Yup. Sure did. First ever for me and what a thrill (once I realized what it was
). I'm always one of the first people to get to work in
the mornings and went outside for a smoke this morning a little after 6:00 am. I'm always looking at the stars this time of morning because it's
such a wonderful time of the day and, well, there's not much else to look at. I noticed what I thought was a meteor (because of the tail), except
that it didn't burn out. I'm in South Carolina and was facing due East. I ran inside and got a friend of mine to come out and see it - he wasn't as
thrilled as I though and he just looked for a second and went back in. This thing was booking - it was really travelling! A slight downward path, in
fact I thought for a moment it was on a crash course - not realizing how far away it really was.
After watching that for a few minutes (yeah... a few MINUTES), I happened to glance south. And, lo and behold, the most gorgeously, illuminated silver
white "cloud" (it was still dark at this point outside but getting almost "dawnish") was just sitting there. No "dawn colors", just the
shiniest, most brilliant silver white "cloud" all alone in the darkness. Nothing else... nowhere in the sky... just this silver illuminated blob.
Along that time, another friend was coming in to work and commented on the "cloud" so we stood for a couple of minutes and talked about it.
It wasn't until I went back in that I realized that this morning was a shuttle launch. I knew about it... just didn't register with me at the time.
And, yep, Florida is south of South Carolina
. So I made that connection although I'm not sure of the science behind the illumination of it in
pre-dawn conditions. I was 350 miles NW of Cape Canaveral (as the bird flies). The cloud looked like the top part of
this except no colors but the silver, and the sky was still dark.
It was then that I went online to figure out what the other thing was and apparently it was the Space Station itself! I found something in an article
online (of course, can't find it now) about how the spectators at the shuttle launch itself were treated to a "pass over" of the Space Station just
prior to the launch of the shuttle (not on purpose just a timing thing, and, I'm assuming, not really "over" either) but that the SS was over the
Atlantic. Well, the Atlantic is pretty much due East of South Carolina
.
I got to see a shuttle launch in another state and the Space Station in.. wherever it is - without even having to miss work to do it.
I can't prove it was either one, but I'm convinced... and that's all that matters to me.
Edit to add: Yeah, I know... pics! Well, sorry to say, where I work, we can't have recording equipment or transmitting devices (lol, cell phones,
etc.)... so, live with it! I have to.
[edit on 5/4/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]