Flashing Lights

[mattm30]

I live in Christchurch NZ and have sighted strange lights in the sky this evening that I can't explain. Whilst doing some naked eye astronomy this evening at around 7.40pm (NZ Time) I saw a flashing light in the sky. The flashing was approx. 20 seconds apart moving from a SW to a NNW direction. The flashing appeared four times (with 20 or so second intervals) then stopped. It appeared again , once, some minutes later heading in a N direction and then again around 7 minutes later in a NNE direction. The distance across the sky it travelled would be the equivelent of 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock with twelve o'clock directly above. The lights seemed to have a red tinge to them. Around 10 to 15 minutes later a light flashed due west, not to high above the horizon this time bright white. 20 or so seconds later it flashed again and had moved towards the NW approximately from 12 o'clock (west) to 12.30 and a third time 20 or so seconds later at around the 1 o'clock mark. I never saw them again. Could someone explain what this could have been. I know it was not an airliner as the "object" seemed a lot higher then our atmosphere. (comparable with the stars.)

 

[MeteorWayne]

They could have been rocket bodies. A number of rockets, once they've released the satellite continue to orbit and spin in odd directions. When it lines up with the sun you can see a flash. Also some satellites have the same situation. I often notice flashers while meteor observing. The repitition periods range from seconds to minutes...if it's longer than that it's hard to track the path, so I often can only detect one flash.<br /><br />Meteor Wayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>