Expert: Paul Wagner - 8/16/2007

Question
Last week while viewing the meteor showers, I noticed way up in the sky, objects the size  and color of white stars and they were moving across the sky. They moved the speed of a jet as seen from earth but they were not aircraft. They  seemed higher than aicraft and did not fizzle out like a meteor would. What did I see??

Answer
Hi Tirsh

I am pretty sure that what you saw were satellites--your description is very accurate.  These are orbiting the earth at vey high altitudes, and reflect sunlight down to us on earth.   some of them, if you keep watching them, will vary in brightness as the satellite slowly turns...or even disappear if they dip behind the shadow of the earth.

Paul Wagner