Not Meteors, So What Are Those Moving Star-Like Objects In The Night's Sky?

[Paul_Exeter]

I have seen these myself whilst gazing up at the stars:

"So growing up we always went camping, where it would be dark and full starry sky, and on several occasions i would see, what at the time i thought were shooting stars. Until i got older and realized shooting stars and other objects like satellites appear closer and move rather fast. These objects were far away and appeared like tiny white stars they would move, too the eye, slowly so they probably were far away, and then out of no where would take a 90 degree turn. It didn't dawn on me that this was not normal until i got older and I've been researching and have found similar sightings but different, theirs were reddish or closer or leaving trails. This did not, it literally looked like a tiny star slowly moving and than taking a 90 degree turn. I'm not convinced this is an illusion or anything normal. It's happened on more than one occasion like i said and no other stars appeared to be moving, just that individual one. There are definitely unexplained thing out there and to believe we are only beings in this infinite universe is more ridiculous than saying we r alone, in my opinion."

https://www.quora.com/I-saw-a-star-move-across-the-sky-and-stop-randomly-Why-is-that

The ones I have seen are a white pinpoint of light and they move in random ways and even appear to be dogfighting with each other. They are not stars, iridium flares (seen those), meteors, star link (seen those), the space station (seen that on its own and with a space shuttle close by). Perhaps they are satellites causing a trick of the eye or maybe even high flying birds (but can't think which ones?) or even ice crystals...?

Or are they:

 

[RaM]

I've seen two like that, one in the 60's one 70's both were just a tint dot of light
and tracked from west to east we thought they were satellites till they did a 180
and went back the way they came.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I've seen two like that, one in the 60's one 70's both were just a tint dot of light
and tracked from west to east we thought they were satellites till they did a 180
and went back the way they came.

Yes, those are great examples, how do w explain this? The is a lot of chatter on Reddit etc about these but they never seem to make mainstream Ufology

 

[eburacum]

The Starlink phenomenon is quite complex. Lots of people have seen the Starlink trains, which are strings of satellites launched by a single rocket that spread out across the sky. These satellites move in a line until they reach the orbit they are going to permanently occupy, then they peel off and leave the train. A bit like policemen used to do back in the early 1960s, when they made Carry On Constable.

The trains, if you haven't seen them, look like this.

However, once these Starlink satellites are in their assigned orbits, they are quite difficult to see, for two reasons; firstly they are quite small (that's how they get so many in one launch) and secondly, the orbital geometry is aligned deliberately so that they don't reflect back towards Earth. However this alignment is not perfect, and it fails at one particular point in the orbit; that is, when the satellites are exactly 40 degrees above the Sun, when the Sun is below the horizon.

Because all the orbits are arranged in a torus that covers most of the Earth, these reflections all happen at one point in the sky, many satellites reflecting one after the other for a brief time, and lots of people have seen this effect and don't know what it is.

This long exposure shows exactly how multiple starlink flares can occur in the same part of the sky over a short period.

These are often seen by pilots, since they can see more of the horizon, and sometimes they call them 'racetrack UFOs' because they are going round in apparent loops. They aren't- they are just appearing one after the other, like policemen popping their heads over a wall.

 

[eburacum]

I was watching satellites with my sister one night, and saw a satellite do a 90 degree turn in the sky; after the turn it was significantly dimmer, as if it were flying away. This was a long time before Starlink, but there were plenty of satellites up there even then.

In reality there were two satellites, and we just followed one with our eyes, then followed the other, losing sight of the first one. I am fairly sure that most examples of satellites making impossible turns are usually two or more satellites seen sequentially.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

The Starlink phenomenon is quite complex. Lots of people have seen the Starlink trains, which are strings of satellites launched by a single rocket that spread out across the sky. These satellites move in a line until they reach the orbit they are going to permanently occupy, then they peel off and leave the train. A bit like policemen used to do back in the early 1960s, when they made Carry On Constable.

The trains, if you haven't seen them, look like this.

However, once these Starlink satellites are in their assigned orbits, they are quite difficult to see, for two reasons; firstly they are quite small (that's how they get so many in one launch) and secondly, the orbital geometry is aligned deliberately so that they don't reflect back towards Earth. However this alignment is not perfect, and it fails at one particular point in the orbit; that is, when the satellites are exactly 40 degrees above the Sun, when the Sun is below the horizon.

