[meteorite-list] Turkey sighting was rocket body reentry

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:06:16 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C86901B4E544_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi Art and List,

> Has anyone been following the sightings over Turkey made by several
> airliners on November 1st? It is getting coverage in the 'fringe'
> press as multiple UFOs but after reading the eyewitness reports
> and illustrations (there was even some video captured), it looks
> to me to be a bolide. I have also heard reports that it was
> possibly a Russian booster.

It was definitely the reentry of the Soyuz rocket that launched
the latest crew of 3 to the ISS on October 30th. Specifically, it
was USSPACECOM #27553, 2002-050B. It had a dry mass of 2350 kilos;
basically a cylinder 6.7 meters long by 2.7 meters in diameter.
The reentry was seen from Afyon, Yalova and Antalya, Turkey (I
spent some of my honeymoon last year in Antalya!)

Cheers,
Rob
Received on Thu 21 Nov 2002 12:02:52 PM PST