You stepped outside, looked up, and saw something unexpected. Maybe it was a bright steady light drifting across the sky. Maybe it was a chain of dots in a perfect line. Maybe it flashed, or disappeared, or changed colour. This guide will help you figure out what you saw.
Quick Identification Chart
| What You Saw | Most Likely Explanation | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Bright steady light moving smoothly | Satellite (often ISS) | No blinking. Moves in a straight line. Takes 2–6 min to cross sky. |
| Line of evenly-spaced dots | Starlink train | 10–60 dots in a perfect chain, all moving together. |
| Bright flash or sudden flare | Satellite glint / tumbling debris | Brief bright flash then fades. Often from reflective surfaces catching sunlight. |
| Blinking / flashing light | Aircraft | Red, green, or white flashing lights. May change direction or altitude. |
| Bright stationary light | Planet (Venus, Jupiter, Mars) | Does not move noticeably over minutes. Much brighter than surrounding stars. |
| Fast streak (< 1 second) | Meteor / shooting star | Brief bright streak, then gone. No persistent motion. |
| Slow-moving light that fades mid-sky | Satellite entering Earth's shadow | Appears to "switch off." Completely normal. |
| Orange/red fireball, slow-moving | Satellite or rocket body re-entry | Breaks into fragments. Often reported as "fireball" sightings. |
| Stationary hovering light | Drone, helicopter, or bright star | May be lower altitude. Drones can hover in place. |
It Was a Satellite — Now What?
If you saw a bright, steady, non-blinking light moving in a straight line, it was almost certainly a satellite. To identify which one, open Orbital Radar and check what was overhead at the time you saw it. You can also use the Find Sat search tool to look up specific satellites.
If you saw a chain of dots in a line, that was a recently-launched Starlink batch. If it was a single very bright pass, it was most likely the ISS or Tiangong.
It Wasn't a Satellite
If the light was blinking with coloured flashes, it was an aircraft. If it was stationary and very bright, it was likely a planet — Venus and Jupiter are the usual suspects. If it streaked across the sky in less than a second, you saw a meteor.