Saw a weird light last night

Submitted by citrus_mystic t3_108eaf4 in RhodeIsland

Was sitting on my porch (Oak Hill area of Pawtucket) last night, early evening. Looked up in the sky facing North. Saw a bright light moving I assumed was a plane flying low with it’s bright front light on, probably descending to land.

But as I watched the light just quickly ‘burned’ out. I was puzzled because it was suddenly obvious there was no plane. It didn’t look like there was anything there until I noticed something dim moving 45° upwards (the original light had been moving straight on a slightly downward path). No lights, nothing blinking, no drone motor whir. Then it was just gone. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the sky.

It was just odd and I’m curious if anyone else saw what I did or has a plausible theory. Can a flare move horizontally? I’m wondering if I saw a different type of flare than what I’m used to, and then the firing of a flare that didn’t actually ignite properly. Like for some kind of military training? Idk

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3s00bw wrote

Most likely a satellite or the International Space Station. It gets pretty bright, then winks out when it goes into Earth's shadow.

**Update** The ISS was visible last night from 9:11 to 9:15, setting in the ENE.

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PigpenMcKernan t1_j3s7oog wrote

Spotting the ISS is pretty cool. Though one night while looking for it I saw a Starlink constellation, now that was cool.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3s8evs wrote

That must've been awesome!! I had several people contact me when they saw one of the Starlink trains back in the fall... and I MISSED IT!!

​

Did you ever catch an Iridium flare? Now THOSE were amazing!

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PigpenMcKernan t1_j3sfbq7 wrote

I have not, but they do sound cool!

It was neat. First thought honestly was aliens. Then I remembered Starlink was a chain of small satellites, looked up the locations and sure enough one had just gone overhead.

Fun story about iridium, I once sailed to Bermuda with someone who worked on the project for Motorola. They chose the name iridium because initial plans were for 77 satellites in the constellation. But at least one launch failed and others might not have worked so really it should be called osmium or rhenium.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3t75zh wrote

That's RIGHT!! It's a shame that they have been allowed to have their orbits disintegrate, but they're really not needed any more. They could produce a flare so bright it would cost your shadow!

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FoleyisGood t1_j3sv7nf wrote

I saw it too. Wasn't the ISS and was earlier in the evening

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citrus_mystic OP t1_j3swb3o wrote

I’ve seen the ISS before. This was much, much brighter.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3t6y6v wrote

The ISS does have different magnitudes of brightness depending on the angle of the Sun, its orbital trajectory, the positioning of its solar arrays, etc.

It wouldn't surprise me that it was the ISS: silently gliding through the sky, not blinking, no noise, but then disappears...

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FoleyisGood t1_j3vveqh wrote

It wasn't the ISS.

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3vxmxc wrote

Let's think skeptically for a minute...

What's the more likely explanation for what was seen:

  1. Some alien craft
  2. A satellite
  3. The ISS

The simplest explanation tends to be the right one. I've given a scientifically accurate, unbiased explanation for what was seen. What proof do you have that it wasn't the ISS?

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FoleyisGood t1_j3w0t87 wrote

> What proof do you have that it wasn't the ISS?

you said

> Update The ISS was visible last night from 9:11 to 9:15, setting in the ENE.

This happened sometime between 5:30-6pm - as I stated in a previous comment

also

It was a shooting star

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mdurg68 t1_j3w4lff wrote

Why do you only have 3 choices? You left off aircraft and shooting star. Since a few others and me saw it around the same time I’d guess it was a shooting star. I know how satellites move and look. Definitely wasn’t a satellite

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Competitive-Ad-5153 t1_j3wp2tx wrote

Fair enough.

I left off aircraft since it didn't have any blinking navigational lights.

And you are correct: it could've been a meteor. The Quadrantid meteor shower was about a week ago, so that is a definite possibility. I stand corrected.

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Heddlok t1_j3rpdwz wrote

Probably aliens 🤷‍♂️ nbd

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thetaoofroth t1_j3t0bcu wrote

I saw the brightest shooting star of my life that same time, around 530? Falling into Rhode island sound. Bits and pieces flew off of it but it was quite large but didn't explode. Lost it behind the trees. Not the same description but I thought your post was quite coincidental.

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mdurg68 t1_j3ua7u4 wrote

I may have seen that too! I was driving home pretty much same time and saw it out my left window. I thought maybe it was a reflection the glass from a streetlight, but could none of the other street lights I passed did the same thing.

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FoleyisGood t1_j3w0whb wrote

> around 530?

That is when I saw it in East Providence. Super bright then burnt out.

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mdurg68 t1_j3w45jd wrote

I made a mental note of 5:26 so I could ask here. Which I forgot until I saw this.

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thetaoofroth t1_j3wbuvy wrote

It was big, sse skies, it went down in the ocean. If that hit land it would ruin someone's day for sure.

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mdurg68 t1_j3wyjkb wrote

Pretty sure I can confirm direction. I was looking in that direction and it was moving away. By looking I mean quick glance and it happened in a split second. It was quite bright compared to others I’ve seen.

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RiTerrapin t1_j3rywto wrote

Could have been the comet that is approaching earth for the first time in 50,000 years.

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FoleyisGood t1_j3sv4dp wrote

I also saw this in East Providence! I had just stepped outside with my dog and got a good look for about one second.

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citrus_mystic OP t1_j3sw2yy wrote

Thank you very much for commenting.

It was brief for me too. Did you notice anything I didn’t mention ?

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FoleyisGood t1_j3vvfyv wrote

I didn't see anything different than what you did.

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[deleted] t1_j3rydu2 wrote

[deleted]

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citrus_mystic OP t1_j3swjgy wrote

No strobe lights.

“The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates that a drone flown between sunset and sunrise must be equipped with anti-collision lighting. These lights must have a strobe function that strobes between 40 - 100 cycles/minute.”

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thetaoofroth t1_j3vy8tz wrote

I just saw last night that virgin galactic had a failed satellite launch that same night, so another improbable but coincidental explanation.

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A-12-Archangel t1_j3wnt6a wrote

been seeing a lot of unusual lights flying through the sky in Barrington

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darthduder666 t1_j40p79q wrote

I saw the same thing twice on my way into work around 630am before we set the clocks back, so it was still dark but closer to twilight in the morning. Same thing, I was driving on 95N when I saw something really bright appear in the sky. It appeared to move to the Northeast, and I thought it was a plane heading towards Logan. To my surprise it dimmed out and totally vanished.

My thoughts were it was a satellite at an angle at that given time that was reflecting quite a bit of sunlight. It must have moved in such a way that caused it to brighten, and darken from our perspective.

I’ve seen the ISS suddenly dim as it is passing over. It behaved the same way.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_j3s0auf wrote

Sometimes, lights in the night sky disappear behind clouds.

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