What could that huge, pale orange, round thing, that was quietly gliding along in the sky in the middle of the night, mid-1960's, have been?

Question

Viewing it eventually became obstructed.

ReductioAdAstronomicus · Accepted Answer

The exhaust plume from a military aircraft. Slow moving meteorite. Experimental orbital shenanigans. Ball lightning. A mirage.

There are plenty of perfectly Earthly explanations for what you saw up in the air. Your best source of an explanation would be meteorologists. They are the people who specialize in stuff people experience up in the Earth's atmosphere.

M · Answer

You do not know what it was. No one else has a chance of knowing as they were not there and you provide far too little detail.

Dixon · Answer

It can only have been space pixies

skeptik · Answer

The full moon?

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Re: your update - Being far away doesn't prevent your view of the moon from being obstructed by trees.  Nor does it have anything to do with how long you can see it.

If you want some other answer, you'll have to provide more details.

What could that huge, pale orange, round thing, that was quietly gliding along in the sky in the middle of the night, mid-1960's, have been?

4 Answers