Light going fast across sky, with location time and date

[Officepolicy]

Found this video on Reddit. This was taken in Swift current, Saskatchewan (Canada) at April 26th at 8:50p.m. They said it changed directions but that isn't shown in the video. Any ideas what this is?

https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOB/s/Lk8XC0KwGw

 

[Mendel]

Sunset time, lights are on in houses etc., meaning the sky is darker than it appears.

My lazy guess would be a satellite or a meteor.

 

[Mendel]

Swift Current is on CST (Central Standard Time) UTC/GMT -6 (no daylight savings).
April 26th at 8:50pm local is April 27th 02:50 UTC.

 

[Mendel]

This is the best match I could find in the American Meteor Society database:
https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2025/2316

Clearly, it's too far away.

Sasketchewan doesn't have a lot of reports in the database, probably because only about 1 million people live there.

 

[elvenwear]

They said it changed directions but that isn't shown in the video.

I doubt it changed direction. When you are pointing a camera at zenith (ie straight up), you run into the same gimbal problems you would have pointing a telescope upwards. In short, you have to turn to follow something moving straight across the sky. When you do this, if you have no point of reference, you may perceive the object as changing direction. If you watch the video, this is what appears to happen at around 9-12 seconds.

Any ideas what this is?

Mendel is right. It's either a satellite or a meteor. I think it's more likely to be a satellite. You often see bright, fast moving satellites at twilight. Fast moving indicates a low orbit satellite, which is closer to us, hence they are bright. Most meteors appear for a very short time (a fraction of a second) and most are hard to see at twilight. If we can figure out the location, it may be possible to confirm, since we already have a date and time.

There is a sign in the photo for "Pioneer Co-Op" and "Home Projects" and a tower in the background (marked in picture at about 24 seconds). I haven't been able to locate it. From the end of the video, I get the impression the video might be taken from a driveway of a private residence (although it could be a street), so I am not sure on what the rules are for posting the location and whether this should be by private message.

 

[elvenwear]

This might be the tower.
https://www.google.com/maps/@50.2665068,-107.8097612,3a,75y,184.75h,79.17t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sFw-RfM6te5-XODDR2wDFwQ!2e0!6shttps://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?cb_client=maps_sv.tactile&w=900&h=600&pitch=10.828795158043192&panoid=Fw-RfM6te5-XODDR2wDFwQ&yaw=184.74934828961636!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

or this

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.302...try=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDQzMC4xIKXMDSoASAFQAw==

Spoiler: Spoiler google image of link

 

[Mendel]

If we can figure out the location, it may be possible to confirm, since we already have a date and time.

Swift Current isn't that big?

I tried to find the radio tower, which is lit white, in the FAA obstacle database, but Google Maps shows a farm at 50.308611,-107.877778.

I'm not sure what went wrong. Or maybe the radio tower is farther away.

Edit: link: https://adds-faa.opendata.arcgis.co.../explore?location=50.284866,-107.799372,12.25

 

[elvenwear]

I don't know what went wrong either. Maybe it's near Swift but not in Swift. The tower should be roughly West as the sun set at around 292 degrees (see image below) and the tower was further to the right in the video. The sun hadn't set at 8:50 PM, it set 36 minutes after that. I can't tell if the sun has set in this video or not as it would be behind the buildings and possibly behind clouds. It looks more like 9:50 PM. The date, time and location may all be in question. The 'Pioneer Co-Op' does correspond to Swift so it's hard to know what to make of this.

Spoiler: Heaven's Above screenshot showing position of sunset.

 

[Mendel]

The tower should be roughly West as the sun set at around 292 degrees (see image below) and the tower was further to the right in the video.

I was trying to figure out if it was the ISS, but spotthestation doesn't give me past data, and then it ought to pass [roughly] west-to-east—as would most satellites. Unless the tower is really north, and we're looking at a polar orbit, there aren't really a lot of satellites with retrograde orbits.

The sun hadn't set at 8:50 PM, it set 36 minutes after that. I can't tell if the sun has set in this video or not as it would be behind the buildings and possibly behind clouds. It looks more like 9:50 PM.

Your chart is set to UTC-5, but Swift Current is on UTC-6 (no daylight savings time), see https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/canada/swift-current . That explains the 1 hour difference.

 

[elvenwear]

Your chart is set to UTC-5, but Swift Current is on UTC-6 (no daylight savings time), see https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/canada/swift-current . That explains the 1 hour difference.

