I saw the "object" from the Chiefland, Fla., winter star party. We believe it was a barium release from a sounding rocket launched from Eglin AFB in the Florida panhandle. It had that distinctly greenish glow that I've seen before from similar releases. It was much brighter visually than it was through binoculars. Initially the size of a full moon, it quickly expanded and dissipated completely in about 10 minutes or so. Interestingly, there was a spectacular fireball about 45 minutes earlier, moving from northwest to southeast. The thing broke up into a half-dozen visible fragments before disappearing. One of the most spectacular I've ever seen. Bill -- ----------------------------------------------------------------- William Harwood........CBS News Science Writer.........The Washington Post Kennedy Space Center...Spaceflightnow.com CBS Web Site..... http://cbsnews.cbs.com/network/news/space/current.html Washington Post.. http://www.washingtonpost.com Spaceflightnow... http://spaceflightnow.com ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/Unsubscribe info, Frequently Asked Questions, SeeSat-L archive: http://www.satobs.org/seesat/seesatindex.html
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