New Sputnik Documentary

In sci.space.history message
rthlink.net, Tue, 20 Mar 2007 03:27:31, robert casey
posted:

Was it Sputnik we saw? Or a stage of its rocket? I do not know, but
I know we saw something grand that night. One must remember that in a
place like Coalwood in 1957, there was virtually no light pollution.

I remember seeing something traveling either north to south or south to
north on a night that it was in the News. It might have been just an
aircraft, though it was a steady brightness. Aircraft usually have
flashing lights, though I don't know if they did that back in the 50's.
No color to the object. In any event, it would have to have been the
orbital insertion stage if it was in orbit.

If what you saw was really travelling either north to south or south to
north, then it was neither Sputnik nor its launcher. I know neither
Sputnik's exact orbital inclination nor your then latitude; but its
orbit should not be much different in inclination from that of ISS, and
you probably know what directions of travel ISS shows from your present
location.

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