Unexplained Object Observed Moving in Circular Patterns - Pittsburgh [Jupiter and ISS]

[Skeptic1099]

Tonight I witnessed an object in the sky that I've never seen before. It was moving in circular motions, both up and down, almost like it was spinning in place. I honestly can't explain what it was. I was able to capture a video. If you look to the right side of the frame, you can see the object moving away before it eventually leaves the shot. I couldn't tell how high it was or how fast it was moving, but the whole thing was extremely strange. This occurred at 6:21PM above Fayette City, Pennsylvania. - I observed the circular motion pulled the car over, and as you see the object flying away. Additionally, I checked flight radar, and there were no flights in this direction at this time which makes us even more odd.

 

[Mick West]

It's Jupiter and the ISS

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?cu...azonaws.com/1/Fayette City/20260129_060430.js

 

[FatPhil]

Tonight I witnessed an object in the sky that I've never seen before. It was moving in circular motions, both up and down, almost like it was spinning in place.

Are you claiming you see circular motions of either of the two bright objects in the video you posted, as I certainly don't.

 

[Skeptic1099]

The circular motion caught my eye. That's what I can't explain. But after I pulled the car over and started the video, the object was moving away.

 

[Skeptic1099]

It's Jupiter and the ISS

https://www.metabunk.org/sitrec/?custom=https://sitrec.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/1/Fayette City/20260129_060430.js

View attachment 88161

Thanks Mick. Have you ever heard of reports of spinning in a circular motion with ISS? That is what originally caught my eye and that's why I pulled the car over.

 

[Mick West]

Thanks Mick. Have you ever heard of reports of spinning in a circular motion with ISS? That is what originally caught my eye and that's why I pulled the car over.

The ISS is a bright point of light that moves across the sky in what looks like a straight line. It physically cannot spin (except very slowly), and any spinning would not be noticeable to the naked eye.

That said, it might LOOK like it's spinning. I can seem to flicker and change shape due to atmospheric distortion when closer to the horizon. More likely, it was simply an illusion. We don't see any spinning in the video, but a few seconds earlier it would have passed in front of Jupiter, which would look like this.

 

[flarkey]

This video shows a mysterious orb that appears to spin as it passes overhead. What it really shows is the ISS with another capsule that docking with it, however I think the spinning effect is an effect of the camera (presumably an iPhone).

It would be interesting to work out if @Skeptic1099 actually saw the ISS spinning, or it was seen to do so in the video they took...?


Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSzOlZmEssx/?igsh=bmc3bXR6dHEwYzI4

 

[John J.]

The circular motion caught my eye.

No idea if this is relevant, but it seems that vibrations from a car engine can make exterior point light sources appear to make small circular/ elliptical movements, see thread Strange Spinning UFO Filmed in Green Valley, Illinois September 2024.

If we look at objects/ light sources covering a vey small visual arc, they can sometimes appear to make small rapid movements because of involuntary fixational eye movements (description at "Fixational eye movements: The eye motion no one is talking about, but should be", Jacqueline Theis, Optometry Times 7 July 2023 https://www.optometrytimes.com/view...-motion-no-one-is-talking-about-but-should-be).
Most of the time we don't consciously perceive the effects of FEMs,

Our eyes continually move even while we fix our gaze on an object. Although these fixational eye movements have a magnitude that should make them visible to us, we are unaware of them.

"The role of fixational eye movements in visual perception", Martinez-Conde, Macknik and Hubel, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 5, 2004 https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1348