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[RobbW]

I don't have a lot of time to go over the specifics because I am currently being called to bed by my wife. But I wanted to post this up in case anyone else witnessed this event. And, if not, I would like to be the one to report it.

I went outside to let my dogs out for the last time before bedtime. I decided to walk all the way out into the back of the yard. I looked up to see what I could see. I immediately saw a bright, slow-moving flash that I thought to be a iridium flare. I continued to watch this object and became very confused.


Between 11:30pm and 11:45pm

Object looked like a satellite, specifically a Iridium sat. However, went from black, dark can’t be seen at all to a bright, iridium flare every six seconds. Happened 8-9 times. Direction was NNW to SSE at a speed that would be expected for a satellite. It passed between Cassiopeia and Andromeda. Seriously, looked like a bright ISS passing when fully bright. Dimmed to absolute darkness (could not be seen at all) back to ISS/Iridium flare brightness at 6 second intervals. Don’t know what it was but want to report it anyway!!!

I don't know what this object was, but it was definitely different. It moved slowly NNW to SSE and gradually brightened from what I would guess was mag -2 and then darkened to absolutely nothing every 6-7 seconds. This cycle happened about 8-9 times. It was an odd enough event to make me take notice and post about it. I don't know what else to say about it other than it was not anything I had ever witnessed in the night skies before.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Mothership.

You want in on my 2012 bunker?

[Paulie pchris00]

Interesting. I thought they weren't supposed to signal until after midnight.

[patrickm]

According to Satellite Visibility iPhone app, here are the visible passes any where near your time and magnitude. None match your reportage exactly, so not really sure what you saw!

[patrickm]

Interestingly, Heavens Above indicates that there were no Iridium flares within the last 48 hours. So that's a non-starter.

I will blame the exceedingly secret, manned X-37b/6, which to my knowledge hasn't even been built yet, but which will allow for controlled, wormhole time travel, both forwards and backwards!

Good flares the next three nights. Maybe we'll have a break in the clouds to catch one of them.

[patrickm]

oops.

Attachments:

[RobbW]

Nope, I have no idea what it was. All I know is it was strange. It looked just like any other bright satellite or bright ISS pass. The only reason it really caught my attention was due to the rhythmic flaring. I first caught it as it flared up. I thought, "Hey cool, a satellite." Then dimmed to total blackness. Six seconds later, it flared up again. I immediately assumed it was an Iridium flare as those are the only objects I've ever seen brighten in intensity more than once. After the second flare and subsequent dimming, I was about to walk back in and let my dogs in. For whatever reason, I decided to keep my eyes to the sky in the same area. Then, six seconds later, the satellite brightened again and then dimmed to nothing. Okay, this is definitely different and something I have not seen before. It was after the third flare that I decided to start counting the time between flares (one one-thousand, two one-thousand, etc.). I also took a mental note of the location of the object and its general heading. This was sometime between 11pm and 12 midnight. I don't recall the exact time, but it was definitely in that hour and closer to midnight than 11pm. So, it would not be any of the items in your Apps list, Patrick. All of those occurred to early in the evening. The object came from almost due north, well between NNW and N. It was heading S to SSE at a very slow rate; a speed at which you would expect any satellite to travel. It passed between Cass and Andromeda. At first, I kept a very close eye on it to study it for any blinking lights to ensure it wasn't just an airplane. Nope, no other blinking lights.

Like I said in my OP, it repeated this flare and dimming every six seconds and it did it at least 8-9 times. I then lost it behind the trees in my yard which are basically right overhead. So, I only got to watch it through half the sky.

[karl]

I've seen a similar events 3 times in last couple of years. Usually moving southwest to northeast. Probably some orbital junk tumbling , large, like a spent booster, or an old comm sat. keep watching, you'll see something similar again.

Karl from Massachusetts