ISS spotted over South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne AU - First though UFO

Hi All,

I was just out looking at the Moon through my telescope, and to my amazement as i looked up to reallign my scope i noticed a very bright silent object travelling in a north easterly direction.

I am putting the word out hoping to hear from anyone else that saw the object as it may still be travelling locally, i saw it about 7 minutes ago, it was 6:22 approx AEST. As i said it was very silent, although it did seem quite high. I am sure this was not a plane as it was a single bright light, not strobes or similar to plane lights. It was moving in a straight direction but has little wobbles in its flight path, very quick little wobbles.

I tried to keep in view however the light dimmed very suddenly after about 1 minute. If the object was not moving it would have looked exactly like a bright star. However this was not a shooting star as it was moving at a reasonably slow speed compared to a shooting star and was also below the cloud haze ( ironically why my Moon viewing has been abit lame tonight. Also ironically i was looking at the Moon to try and spot any anomolies and here one popped up right in front of me i am excited as i have seen planes and helicopters in the area many times and this was quite different and my first UFO if indeed it was.

Has anyone else seen the object??

Also i am very sorry as i do not have a Vd Camera but would have loved to shot the object for others opinion.

Edit: I have now edited the title as this was most likely the ISS

[edit on 20-6-2010 by Havick007]

I'll hazard a guess it was the ISS.

Link< br />
heavens-above.com... is a good source for such fly overs

reply to post by Chadwickus


How fast does it move in relation to us? According the that site it is very close to the West coast of the USA..

reply to post by Havick007


Reasonably quick.

You said you saw the at 18:22.

The ISS was directly over Melbourne at 18:22.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a632b34dd507.png[/atsimg]

reply to post by Havick007


I'm in the same area and went out to have a look but there is too much cloud cover....

reply to post by Chadwickus


Well to be fair, it looks more like over Albury at 18:22 and NEVER flew directly over Melb as you state,,

I live in West Sydney and saw the identical thing a few nights ago, maybe a week. It was early in the morning.

I assumed it was a satellite of some type at the time as it looked exactly like a star and then faded away.

Still, i reckon its pretty cool to see ISS flyovers. I remember seeing that probe thing that was sent to collide with the moon (to test for water) last year. Was pretty wicked - it flew over EXACTly when it was supposed to...

If only public transport could be as reliable!

[edit on 20-6-2010 by srsen]

Yes.I'm in the UK and i have seen what you're describing 8 times now.The first time i saw one it was being followed by a helicopter,that one was ALOT lower than the others and the helicopter gave up it's pursuit,as the object appeared to speed up and go out of sight.It was one of the most fantastic things i have EVER witnessed and i will never forget it,neither will my fiance...we were both stunned!
The things i'm seeing are like a star in appearance,they even have that 'twinkle effect'...they can and have changed direction infront of my eyes and are very exciting to me.
(I suppose this is the bit where my eyesight is called into question and satellites and the ISS are mentioned.....
)



[edit on 20-6-2010 by TheLily]

reply to post by Havick007


Havick007.....

I'm with Chadwickus.....

I think it was the ISS.

Kind regards
Maybe...maybe not

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Havick007

 

Reasonably quick.

You said you saw the at 18:22.

The ISS was directly over Melbourne at 18:22.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/a632b34dd507.png[/atsimg]

Ur onto it Chad

well done

the time line suits the sighting

Ocker

reply to post by TheLily


I think what you saw is different to what myself and the OP are describing...

Mine didnt change direction or have anything exciting like what you described. Two different things here

Would love to see what you did though!

reply to post by virgom129


Geez, you're a hard person to please.

When it's 300km above the ground, it's still going to be very visible from Melbourne, even if it's directly over Albury.

reply to post by Maybe...maybe not


Yeah it does seem to match up with it's location at 18:22, sad now i thought i had something

I'm watching the ISS tracker im gona go out and have a look next pass, shouldnt be long now.

Thanks for the info guys, still it was cool to see the ISS, i cant beleive i ave never noticed it before. I thought it was below the clouds, but it was only really haze and i could still see the Moon so it may have just been my perception and also even if it was North West of Melbourne, at that altitude it would be visible from here im guessing??

reply to post by ocker


Traveling in the same direction as the OP described as well.

reply to post by Havick007


The only odd thing i noticed was that wobble i described but ha it could have been my eyes i guess

reply to post by Havick007


It wasn't passing through any clouds was it?

That could make it appear to wobble.

Or it's your eyes!

I'm watching the ISS tracker im gona go out and have a look next pass, shouldnt be long now.

Next pass over Victoria is tomorrow night at 18:46.

No where near as bright as tonight's pass

[edit on 20/6/10 by Chadwickus]

reply to post by Havick007


I am in south east Queensland and i saw exactly what you described travelling in a NE direction sometime after six ,very bright ,silent, slow moving and faded out after watching for a minute.I called my wife to see it and she also saw it .Very quiet clear night here and no sound was coming from it ,not a plane and to low and bright for a satellite.Good that you posted this as i probably wouldnt have as i didnt have time to go and get video camera.

Ok i didnt know of the ISS does its path take it over Brisbane?

[edit on 20-6-2010 by 12voltz]

reply to post by Chadwickus


Yeah it was slightly cloudy. Oh ok i thought it was about too again, according to the iss tracker site it should be passing over again in about 20 minutes or so -

isstracker.com...

reply to post by 12voltz


It\s hard to say now, i am being told it was the ISS, as you can see i have changed the thread title.

Did it appear to be straight overhead? if you are in QLD in should have been further away i am guessing.

What struck me was how quckly it dimmed out, almost like switching off a light. But maybe that's what happens with the ISS as it goes out of view, i am not sure as this was my first sighting of it

reply to post by 12voltz


Very clear here at the moment your right. and what a great day also

Notice the moons position as well, I'd say it would of added to the brightness of the ISS through it's travel over the SE.

Satellites are common to see clearly on nights like tonight also

Hopefully the sky will be clear for the meteors in July

Delta Aquarids
Comet of origin: unknown
Radiant: constellation Aquarius
Active: July 14-Aug. 18
Peak Activity: No definite peak, but nights surrounding July 30 may be best
Peak Activity Meteor Count: Approximately 15 meteors per hour (northern hemisphere). Unfortunately, an almost-full moon will obscure many a meteor during this year's peak.
Time of optimal viewing: An hour or two before dawn. Meteor watchers in the southern hemisphere and in the northern hemisphere's tropical latitudes will enjoy the best views.
Meteor Velocity: 42 kilometers (26 miles) per second

www.abovetopsecret.com...

That will be a good show as long as the Moon doesn't obscure to many.

Ocker