Was this an iridium flare?

From: Pinizzotto,Russell (ZZOTTO@mail.nwmissouri.edu)
Date: Wed Mar 06 2002 - 19:01:11 EST

  • Next message: Pinizzotto,Russell: "ISS reboosted" 

    Gary:

From your description and the Iridium flares that I've seen, it seems quite
possible that the pilot could mistake a bright flare (-5 mag) for a model
rocket.  Particularly, he wouldn't see a contrail or a rocket body, so he
might believe it was a model rather than the real thing.  

I know of one report where a private pilot broke off a landing approach in
the early evening because of incorrectly believing that Venus was the
landing light of another aircraft approaching head-on.  On his go-around,
the controller said, "Cleared to land.  Traffic at several million miles."

Best Regards,
Russ

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