Lo, many moons past, on 16 Feb 2004 18:15:33 -0800, a stranger called
by some RetroProphet came forth and
told this tale in alt.atheism

SO, you dot not swear that the Shuttle disappeared
"behind the horizon", when you saw a launch of a Shuttle,
because the Shuttle DID NOT DISAPPEAR BEHIND THE HORIZON!

No, It became to hard to track visually during day launches.


HA! TYPICAL COVERUP EXCUSE!

No, physics.

However, it was in orbit and back in view within 100 minutes of launch
through the telescope at my one night launch. (We had a motor failure
that stopped the smooth tracking during launch.)

How do you know that it was not a meteor stone
that you saw 100 minutes later?

Because it was right where NASA said it would be. It had the same
shape as the shuttle, the same colors as the shuttle, the same orbital
speed as the shuttle, and followed the pre-announced orbital path for
the shuttle.

What we saw followed a predictable orbital track for the announced
duration of the mission, then made a reentry that was visible to half
the world, and ended with the orbiter landing back at KSC. After
that, nothing along the orbital track.

BTW: "Meteor" refers to a piece of rock or ice that has entered the
Earth's atmosphere. The proper term for something that hasn't done
this is asteroid (if it is of any size, a few meters or more) or
debris. Most meteors you see are no bigger than grains of sand or
small pebbles.


--

Douglas Berry Do the OBVIOUS thing to send e-mail
Atheist #2147, Atheist Vet #5

Ezekiel 13:20 "Wherefore thus saith the
Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows"