitted a photo; it was clearly the same object we saw. So we know it was seen over an area of at least many tens of kilometers. The other reports also all had it very low in the sky. I'm not sure I trust that the other sites reported the azimuth correctly though. They weren't consistent. But the rest of the descriptions were. Sort of weird that by far the brightest re-entry I've seen in a lifetime of observing (except for the space shuttle), something a significant fraction of the brightness of the full moon, only generated a few observing reports and appears not to go with any known tracked object (otherwise I think someone would have responded here). I thought all objects above a certain size were being tracked? Apparently not?! That's actually sort of interesting to find out...! From 1999 - 2011 I was an active asteroid hunter and it was a revelation how often our hobby astronomy-club team discovered asteroids in areas of the sky that (at least according to the minor planet center) had been intensively swept through by robotic asteroid surveys that went far deeper than we did. What became obvious was that the professional robotic surveys were nowhere near as thorough as they advertised they were... they missed a *lot *of stuff. Even pretty bright stuff. The other possibility I suppose is it wasn't a re-entry at all but someone launching something on a ballistic trajectory, and we did not see the initial rise. Something pretty big. By comparing with big thunderheads we've seen from the same location, which show up on weather radar, I'd guess from out in the Gulf of Mexico South of the LA-TX border area? I know recently the Russians test launched some rockets off the West coast of Alaska in international waters but within the US EEZ, as some sort of message to Washington... But maybe it was closer and launched from land? I've been to amateur rocket launches where they launched very large rockets, though, and this would have to have been insanely large. Definitely would have needed FAA clearance etc etc. I'll have to show the video to a friend I have who does large amateur rockets and see what he says. Oh well, so likely the largest unexpected orbital debris re-entry sighting of a lifetime of amateur astronomy will remain a mystery object. That is actually sort of interesting... _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-lReceived on Fri Apr 30 2021 - 14:40:59 UTC
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