Hmm. There is something wrong with the site. That time was autoselected. I can fix it for the sky chart and the sunset, but I am unable to get it to fix the satellite data. A pity.

 

[Trailblazer]

I was trying to figure out if it was the ISS, but spotthestation doesn't give me past data, and then it ought to pass [roughly] west-to-east—as would most satellites. Unless the tower is really north, and we're looking at a polar orbit, there aren't really a lot of satellites with retrograde orbits.

The person who posted the video on Reddit says that the object is travelling due north in the video.

Also might be worth pointing out that the same person has also posted another UFO video, 2 years ago:
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/111p9om/round_object_over_swift_current_saskatchewan/

 

[Trailblazer]

Here is the location:

The view is indeed looking north. The road runs east-west across the foreground. I won't post the exact co-ordinates here as it is taken from a home driveway.

The tower is visible in that Street View image:

It's at 50.3383, -107.7906

 

[Mendel]

Here is the location:

That's the big one labeled "Food Co-op". The tower is about 4 miles north of that.

 

[Mendel]

Swift Current is on CST (Central Standard Time) UTC/GMT -6 (no daylight savings).
April 26th at 8:50pm local is April 27th 02:50 UTC.

We have confirmed the observer location as close to 50.3,-107.8 in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, Canada.

If it's a satellite, we still ought to identify it. How do we do that?
I don't see that the live sky view of heavens-above.com allows setting a time?

 

[JMartJr]

It does not seem to be related, but worth noting that Swift Current is an area with periodically intense kite activity.

Over 40 national and international stars of kite performing and kite-making annually attend the SaskPower Windscape Kite Festival, most of whom have flown at some of the most prestigious and largest festivals in the world.

https://windscapekitefestival.ca/festival-information/

The big event is in June, but I noted that in 2024 a small local event for volunteers and to keep public interest high was held on April.


So it's an area where there may be a higher-than-normal per capita concentration of kite fliers.

Again, this does not look much like one, but just keeping in the back of my mind.

 

[elvenwear]

These are the satellites visible on heaven's above. It does not give anything at 08:50 as it is only giving 5.0 magnitude and I presume the sky is itself 5.0 magnitude prior to this. Bear in mind all of the times are out by an hour so 21:53 is 20.53.

I would suspect it could be any of the satellites any satellites moving north whose highest altitude is over 70 degrees. Unsurprisingly, these are almost all Starlink. I think Sitrec is the best bet here.

Spoiler: Image of satellite info (Out by an hour)

 

[elvenwear]

DMSP 5D-2 F-14 is travelling north and is 3 minutes after 20:50
STARLINK-2029 is going West
STARLINK-32120 is going West
STARLINK-30930 is going roughly West
STARLINK-2111 is going West
STARLINK-32125 is going roughly West
STARLINK-4285 is going roughly West
STARLINK-31049 is going roughly West
STARLINK-31123 is going roughly West
STARLINK-4583 is going roughly West
STARLINK-32167 is going roughly West
STARLINK-4504 is going roughly West
STARLINK-2745 is going roughly West

I think DMSP 5D-2 F-14 is the most likely candidate but I have a nagging feeling since it is at 8:53 not 08:50. If you remove Starlink satellites, which seem to be moving west, the next candidate is Cosmos 1603 Rocket4, but this is coming at 9:05, 15 minutes after the 08:50 timeslot.

Spoiler: Image of trajectory - DMSP 5D-2 F-14

 

[MonkeeSage]

It does not seem to be related, but worth noting that Swift Current is an area with periodically intense kite activity.

Also not thinking it would be a kite, but funny enough I think there might actually be a kite present in the google street view of the location (right side of images below).

 

[Mendel]

I have a nagging feeling since it is at 8:53

well, the reddit poster is definitely not detail-oriented

compare:

Spoiler: two reddit posts, 3 days apart

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOB/comments/1k9dwef/not_to_sure_what_we_saw/

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/UFOs/comments/1kbtlab/swift_current_sk_april_26th_2024_at_850pm/

This is the exact same video, posted 3 days apart:

So this happened yesterday April 27th at 8:50p.m.

