Any ideas?

About 20 minutes ago in cape town south africa, I just saw a bright star (definitely not a satellite) move at a fair pace. Slower than a satellite or meteorite. It seemed to have very slight changes or slow downs in velocity. It travelled about half of the visible sky and then fade to orange and then black. I thought it was perhaps one of those chinese lanterns, but it was moving into a strong south east wind. Any ideas?

Philip Bartholomew wrote:
About 20 minutes ago in cape town south africa, I just saw a bright star
(definitely not a satellite) move at a fair pace. Slower than a satellite
or meteorite. It seemed to have very slight changes or slow downs in
velocity. It travelled about half of the visible sky and then fade to
orange and then black. I thought it was perhaps one of those chinese
lanterns, but it was moving into a strong south east wind. Any ideas?

The winds at altitude may not match those in the ground. That's why we have
weather balloons. It sounds like a Chinese lantern to me.

On Wednesday, 2 September 2015 20:11:07 UTC+2, Mike Collins wrote:

About 20 minutes ago in cape town south africa, I just saw a bright star
(definitely not a satellite) move at a fair pace. Slower than a satellite
or meteorite. It seemed to have very slight changes or slow downs in
velocity. It travelled about half of the visible sky and then fade to
orange and then black. I thought it was perhaps one of those chinese
lanterns, but it was moving into a strong south east wind. Any ideas?

The winds at altitude may not match those in the ground. That's why we have
weather balloons. It sounds like a Chinese lantern to me.

Thanks for the reply. Any other options? If it was that high it seemed to be too bright to be a lantern.

On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 2:28:42 PM UTC-4, Philip Bartholomew wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Any other options? If it was that high it seemed to be too bright to be a lantern.

Was this shortly after sunset? Could it be an aircraft, maybe military if it was very high? Was it in a location where it would still be lit by the sun? How about the ubiquitous weather balloon?

http://www.richardfisher.com

On Wednesday, 2 September 2015 20:37:40 UTC+2, Helpful person wrote:
On Wednesday, September 2, 2015 at 2:28:42 PM UTC-4, Philip Bartholomew wrote:

Thanks for the reply. Any other options? If it was that high it seemed to be too bright to be a lantern.

Was this shortly after sunset? Could it be an aircraft, maybe military if it was very high? Was it in a location where it would still be lit by the sun? How about the ubiquitous weather balloon?

http://www.richardfisher.com

Was a few hours after sunset and a very dark moonless evening. What puzzles me was that it was so bright. I thought about perhaps it was moving away from the horizon that the reflection would end, but it happened quite suddenly and within a short distance, so im not sure. Thanks for help anyways.!