Because all the orbits are arranged in a torus that covers most of the Earth, these reflections all happen at one point in the sky, many satellites reflecting one after the other for a brief time, and lots of people have seen this effect and don't know what it is. Sped up, it looks like this.

These are often seen by pilots, since they can see more of the horizon, and sometimes they call them 'racetrack UFOs' because they are going round in apparent loops. They aren't- they are just appearing one after the other, like policemen popping their heads over a wall.

Good shout and I remember the first time I saw Starlink satellites going overhead and being quite awestruck.

However, the first Starlink launch was in 2019 and many of my own glimpse of these tiny white dots manoeuvring in the night sky predate this. I do feel they are satellite related but which satellites prior to Starlink?

This sighting predates Starlink by several years:

Related
I saw two stars do circles around each other. Why?
Okay, so back in like 2015-2016 in Maine my friend and I were on an empty playground staring at the stars, when all of a sudden we saw what looked like two shooting stars going towards each other. Then they both stopped for a moment. All of a sudden they started doing these weird fucking circles together, then shot off in opposite directions. I’ve wondered about this day for like 6 years and I still don’t have an answer for what the hell it was or why it happened. We’ve told people, none of which who believed us, and haven’t heard of anyone else experiencing something similar. It still shakes me to my core to think about, and I want to know what it could have been.

https://www.quora.com/I-saw-a-star-move-across-the-sky-and-stop-randomly-Why-is-that

 

[eburacum]

Loads - Starlink satellites were first launched in 2019, but there were already more than 3000 satellites up there - often concentrated over mid-latitudes where they might overlap. When Musk is finished there will be ten times that number (at least).

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Loads - Starlink satellites were first launched in 2019, but there were already more than 3000 satellites up there - often concentrated over mid-latitudes where they might overlap. When Musk is finished there will be ten times that number (at least).

As a rule satellites stay in one orbit due to fuel contrasts, so what would cause us to see satellites move around like that, atmospheric distortions?

Clearly astronomers must be aware of these moving white dots and know what they are, so it is more a case of establishing the mechanisms that cause satellites to appear to us to move, stop, reverse and/or 'dogfight'...?

 

[eburacum]

Almost all the 'dogfights' that have been seen since the Starlink satellites went up have been Starlink flares happening in the zone I mentioned earlier. Before that there were 3000 to 4000 satellites up there, quite often appearing to interact and 'reverse'. Rule of thumb; if you see a satellite 'change direction' or 'loop', you are seeing two or more different satellites.

Some satellites were launched in pairs and 'triads', making them look like larger objects with space in between.

We shouldn't forget that there are a number of high-altitude aircraft as well that can sometimes be observed at night, and these really do chase each other and fly in formation. I should also mention flocks of high-flying birds or swarms of insects such as moths, which can reflect streetlights and other ground-level illuminations, and they certainly do interact with each other at the edges of visibility.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Almost all the 'dogfights' that have been seen since the Starlink satellites went up have been Starlink flares happening in the zone I mentioned earlier. Before that there were 3000 to 4000 satellites up there, quite often appearing to interact and 'reverse'. Rule of thumb; if you see a satellite 'change direction' or 'loop', you are seeing two or more different satellites.

Some satellites were launched in pairs and 'triads', making them look like larger objects with space in between.

We shouldn't forget that there are a number of high-altitude aircraft as well that can sometimes be observed at night, and these really do chase each other and fly in formation. I should also mention flocks of high-flying birds or swarms of insects such as moths, which can reflect streetlights and other ground-level illuminations, and they certainly do interact with each other at the edges of visibility.

Think one or all of those are responsible

Once saw three orange lights in the shape of a triangle move swiftly across the Exeter night sky but realised they were ducks or geese reflecting the street lamps below

 

[RaM]

Elon Musk was likely still swimming about in his father's wedding tackle when I had my sighting.
quite a few aircraft could fly very high, the EE Lightning could get to over 80,000 ft and
some of the V bombers 50/55,000 but I doubt any could maneuver like they did.