Something Strange During 2015 Perseid Meteor Shower

originally posted by: calstorm
I am going out for 5 minutes more before I head to bed. Eek! It's late. I'll take my camera with me, even though I have seen very little tonight.

I just went out for about five minutes myself. The sun is rising here so only a few stars are faintly visible. I didn't see any more meteors, but I did spot two "satellites" slowly crossing the sky... one right after the other. Got chilly out there!

Sounds to me a lot like iridium flares.

It's the sun reflecting directly off of the solar panels and other reflective surfaces of satellites.

Of course perhaps it's something else entirely, but I've seen similar events many times and I know them to be iridium flares.

Satellite flare

originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Aqualung2012

Wow... this is wild !

Three times tonight I saw a bright flash of light coming from a south south east direction, but I couldn't catch what was causing those bright blue-ish flashes.

At first I thought maybe a thunder cloud was moving in. But after the third flash, I climbed up onto the railing of my back deck to see over my house and garage (house faces southeast and my back deck in behind faces northwest so I can't see the southeast sky from my back yard) to see if I could make out a thunder storm cloud or something moving in, but it was clear starry skies in all directions.

I came into the house about 3am CST because the meteor show had died down to a nil at that point. Jumped on to ATS to see if anyone had caught any good pics of the show....

And lo and behold you post this thread about the flashes.

Unfortunately, I couldn't catch what or exactly where the flashes for coming from, so I can't confirm if it was caused by what others are claiming to have seen.

But interesting nonetheless !

Same here actually, regarding the non-focused bluish flashes. I figured it was from some meteor out of sight casting ambient light but you're right, it did look like a far off storm, but no. It's possible it could be related to what we're talking about, maybe not... but definitely worth considering. Thanks very much for your input.

originally posted by: Nucleardoom
a reply to: Aqualung2012 I thought I was losing my mind when I saw the two blips of light from the exact same spot a couple of different times tonight but just shrugged it off as me seeing stuff that wasn't there, but sure enough your post verified what I thought I was seeing. I'm only north of you a bit, just east of Madison. Great post star & flag.

Yeah, so we're viewing practically the same skies. Thinking about it... I was in Naperville about a week ago and thought I saw the same thing. I even mentioned it to my friend, but we had chalked it up to being airport traffic (which is also something I'm quite familiar with.)

Not losing your mind brother, not this time.

Well I just came out to look and took some pics. They are all just black, nothing to see but one has an orange blob.
Did I catch a streetlight here? I couldn't tell where I was aiming in the pitch black.



Anyways I saw the flashing star in the east. I don't know constellations to say where

a reply to: Aqualung2012

What makes it even more interesting is these guys talking about the points of light coming from the direction of the constellation Cepheus, because that would definitely be the direction where I saw these blue flashes coming from.

I'm just glad to know it wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me afterall... but now the question is:

What could be causing this phenomenon with the Perseid shower ?


Thank you so much for posting this thread, it's got me really curious digging around now trying to find any info that might be out there.

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Sounds to me a lot like iridium flares.

It's the sun reflecting directly off of the solar panels and other reflective surfaces of satellites.

Of course perhaps it's something else entirely, but I've seen similar events many times and I know them to be iridium flares.

Satellite flare

I really appreciate your help in identifying the phenomena here, but I'm afraid the example given by Wikipedia is nothing close to what I've been seeing.

I have seen that example in the sky before, however. The difference is in motion and the rate of "flicker." In the example there is a slow increase in luminosity, and a steady, directional movement. What I witnessed was very "flash" like and still... like someone flipping a light switch.

Here is a good example of the iridium flare I posted about further up.

This is a nice bright slow one, but sometimes they can be quite fast, lasting just a second or so.
Also, the satellite itself isn't always visible before and after giving the appearance of a flash out of nowhere and leaving no sign afterwards.

a reply to: violet

originally posted by: violet
Well I just came out to look and took some pics. They are all just black, nothing to see but one has an orange blob.
Did I catch a streetlight here? I couldn't tell where I was aiming in the pitch black.

Anyways I saw the flashing star in the east. I don't know constellations to say where

Friend, I have no idea what you've caught there, but I can already hear the lens-flare militia saddling up.

originally posted by: CranialSponge
a reply to: Aqualung2012

What makes it even more interesting is these guys talking about the points of light coming from the direction of the constellation Cepheus, because that would definitely be the direction where I saw these blue flashes coming from.