Swift current sk. April 26th 2024 at 8:50pm

different day, different year!

but didn't correct the OP

The description is copied verbatim:

My mom first looked up and say a bright star and commented look at that star. I commented maybe it's the space station or something. Then both my parents both said what the hell, so I looked up again. It turned right off for a few seconds then brightened up. It then started heading south in a very weird motion turned on and off (no sound at all) right over us. Then I ran to my car and grabbed my phone and tried to record what I could. It then suddenly change direction now heading north. It took off very zooming super fast. Then in my video it seems to disappear but we all could see it and it seemed to be changing colors.

in the comments:

It was stationary at first. Went south, then bolted north
Also it was also under the clouds.

It disappeared in the cloud at the end, so it is probably behind the cloud, shining through.

It was not a reflection. The whole thing lasted likely 3 mins.

We know the radio tower is almost directly north, and the light ends up a good bit left of that. A trajectory that ends up NNW would fit.

I'd have thought it might be multiple satellites, but if it's a Starlink flare pattern, it would be different from the one we know.

And it feels like it might be going too fast for a satellite?

 

[Trailblazer]

Can the satellite track be shown in Sitrec? I haven't tried using it for satellites.

 

[elvenwear]

well, the reddit poster is definitely not detail-oriented
...

We know the radio tower is almost directly north, and the light ends up a good bit left of that. A trajectory that ends up NNW would fit.

I'd have thought it might be multiple satellites, but if it's a Starlink flare pattern, it would be different from the one we know.

And it feels like it might be going too fast for a satellite?

If the reddit poster is a little vague on the details then I don't think I can be any more specific with which satellite.

The starlink satellites all appear to be moving west or thereabouts. In this instance, we can rule out starlink even though rule 2 is it's starlink (rule 1 being it's Venus).

It's not going too fast for a satellite at twilight IMHO. The low flying satellites that you see at dawn and dusk are very low and very bright and they move very fast. Although they do have a slightly higher orbital velocity than higher satellites, I think the greater apparent speed is more because they are much, much closer to us. Have a look at heavensabove for your own location near to dusk and you'll see.

 

[Mendel]

The starlink satellites all appear to be moving west or thereabouts.

I don't understand, your data in post #16 shows start azimuths W and end azimuths E, so they'd be moving generally eastward.

I expect the whole encounter might be a satellite they spot overhead, moving SE until it enters the shadow? and then another satellite heading NNW emerging nearby, giving the illusion that there was an object that turned its light off and reversed. Obviously we only have the observer's word for this.

The trajectory in the video looks straight to me.

 

[elvenwear]

Can the satellite track be shown in Sitrec? I haven't tried using it for satellites.

There are a few issues. Satellite DMSP 5D-2 F-14 isn't currently in Sitrec. I don't know how to add it. Even if I could, If I'm understanding the posts above correctly, the initially supplied year is wrong (It was 26/4/2024, not 26/4/2025 or 27/4/2025). Heaven's above doesn't have data over three months ago so I don't know how to obtain the correct data to enter into sitrec.

I don't understand, your data in post #16 shows start azimuths W and end azimuths E, so they'd be moving generally eastward.

I expect the whole encounter might be a satellite they spot overhead, moving SE until it enters the shadow? and then another satellite heading NNW emerging nearby, giving the illusion that there was an object that turned its light off and reversed. Obviously we only have the observer's word for this.

The trajectory in the video looks straight to me.

Apologies, you are right. The starlink satellites are moving generally east. I didn't pay much attention to them as I ruled them out. The point is moot if the satellite was seen 26/4/2024 as all of the data is wrong.

 

[Mendel]

Even if I could, If I'm understanding the posts above correctly, the initially supplied year is wrong (It was 26/4/2024, not 26/4/2025 or 27/4/2025).

No, their use of "yesterday" makes this 2025. That they mistyped the day on the earlier post, and the year on the later post, makes me think they don't pay much attention to detail (or worse).

I understand that if you have the TLE, you can add it to sitrec. Unfortunately, I don't think my device supports sitrec.

 

[flarkey]

The visibility and brightness of the object towards the end of the video suggests to me that it is a drone with a bright illumination light on it. At the 0m37s mark it is either in front of the high clouds , or would need to be extremely bright to shine through them.

 

[Mendel]

I mean, by the rules of these videos, the spoken words "that is not a drone" make it 99% certain that it is.

 

[Ann K]

Also not thinking it would be a kite, but funny enough I think there might actually be a kite present in the google street view of the location (right side of images below).

View attachment 80076
View attachment 80077

Common grackle in flight: