Went camping near Sedona and saw a 'UFO' that was just the space station

Set up my scope at a dark sky site outside of town. Saw a bright, silent light moving fast overhead. Grabbed my phone to check an app, turned out it was the ISS. Felt pretty silly getting excited. Anyone else ever mistake a satellite for something more mysterious?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_foster992mo ago

Wait, you had your scope set up and you still thought it was a UFO? That's the best part! I've done the same thing, but I was just looking with my eyes. You had the right tool for the job and still got fooled, that's honestly kind of awesome. Don't feel silly, the ISS is crazy bright when it passes over a dark site. It gets me every single time.

bettywilson2mo ago

So you had the ISS fool you even with a scope, huh? Sean_foster99 has a point about it being extra bright at a dark site. What kind of scope were you using? I've seen people with big Dobsonians get tricked by Iridium flares before they stopped, just a super quick bright flash. Makes you wonder how many "lights in the sky" stories are just normal space junk.

patriciacarr1mo ago

Honestly my scope just made it more confusing. One second it's a sharp point of light, the next it's a weirdly fast moving blob because my tracking was off. The universe's best prank is just old human error.