[meteorite-list] Satellite Reentry Witness 4

From: Kevin Forbes <vk3ukf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Jun 4 19:43:06 2006
Message-ID: <BAY113-F341520A184944D14155C5699970_at_phx.gbl>

G'day all,

This event occured in either 1979, 1980 or 1981. I was standing on the
platform of the Yarraville railway station (western Melbourne, Australia,
suburb) awaiting the arrival of my ride home from visiting a workmate. I
believe I was looking to the North, across the railway line, when I spotted
what I thought was the light from an aircraft making an approach to
Tullamarine airport. The light was low on the horizon, about 10-15 degrees
above it. After a few seconds it seperated into several glowing fragments,
and then a shower of debris, all travelling at the same leisurely pace
across the sky. It was visible for about 20 seconds before it faded out. At
first I thought I had seen an aircraft breaking up in flight, but after no
aeroplane crashes were reported, it became obvious that what I had witnessed
was the re-entry of a satellite. I will never forget it, and I have not seen
another one since. I have seen many, many meteorites streak across the sky
and the slowest of those was still much faster than the re-entry that I had
witnessed. They are indeed a rare thing to behold.

Kevin Forbes, VK3UKF.
Received on Sat 03 Jun 2006 10:28:58 PM PDT