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03/09/97
00:05
1 min
Ilirska Bistrica
-
6250
Slovenia
-
Light
1
Light (hat shaped) seen. Observed through binoculars, approx. 1 min. Turning abruptly. Fast egression. Moving GIF scetch included.
I`m 23 years old graduate of mechanical engineering. I underwnt fighter pilot med-exams and have confirmed excellent eye-vision. I`m also very familiar with all types of aircraft, helicopter, other airborne crafts and satellites, their in-flight behavior and day/night identification. I`m also familiar with stars and other astronomical objects that may be observed with naked-eye or binoculars on night-sky.
I wrote complete data of every one of series of events right after they happend.
Location: (on the balcony of my house) Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia
Air temperature: -2C
Clouds: 0/8 (clear)
No sighted air traffic (3 nm west of Il.Bist. there is a VOR/DME/NDB beacon)
No moon. Hale-Bopp comet behind the horizon. Light pollution of sky minimal.
Car traffic in vicinity: zero (exclusion of probable mid-air-haze light reflection)
Observer in dark area, no lights in field of vision.
Event:
After observing eastern night skies 20 minutes (Boo,UMa,Cas,Ceph) I went inside to get my binoculars in order to observe unclear stars between Leo and Ursa Major. After that I observed that area naked-eyed in MTI technique (Moving Target Indication - I use that radar-mode expression to explain a wide-angled background-fixed observation which enables to detect slight movements of faint objects in large field of vision). After a few tens of seconds I detected a movement of a very faint object above Coma Berenices, too faint to lock a naked eye on. Convinced it`s a satellite (because of its initial south-north polar movement) I checked it through binoculars (from now on observing through binoculars).
In this second (from detection till the start of observation) the luminosity of object increased greatly. It grew in size from a dot to a dash-shaped object oriented perpendicular to its flight path. I know that angle of attack of a craft in orbit is of no importance, so in the next second I thought "it`s a sattelite flying sideways".
But then the dash started to rotate around my line-of-sight changing its direction fast towards east. Instead of travelling through UMa towards Cas (initial flight path would send it through zenith), I followed it through Bootes, Hercules to Cepheus (it lowered to the eastern horizon and then away towards north).
Object was changing its bearing around 60 to left and right of its general way (right-left-right turn duration approx. 3 seconds).
After it passed through Hercules, size and brightness of object started decreasing, and in the vicinity of Cepheus disappeared quickly.
Picture at: