What am I seeing?

[C24]

Yes

[flarkey]

could have been an Iriduim Flare..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare

[SteveS]

C24, this section is designed for newbie-basic type questions. If you don't have the courtesy to provide more than a rather rude one word answer, please don't post in this section.

Steve

[C24]

Honkers and Steve

When the Tri nations Tornado were at Cottesmore they would operate night training. Many t/os would be under reheat and they Would go straight out and or turn crosswind to complete a normal circuit.

So, a sudden "cut off" would be seen when shutting off but going straight ahead like a light being switched off and/or if still on reheat the engine openings were no longer pointing at the viewer. In the latter case the light source would diminish and change colour.

Air temperature seemed to make a difference in the colour but that is not a scientific, merely anecdotal. I do not recall any flare effect and I cannot see any reason for your a/c to fire off a flare. We don't know the type(s) of a/c involved, perhaps it was peculiar to a normal shutdown of the reheat.

I've seem high 10s of Tornados at night on reheat over the years, never a flare effect on shutoff.

So Honkers, please spend some time looking at and contributing to a great site. It is well worth your time.

[SteveS]

Thank you C24, very interesting reading

[hregor]

If you want to know what you have seen flying over the UK, this is probably one of the best places to ask. People with radios, SBS's,PP, binoculars and years of experience are all routinely monitoring and more than willing to help. Money can't buy this sort of commitment.

But there is a lot going on. Without an exact time and location there's very little hope of success. Out of curiosity I looked at the Iridium flares visible from Farnborough, and there was one that night.

They only last a few seconds, so an exact time of observation would have given a pretty good yes or no. A few kilometers to the west and it would have been much brighter, so location is important. Was there any noise? Iridium flares are very quiet, jets on reheat in visual range generally are not. Estimates of height, direction of travel, climbing or descending are all helpful in sorting out what you have seen. Also ask as soon as possible after the event.

So when you see it again, ask, because I'd love to know what it was!
Roger

[C24]

Honkers
Look in Current Military Photos, Tornado role for 18th ish. Picture 2 of a Tornado, the engine exhaust shows yellow/orange. It illustrates my comments.

I find it too much of a coincidence to have an iridium flare (satellite) appear close to the rear of an a/c just as it shuts off reheat but not impossible.

Too little info and a relatively long time ago to form any better theories - mind you, I quite often look out at night and can see the window lights of commercial a/c. They must be at 30000ft and over several miles horizontally.

Buy yourself a pair of 10x50 binoculars next Xmas! You may solve the riddle.

[wokka]

Hi Hokers

I have had a look at the logs reported for visitors to Farnborough on the dates you have asked about and there were no jets capable of re-heat listed on those days. It would be unlikely that any jets would be low enough at the point to be considered as Farnborough traffic, especially as Fairoaks airfield would be between the M3 and farnborugh at the point you specify. You are welcome to have a look yourself at http://www.farnborough-aviation-group.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; where you will find the logs, or even ask on their forums.

Might I also suggest that before you reach junction 3 of the M3 there is a test-track facility. I'm not sure who owns it, but I have seen military vehicles there in the past. Perhaps it wasnt an aircraft at all if it was low? You can see it better as you drive towards the M25.

Just an idea.