NUFORC Sighting 37804

Occurred: 2004-06-26 22:20 Local
Reported: 2004-06-26 20:51 Pacific
Duration: 7 -10 sec
No of observers: 1

Location: Waterloo-Chelsea, MI, USA

Shape: Formation
Characteristics: Left a trail

Three reddish luminous objects with trails flying very fast in formation

Three discreet reddish pinpoint luminous objects flying VERY fast in formation from the northwest to the southeast. The objects had luminous trails like meteors but the objects continued across the sky never fading out. The brightness was consistent not strobing or dimming. They continued on beyond the horizon. The objects moved incedibly fast, not as fast as a meteor but much faster than an airliner of which I saw several preceeding the event. Their speed did not alter any. I was in my recliner chair enjoying the cool clear evening sky watching the stars, the moon, and airliners that cross frequently over my house. I first saw the unkowns when they were almost overhead. They crossed the sky in only about 7 to 10 seconds. They seemed high up- about the altitude airlines fly. But hard to judge. Just after I saw two satellites which moved much slower than the three unknowns. The satellites were the typical faint white. I very carefully listed for noise/sound from the nknowns...cupped my hands around my ears to hear better. They were absolutely silent. I live in a rural area; it was very quiet at the time. One of the objects was considerably brighter than the other two. The brightest object was not quite as bright as Arcturus. The two dimmer objects about as bright as Polaris. All were reddish in color. The trails were reddish also. The trails did not remain visible. I heard several dogs bark 20 or so seconds after the objects dissapeared over the horizon. They were quiet before the sighting. Were any known American or Russian satellites undergoing orbital decay to enter atmosphere over Waterloo/Chelsea Michigan (about twenty miles west of Ann Arbor) tonight? A satellite breaking up reentering earth's atmosphere seems the only logical explanation. This sighting was a first for me, I have never seen anything like this. It was very unusual though that I could not hear any sound eminating from them.

NUFORC Note:

Possible sighting of re-entering space debris. PD

Posted 2004-07-08