wby0nder
Cleared for Takeoff
Last week while visting Marfa Texas near the big bend I witnessed a sight in the night sky that I've yet to explane.
While sitting out with my pilot pals eating dinner and counting satellites in the exquisitely clear and brilliant night sky we observed a faint strobe flashing approximately every 8 seconds about 25 degrees off the zenith high in the southeastern sky. It appeared to move little if at all over the course of an hour or more and may only have appeared to move due to the movement of the stars. It was easy to acquire in binoculars but the magnification provided no more information.
Of course, we figured it was probably a balloon up real high above the level of the jet stream winds. Burt Compton who lives there used to launch balloons twice a day carrying communications packs used to moniter some of the many oil or gas wells in the region so it was an easy explanation.
Problem is, we saw it again another night in the SAME PLACE. The chances that a free balloon would end up in the same location are pretty darn small if you ask me. Someone mentioned geo-stationary satellight but really what are the chances of seeing a strobe from twenty-two thousand miles?
Anyway, it's not one of the many teathered blimps used to survey the border. We can see the local one every day 20 some miles away and it's clearly marked restricted on aircharts.
Maybe one of the maneuverable edge of space blimps is actually flying already and it just hasn't leaked out yet. Apparently there has been a replacement for the SR-71 zipping about the globe on sub orbital flights for years now it seems no one knows about it either.
MM
While sitting out with my pilot pals eating dinner and counting satellites in the exquisitely clear and brilliant night sky we observed a faint strobe flashing approximately every 8 seconds about 25 degrees off the zenith high in the southeastern sky. It appeared to move little if at all over the course of an hour or more and may only have appeared to move due to the movement of the stars. It was easy to acquire in binoculars but the magnification provided no more information.
Of course, we figured it was probably a balloon up real high above the level of the jet stream winds. Burt Compton who lives there used to launch balloons twice a day carrying communications packs used to moniter some of the many oil or gas wells in the region so it was an easy explanation.
Problem is, we saw it again another night in the SAME PLACE. The chances that a free balloon would end up in the same location are pretty darn small if you ask me. Someone mentioned geo-stationary satellight but really what are the chances of seeing a strobe from twenty-two thousand miles?
Anyway, it's not one of the many teathered blimps used to survey the border. We can see the local one every day 20 some miles away and it's clearly marked restricted on aircharts.
Maybe one of the maneuverable edge of space blimps is actually flying already and it just hasn't leaked out yet. Apparently there has been a replacement for the SR-71 zipping about the globe on sub orbital flights for years now it seems no one knows about it either.
MM