Video Has Been Brightened and Slowed

Photo of 3rd Generation Monocular & Camera Used to Take the Video.

Ocean Shores is Along the Pacific Coast About a 3 Hour Drive From Seattle.

Date of Sighting: June 7, 2010
Time of Sighting: About 10:45 PM PDT
Location of Sighting: Ocean Shores, Washington (See Map)

Description: I placed two cameras on tripods side by side to do "random" video taping of the sky on a clear night. One camera was a FLIR Thermal infrared (IR) camera and other was a 3rd generation IR monocular device coupled to an Olympus Stylus "Tough Camera." (The above video was taken with this camera.) When viewing footage nothing unusual showed up on the FLIR camera. The "brief flashing light" showed up on 3rd generation camera for a few seconds. At first I thought that this possibly could be an iridium flare satellite, but no iridium flares were visible at the time and location of the video. Skies were totally clear at the time of the video.

Note: Given the comments below and through further research I believe that the flasher in the video could be a satellite labeled as "Terra." Terra can have a brightness of magnitude 3.0 and was launched in December, 1998 by the U.S. I had the "gain" turned low on the camera. This means that the light was likely brighter than shown. I also don't think that the light was a helicopter or aircraft due to its brief flashing. A star is dimly visible towards the middle of the screen. The star is dim due to the low setting of the gain on the monocular device.

Comments Received June 12, 2010: You likely taped a "flasher" satellite (not an Iridium). See "Flashes in the Night Sky" on this page (down a little from the top of the page): http://www.eclipsetours.com/sat/debris.html. I have seen numerous satellite glints & flashes over the years & some of them can really be eye-catching! I have seen several very bright flashers, maybe as bright as Venus at its peak.

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