One characteristic of being someone who is outside a great deal is that you are always watching the sky. I am usually looking for clues to the weather in the next couple of hours, but in the winter when it is dark more of the day and the night sky the brightest I like to look at the stars. Not as any kind of an expert but I have a few constellations that I can find readily and watch as they trace their way across the night sky.
Last evening as I was doing a few dishes and looking out of the window over the sink, not really paying much attention. I noticed a really bright orange light in the sky that I immediately took to be an airplane in flames. It quickly got brighter and then went out leaving a few small glowing pieces in the sky headed down toward the ground. I was so convinced that it was a plane crash that I opened the door to listen for the explosion. There was none and in fact I did not see anything on the evening news or the Internet about a plane crash.
Then in today’s Bangor Daily News this news account of what actually happened; apparently a satellite had been launched and what I saw was the booster rocket burning up as it reentered the atmosphere. The satellite was some sore of spy tool so of course there really aren’t any details. Just a story about the calls that various police departments got from people who happened to be looking up at that moment like I was. You just never know what you might see in the winter sky right around Christmas.
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