Sighting over harare/ What was it?

I sincerely hope you don’t mind me replying to you en masse?....it’s just that those I am sending this email to all responded to the object I saw in the sky last night and I figured there’d be no harm in sending one email.

Of the people mentioned above, two others apart from me saw it......Wendy I’m sure all of us would be very keen to hear what your son saw – any chance he could jot it down for us all?   And Lorna...your description mentions it was stationary (with vapour trail)...did what you saw hover??  Maybe you wouldn’t mind giving a more explicit description of the sighting?

One person asked the size in relation to a full moon.  From my point of vision I had the crescent moon standing upright and this ‘object’ flew directly below the moon so I am in a position to state with some accuracy that what I saw would have covered A THIRD the moon if you were to place the orange object directly over the moon.

Tonight I’m going to go out and stand in the same position at the same time – not because I think I’ll be lucky enough to see another but just so I can double check distances, speeds and height.

Thanks to all of you.

Kind regards

Nadia

From: Flip Nicholson Safaris [mailto:flipnsaf@mweb.co.zw]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:56 AM
To: Murray Alexander; nadia@donavans.co.zw
Subject: Fast moving orange light

Dear Nadia, 

In response to your enquiry I am copying this to a dear friend, Murray Alexander, who is a boffin on all things astro....

I wish I had seen the light too. 

,

Bene Nicholson.

Murray - can you explain this..... Readers comments from Bambazonke of 19 Feb 

This evening at 7.15pm I witnessed a very fast moving orange light with fan tailed shaped vapour? I thought it might be a shooting star but after an extended wish period I think not! It did not ‘expire’.  It was much lower than those satellites you sometimes see far away – and it was big.  Travelling from Epworth area to Marlborough area. I would be very interested if any of your readers saw the same thing?  I’ve tried to find an astronomical website for Harare which was very out of date but I did get two names. I thought I’d find the Prince Edward Astronomical society but no luck. 

nadia@donavans.co.zw

Tel & Fax:  + 263 4 747 384

Mobile:  + 263 0772 245 334