Odd light in the sky around 2300 25/04/09

Mr Benevolent

There was a strange red light in the sky, like a red star that was fading and brightening in the East at about 2300 tonight. It moved slowly in an East-West direction and faded completely about 30 seconds after it appeared. It wasn't an iridium flare and wasn't an aircraft (I'm very much into aviation and know what airliner/military aircraft lights look like in the sky. No aircraft has forward facing red lighting.). The sky was clearish and the light faded and brightened at irregular intervals.

Any ideas?

autumnalmanac

I saw it as well last night in Killester, at around 23.30, I don't have a clue what it was but I'm glad somebody else saw it too!

jonbravo

Confab wrote: »

There was a strange red light in the sky, like a red star that was fading and brightening in the East at about 2300 tonight. It moved slowly in an East-West direction and faded completely about 30 seconds after it appeared. It wasn't an iridium flare and wasn't an aircraft (I'm very much into aviation and know what airliner/military aircraft lights look like in the sky. No aircraft has forward facing red lighting.). The sky was clearish and the light faded and brightened at irregular intervals.

Any ideas?

whats your idea/or opinion on this!?
what do you think it might be....other then a flare,aircraft !?
i know what it sounds like, but i didn't see it.

the fact of the matter is, if you dont believe it to be a UFO then i don't see a need to answer the question. as my time on this subject is important to me....... as i don't want to waste my time or yours ,i want to know what your thinking it might be!?

Thargor

jonbravo wrote: »

whats your idea/or opinion on this!?
what do you think it might be....other then a flare,aircraft !?
i know what it sounds like, but i didn't see it.

the fact of the matter is, if you dont believe it to be a UFO then i don't see a need to answer the question. as my time on this subject is important to me....... as i don't want to waste my time or yours ,i want to know what your thinking it might be!?

What are you on about?

jonbravo

Thargor wrote: »

What are you on about?

what am i on about!? i want a little more info on this odd light in the sky!?

what do you think im on about!?

Thargor

You sounded like you were having some kind of mental episode in your first post thats all.

jonbravo

Thargor wrote: »

You sounded like you were having some kind of mental episode in your first post thats all.

fair enuf! maybe a bit forward for some.

Stargate

Thargor

lol re " mental episode "

In fairness i think he/she was looking for some info on " The Light " to
ascertain what it was , a ufo , plane , etc ,


Stargate

Mr Benevolent

I thought it was a satellite re-entering, but it was too slow and the wrong colour for that - I've seen re-entries before. Seemed to be at high altitude.

IMO it was probably a military aircraft that experienced engine failure/fire. The timing is about right to supress an engine fire, it explains the brightening/fading effect and that the speed was roughly the same as a normal aircraft.

Meganj_x2

Confab wrote: »

There was a strange red light in the sky, like a red star that was fading and brightening in the East at about 2300 tonight. It moved slowly in an East-West direction and faded completely about 30 seconds after it appeared. It wasn't an iridium flare and wasn't an aircraft (I'm very much into aviation and know what airliner/military aircraft lights look like in the sky. No aircraft has forward facing red lighting.). The sky was clearish and the light faded and brightened at irregular intervals.

Any ideas?

I saw this on May 26th 2009 sometime around 12am to 1am. Did you ever find out what that was??? Where were you when you saw it? I was in Allen/Plano Texas

Thrill

Could it have been one of these.........

SPACE STATION FLARES: Lately, a growing number of observers are reporting intense "flares" coming from the International Space Station (ISS). A typical sighting begins with a normal, sedate flyby: The station soars overhead, cutting silently through the stars with no hint that something extraordinary is about to happen. Then, a startling explosion of light boosts the station's luminosity 10-fold or more. Some observers have witnessed flares of magnitude -8, more than 25 times brighter than Venus.
On May 22nd, Dutch amateur astronomer Quintus Oostendorp watched a flare through his backyard telescope. A movie he recorded using his Canon 1000D shows what happened:

Click to view a 0.7 MB Quicktime movie

The bright flash is sunlight glinting off the station's enormous solar arrays. Earlier this year, on March 20th, astronauts unfurled a new pair of arrays on the space station's starboard side, adding 8000 sq. feet of light-catching surface area to the station's profile. The extra area increases both the chances and the luminosity of flares. "It is a spectacular sight!" says Oostendorp.
No one knows when they will happen or how bright they will be. That's what makes the hunt for "space station flares" so much fun. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for flyby times--and let the hunt begin!
more flares: from Rafael Schmall of Hungary, Somogy, Kaposfo; from Kevin Kell of Yarker, Ontario, Canada; from Martin Gembec of Litice nad Orlici, Czech Republic; from Nicolas Biver of Versailles, France