Re: Mid-air collision observation

Robert G Fenske Jr (fenske@rgfpc.electro.swri.edu)
Wed, 17 Sep 1997 08:29:02 -0500 (CDT)

On Tue, 16 Sep 1997, Bruno Tilgner wrote:

> According to the news, a South-African satellite has recorded a flash
> which might have been caused by the mid-air collision between an American
> and a German military aircraft off the coast of Namibia a few days ago.
> 
> Does anybody know which satellite this is?

	I'm sure you mean U.S. satellite.  At one time, the U.S. had
several Vela satellites in orbit that were designed to look for missile
launches and/or nuclear detonations.  I don't have a clue as to whether
these satellites are still in operation (or even in orbit).  Back in the
'70s these satellites had detected flashes near S. Africa, leading to
controversial speculation that S. Africa had developed the nuclear bomb.


Robert Fenske, Jr.   rfenske@swri.edu    Sw     |The Taming the C*sm*s series:
Southwest Research Institute            /R---\  |
Signal Exploitation & Geolocation Div  | I    | |"The Martian canals were the
San Antonio,Texas USA  ph:210-522-3931  \----/  | Martians' last ditch effort."