Sighted: the International Space Station

I am always fascinated by objects that crisscross outer space and quite frequently when in the open I instinctively look upwards. Once in Washington DC, I looked up and saw what to me was an unidentified flying object but was most likely some orbital craft that was shaped like a cigar. It passed silently above Washington DC in a low orbit.

Today, after staying awake overnight because of a writing assignment, I went out in the early morning and sighted, at 05:52 am, the International Space Station (ISS) pass over Butiama from a South South Westerly direction. It is one of the brightest objects in the sky and passed silently from horizon to horizon in less than six minutes.

If you know the coordinates of where you live you can track various space objects by using several websites that offer times of flybys and details of the direction of approach. Try the following: NASA's SkyWatch.