Are there things that follow sattelites and flash a bright white almost like a camera?

About 5 minutes ago a friend and I were outside when I noticed a satellite that faded in and out every other second, you would see it then it's gone for one second then its there again and gone and so on.
Anyways after watching the satellite for a second I noticed that a bright white flash was following behind it that would flash every 5 seconds maybe 10.
The flashing light was way to high to be a plane it was obvious that it was in space at almost the same or the same level of the satellite does anyone know what this could be?
Also just for the record the flashing light was following the satellite it was not the satellite.
Has anyone ever seen this before or does anyone know what that is im currently checking heaves above for satellites passing over and such but thought I'd ask here first and I figure I'll get more info here.

Ive never heard of a satellite fading in and fading out, either you can see them or you cant. Atleast all the ones ive seen with the naked eye. Ive seen them passed the point of the earths shadow and have disappeared.

Fading in and out, with a strobe light. Im sorry but Im thinking airplane. shrug man.

maybe satellite w/ debris?

reply to post by seangkt


definitely aircraft they strobe and the time period is anywhere from 5 seconds to about 15. The only other thing i think you could be talking about is sometimes you'll see satellites change color flash red white then blue this is caused by there rotation.

Just a guess, but if it was near dusk or dawn, it could have been a "tumbling" satellite or debris. Maybe it was reflecting a bright glare at one point of its rotation only. Could even explain the one behind it, if they were pieces of debris related to the same craft.

Not debunking, because I have seen some pretty cool UFO videos shot from the Space Shuttle, and anything is possible. But I have seen bright glares come off satellites during twilight hours.

The thing fading in and out was definetly a satellite which tripped us out too because i watch for them every night and see at least 10-20 but have never ever seen a satellite fade in and out. It was definetly space so I guess it could have been space junk maybe but I mean it looked like any other satellite you see just with the fading.

As for the flash we've been sitting here thinking and the only thoughts we have is maybe a spy plane like a predator because they have been test flying them around here lately or maybe some other type of spy plane.
Way too high to be a normal plane and was following the satellite in a perfect line I don't know we've been in and out watching for it again trying to see if we can figure it out but I seriously can't put a finger on what it was.

It passed through the cup part of the big dipper in an east-west direction in case anyone wanted to know and maybe try to look themselves but yeah all in all it was definetly a satellite fading in and out and as forthe flash could have been a spy plane or something along those lines after second guessing but was weird how it was following the satellite in a perfect line which has me still unsure.

Tumbling debris was a good idea too I forgot to mention that.
That might be our new answer.

I have seen things very similar to what your saying(not air planes)I really dont know what it is, but try looking with binoculars that helps alot a telescope intenifies the image to much and makes it useless in that situation.Keep us updated if anymore interesting activity

Originally posted by seangkt
About 5 minutes ago a friend and I were outside when I noticed a satellite that faded in and out every other second, you would see it then it's gone for one second then its there again and gone and so on.
Anyways after watching the satellite for a second I noticed that a bright white flash was following behind it that would flash every 5 seconds maybe 10.
The flashing light was way to high to be a plane it was obvious that it was in space at almost the same or the same level of the satellite does anyone know what this could be?
Also just for the record the flashing light was following the satellite it was not the satellite.
Has anyone ever seen this before or does anyone know what that is im currently checking heaves above for satellites passing over and such but thought I'd ask here first and I figure I'll get more info here.

Your description sounds like a Hi-level FLT if you ask me. The flash would have been the Strobe Anti-Collision Lights, as they are an EXACT resemblance to the Flash bulb of a Camera as you seem to describe it, and the fading light would have most likely been the Anti-Collision Beacon (Typically Red).

The Strobe can seem like it is behind or ahead of the Aircraft, depending upon your viewing perspective, and yes, it can create some confusion, but I do feel this is the most likely candidate for what you witnessed. I have observed Aircraft overflights for 24 years now, and even considering that, every now and then I do become surprised by a new noise or characteristic which I never noticed before.

Also, even though it can be rare, depending upon your location, you may have just witnessed a Hi-Level Re-fueling Op being conducted by the USAF or USN.

October 24th 2008, 05:30 I saw two satellites pretty close to each other.
Now, I have seen alot of satellites and even Iridium flares and shooting stars, so I know the difference between them.
Back to my two satellites, they were real close, seen from my spot of cours, but Im sure in regard to satellite distance too.
Here is the kicker,I remember clearly that iwas thinking; wow two at the same time and that close, and one of them changed direction 90 deggrees east bound, it was intence to see... Dont know what it was, but satellites dont change directions...

