Allen Thomson > > [observations of three mag 3-4 unidentifiable satellites deleted] > > One possibility is that these are objects with such low radar cross-sections > that SPACECOM, which relies on VHF and UHF radars to conduct surveillance of LEO, > has simply failed to detect them. Optically bright, very low rcs objects are not > unknown, viz: > > The existence of this object and the data that has [sic] been > obtained lend credence to the theory that there is a population > of optically bright objects that appear quite small to a radar. > In fact, it is possible that many of the unknown objects > detected by optical sensors could fall into this area." Verrrrrrry interesting. Maybe that's one of the real contributions that we amateur satellite-gawkers can make - to help identify, and catalog these unlisted objects. For example, I posted some observations of what *might* be the same unknown object (same magnitude & same apparent path) on two different nights. If somebody who is familiar with setting up TLEs from observations were to draw up a TLE for an object HYPO-0001 (for "hypothetical object number 1"), that would enable some rough predictions to be made. If a new object can be observed in the future matching those approximate predictions, then we can get some exact positions, and derive a proper orbit. If not, we will know that HYPO-0001 is only hypothetical, and not real, and go on to something else. How difficult would it be to try to build TLEs to attempt to identify such objects? Robert Sheaffer - robert@debunker.com - Skeptical to the Max! my new GPS tells me I'm at 37 deg 17.3' N., 121 deg 59.2' west (San Jose, CA) Visit my Home Page - http://www.debunker.com/~sheaffer Skeptical Resources Debunking All Manner of Bogus Claims Also: Opera / Astronomy / Mens Issues / more