I'm just glad to know it wasn't my eyes playing tricks on me afterall... but now the question is:

What could be causing this phenomenon with the Perseid shower ?


Thank you so much for posting this thread, it's got me really curious digging around now trying to find any info that might be out there.

Thank you, and believe me: I feel the same way... You can imagine my surprise when I Googled "Strange flashing Perseid meteor shower" and found that article. How incredibly specific is that??? What's even better is all my fellow ATSers who are able to relate to the sighting.

This is why we do this.

a reply to: Aqualung2012

If it's not an Iridium flare....how about this for a theory, Perseids skimming off the atmosphere like stones on a pond. They hit, friction causes flare up, bounce up, die down, descend and flare up again.....

a reply to: ShadowLink

originally posted by: ShadowLink
Here is a good example of the iridium flare I posted about further up.

This is a nice bright slow one, but sometimes they can be quite fast, lasting just a second or so.
Also, the satellite itself isn't always visible before and after giving the appearance of a flash out of nowhere and leaving no sign afterwards.

I understand, and I accept your theory as probable. Obviously you have some guess... which is better than my no-guess haha. I will say that I'm not entirely convinced on the iridium flare hypothesis, based solely on the differences between the examples and what I witnessed, but again: that's a great start.

originally posted by: woogleuk
a reply to: Aqualung2012

If it's not an Iridium flare....how about this for a theory, Perseids skimming off the atmosphere like stones on a pond. They hit, friction causes flare up, bounce up, die down, descend and flare up again.....

All extremely plausible, but still in conflict with just how still the flashes were. The forward momentum of a meteor must be incredible. Of course, it is absolutely possible one could "skip" straight at an observer; giving the impression of it sitting still and blinking... but over and over all over the world and in my back yard every day of the shower?

It's a good theory, but I find it hard to imagine.

a reply to: Aqualung2012

I only have an iPhone 6 to use . I really don't know much about taking photos at night. I can't see. It's pitch black out here! There's bats too. I feel better my cat is out here with me lol

I see these flashes often. They are tiny star like . I just thought it was my eyes playing trucks on me
I once saw one that went smaller and smaller and smaller until it was a pin prick . I reported it to a UFO site (my first time doing that!) I looked online and it was witnessed by someone else looking in the sane area, which was above Sumas mountain near United States border.

I only have a good view of the east or southeast, the norther sky is obscured by trees the west blocked by my roof. I need to stay up high on my deck, there's wild animals in my yard at this time.

a reply to: violet

Hahaha, "just an iPhone 6" hm?

Also... I'd take a few bats over mosquitos any day. Anyhow, be careful out there on your high deck in the pitch blackness surrounded by wild animals taking pictures of meteors and stuff. We appreciate your efforts!

a reply to: Aqualung2012

I saw it as well about 10:30-11:00pm last night, just once when I was looking at a patch of sky. My eyes were still adjusting so I attributed it to that. It was just a point of light that suddenly appeared and winked out, a fraction of a fraction of a second.

a reply to: StratosFear

Yes, exactly! Except that every time I happened to see it, I would look over at the spot and it would blink one more time, and it was bright. I'm sure it was no illusion.

I saw the same thing with my brother and even mentioned it to him. He saw it too and thought it was strange. I only watched last night.

a reply to: Aqualung2012

funnily enough mate ive witnessed this very same phenomenon many times... I'm an avid star watcher, only for a chance to see a ufo. Firm believer in ufo's (however honestly speaking, ive never seen anything i can 100% put down to a ufo) and there are times when i will see a flash out the corner of my eye, so ill look, and maybe see one more flash then nothing... and you are left wondering if you actually saw anything at all... rather annoying if you ask me!

a reply to: pr0ph3t

Agreed 100%! I'm in the same boat as you, I also spend a lot of time just watching the sky at night. I admit, I've always hoped to catch something UFO-related, (and I have) but throughout my years of looking up; I've come to recognize many of the "fasle-alarms" such as satellites, oncoming airplanes, Venus herself, what I know now as "iridium flares" and others as being their relatively benevolent selves.

This, however... I just can't shuck off. I suppose it's because I can't settle on an explanation I see fitting. Just as I can't declare it "explained," I equally cannot shout "UFO!" It's simply a strange little flashing light people all over the world have seen but (by and large) haven't been bothered to mention because it is so benign. Yet here we are, with a happy little mystery and no water-proof explanation.

I really am happy to see you all sharing your experiences with this highly specific recurrence, I didn't think anyone else would have even noticed.