burning comet or rock or superman, seen in batam

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shawnpoh
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burning comet or rock or superman, seen in batam

Post by shawnpoh »

Hi im new here. Just wana share some photos.

I was in batam for work, 4 years back. At about 6pm plus, we heard something very loud and saw this. It was quite loud, i mean very loud, sounds scary. It sounded more like a thunder. we stare at it for a long time and realised we had a camera, too late, so took only 2 photos. Lasted about 10 mintues and it was gone out of my sight. Didn't hear any sound after that. My colleagues were running and chasing like the end of the world, saying it has hit singapore. Crazy.

What was that? Did it hit some where not reported?
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Last edited by shawnpoh on Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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weixing
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Post by weixing »

Hi,
Cannot be comet as comet won't disappear in a few minutes. Also, most comet will not be that bright. Should not be a meteor also as most meteor (even fireball) will only last a few seconds.... may be 10 to 20 seconds at most.

Anyway, what was the date when you saw this?? If the photo was taken with a digital camera, the image file will contain the date and exact time when the photo was taken. Also, any idea which direction was the object??

Have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
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shawnpoh
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Post by shawnpoh »

weixing wrote:Hi,
Cannot be comet as comet won't disappear in a few minutes. Also, most comet will not be that bright. Should not be a meteor also as most meteor (even fireball) will only last a few seconds.... may be 10 to 20 seconds at most.

Anyway, what was the date when you saw this?? If the photo was taken with a digital camera, the image file will contain the date and exact time when the photo was taken. Also, any idea which direction was the object??

Have a nice day.
Maybe i was wrong, it lasted about 5 mins? But definately not a few seconds coz i had to ran 50m to get the camera. Camera dates are all haywired. Think should be dec 2003 evening. The direction should be going south west. This thing was burning i am sure.

We followed the news for the next few days but nothing. I supposed it has dropped into the ocean. But it was so huge, so loud and so many people from neighbouring countries would have seen it too. I suppose there must be a report on this right?

I was so excited and amazed when i saw that thing coming, you know, exactly the same like you watched in the movies.

The actual file size is 679kB, this one only 51KB, you want to see?
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Tachyon
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Post by Tachyon »

The sound is probably sonic boom. The trail looks like a meteor. Perhaps it hit the atmosphere at a low angle so managed to stay a bit longer? Anyway, I'm no expert... :P
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fizzy123
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Post by fizzy123 »

Coulds it be a space Debris of considerable size fall back into the earth's atmosphere? Coincidentally, last night, while going to the toilet, I notice a bright flash of light travelling towards the southern sky. Quite bright, around -1 magnitude, wonder which meteor shower it belongs to? [smilie=cool.gif]
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weixing
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Post by weixing »

Hi,
Coulds it be a space Debris of considerable size fall back into the earth's atmosphere?
Yes... most probably was a satellite or rocket component reentry, so need the exact dates and time in order to check.
The actual file size is 679kB, this one only 51KB, you want to see?
You can zip the image file and use the attachment function to attach the zip file on the "post a reply" (not quick reply) page.

Have a nice day.
Yang Weixing
:mrgreen: "The universe is composed mainly of hydrogen and ignorance." :mrgreen:
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chrisyeo
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Post by chrisyeo »

EXIF file should have the exact time? Was the sun setting directly below the picture?

While we would all be very happy to confirm that it is a piece of space debris burning up, I have to point out that it could well be a high altitude fighter jet. The sonic boom would have caused the noise, and a short high-altitude contrail will have reflected the sun and looked just like the picture. Also, I don't think a re-entry will last more than a minute?

Good to see the evidence though! Do post it here. :)

Clear skies.
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shawnpoh
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Post by shawnpoh »

I think so the sun set on the same direction.

Don't think its a re-entry or fighter jet. I can see the thing burning, like a fireball, still can see traces of fire and smoke (when we first spotted it in mid sky) on the tail. Pretty amazing.

I see if my colleague still have some pictures and videos he took.
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Dragon Man
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Post by Dragon Man »

Shawn, nice image.

Looking at your pic I'd say you saw a large meteor (Fireball) or space junk re-entering.

There is plenty of space junk floating around up there (actually millions of bits) and they occasionally fall to Earth.

Yes, some may take a few minutes to dissappear from sight.

To give you an example, here is a very good image from Australia of a Russian Space Rocket re-entering the atmosphere and burning up. It was visible for about 3 minutes.

(Photo - Ray Palmer, Perth Australia)
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swat_pup6433
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Post by swat_pup6433 »

maybe some sad kid's private jet blew up.. and it just went undocumented. he just "disappeared into thin air" and noone knows where he went to.. prolly in some police folder for MISSING person.
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