That theory sounds like it could be the answer as well.
The refuel one we're thinking is probably not it because as quiet as it was out we didn't hear a thing usually you hear a plane no matter how high when it is his quiet but then again I don't know if i would or not as I've never seen somethinglike this.

What exactly is an FLT?
My friends dad has been in airforce for several years and hes pretty up there and couldn't tell me what it was so I have to ask you.

Sounds like one of those sparky craft we see on ufo videos.

So with good celestial navigation the following of a
satellite must be a piece of cake.

The last UFO Hunters had a remote compass vintage 1940s
for an internal navigator but now think of the sophistication
a saucer navigation system might have.

A few nights back me and my brother traced a sattelite across the sky and both witnessed a 'camera flash' type bright light which seemed to come from just behind the object, as we both had fixed sights on the sattelite at the time.

the flash was very strange, it seemed to eminate outwards, linger for a moment then suck back into itself. We both joked that something just entered hyper drive star wars style or came through a worm hole LOL.

After talking about it for a while it seemed like the only thing that could have caused such a flash was a massive one of reflection of sunlight, but even this seemed a stretch as the object didnt fluctuate in brightness at all as it went along and the flash was almost behind and to the side of it.

About 2 seconds after the flash we both saw what looked like a meteor shooting out from the spot, but it only travelled about the width of my finger (c. 1 degree?).

The only other thing I could think was that the flash was a meteor coming straight at us but even that seemed a stretch of the imagination.

There are some darker clouds in altitude that could do that maybe. Normally satellites don't blink indeed...

I have seen many satellites and have managed to get a few on video through my gen 1 night vision scope.However I have also seen some flashes that look like a camera flash going of in space .I started a thread about them
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Here is a video of two satellites (at least I think that is what they are and they are defo not planes as way too high )

I saw quite a few flashes tonight. None were the same as the bright one I mentioned earlier in this thread, but it was as though the object was creating a flash as if it were spinning.

One flash happened almost every 10 seconds and could be traced in pretty much a straight line. But while following this mysterious object there occured other flashes below and above and the whole thing seemed random.

My bet was that these were three different objects that cant be seen until the flash. But why flash if they are orbitting to look one way, down? Why flash as if its sunlight reflecting what kind of object spins like it and what is its purpose?

Bump.


Has anyone got an answer to why these objects flash, I have watched them every night this week?

If it is the spin, how does that affect the purpose of the sattelite, which I thought had to point downwards to be effective?

Bump.


Has anyone got an answer to why these objects flash, I have watched them every night this week?

If it is the spin, how does that affect the purpose of the sattelite, which I thought had to point downwards to be effective?

Originally posted by seangkt
That theory sounds like it could be the answer as well.
The refuel one we're thinking is probably not it because as quiet as it was out we didn't hear a thing usually you hear a plane no matter how high when it is his quiet but then again I don't know if i would or not as I've never seen somethinglike this.

What exactly is an FLT?
My friends dad has been in airforce for several years and hes pretty up there and couldn't tell me what it was so I have to ask you.

Flt is an abbreviation for flight So when you say high altitude flt simply means high altitude flight. And you don't normally hear high altitude aircraft engines so you get no noise.

reply to post by seangkt



You know I recently saw what I think was a UFO (not going into details here, but I know what sats and planes and planets look like) and I saw two quick bursts of light at an angle from it off in the distance, kinda' made me think someone was firing at it.

As far as yours though, yea probably a plane or something.


[edit on 5/13/2009 by jkrog08]

Hey all,

I've been lurking these forums for years but this is my first post, I couldn't let this one slide.

These flashes that you are observing are most likely Iridium Flares. These flashes have been known about for years and are discussed in most introductory astronomy books as they can be somewhat distracting when you are beginning observation. Occasionally these flares can even been seen during the day. A good description of why they flash is given on the wikipedia page.

I know that when I picked up my first scope they were one of the most noticeable features of the night sky.

You can determine when there will be flares in your region from the Heavens Above website. Simply go to the Satellites section and you can determine when they will be visible for the next 24 hours, 7 days or previous 48 hours, so you can map up what you have seen with the expected times that they should have been observable in your region.

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