HN Explorer

Anybody in SF Bay Area see this last night at 9:04pm-9:06pm +/- 1 min?

10 points by hoag ↗ HN
Flying very fast from ~W > ~E; i.e., from Marin County, appeared to be coming from Mt. Tam headed over Tiburon.

Confirmed NOT ISS (was below horizon then); confirmed NOT airplane (checked FlightAware).

No haze in the sky (this was from Marin County). Other stars and moon were crystal sharp, yet this was very blurry/hazy glow, so at first, before I could tell how fast it was moving, I thought it was a comet, before immediately checking myself that (a) no comets are scheduled now; (b) that would be an insanely bright comet; (c) it had no tail which would be expected of such a bright comet.

But then it disappeared rapidly over a period of several seconds as it dipped into the Earth's shadow (similar to how the ISS would vanish after sunset, too).

A friend (literal actual rocket scientist) said perhaps it was the X-37 returning; but I can't see any record of a recent return since OTV-6 in Nov 2022.

Anybody?

7 comments

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r2_pilot
Possibly a meteor. Fast moving, straight line, bright at first then dimming rapidly.
SaberTail
That was Starlink. The satellite tracking app I have predicted it pretty much perfectly. There was a launch out of Vandenberg early Wednesday, just after midnight. My guess is that it was so bright because the satellites haven't really started dispersing yet.
kojeovo
An aside, but wouldn't 9:04pm-9:06pm +/- 1 min just be easier expressed as 9:03 - 9:07pm?
notorandit
I am not saying that was an UFO, but ...