>He reports seeing an object consistent with the >anticipation at 0912, flashing with a 6-second period This one I could understand as the RB. >and a second bright object following in its path at 0914, >flashing like a flash-cube, with a 1-second period. This one I am having a bit more trouble with. I am assuming that this "bright object" is the payload prior to the triplet separating, as I can't immediately think of where another *bright* object would come from. I confess that I am a theoretician rather than a practicioner, but on the face of things this strikes me as an awfully short period for a rocket body [and in any event, would not the initial object have been the lower beta RB??], and I don't 'think' that the PL would normally be flashing like this if it were functioning normally. Does anyone recall seeing something like this previously?? [Living on Capital Hill, the Moon, Venus and Jupiter are about all I ever see]. ____________________________ John Pike Director, Space Policy & CyberStrategy Projects Federation of American Scientists 307 Massachusetts Ave. NE Washington, DC 20002 V 202-675-1023, F 202-675-1024, http://www.fas.org/