By Warren

Hi Alan, I think with you confirming it was more West-East really does confirm this was the ISS. It would have been very bright, surprisingly so if you're not used to it, (the first time I saw it I'd have thought it was a UFO if I hadn't known it was due over at the time). Sometimes the ISS is rather missable and faint, but this is one of the times when it is positioned perfectly for spottimg from Britain. Can I ask if the brightest star, the only one you could see, was also very white and almost directly above you? If so that was Lyra in the constellation of Lyre, (the musical instrument). If so the ISS would have passed about a palm's width (of an outstretched arm) north of Lyra and, in fact, exactly above your head. The ISS would have been the brightest thing in the sky, (15x brighter than the star Lyra) and absolutely unavoidable as it passed. So, (although I know I wasn't there), since you only spotted the one steady white light, (don't be mislead by Charlie as the ISS isn't known to vary its brightness, unlike some satellites that do), I think the ISS has to be the explanation. If not you'd have defintely seen two unmistakable very bright white steady lights taking 4 to 5 minutes to cross the sky at the same time in the same direction. The 'zig-zagging' illusion is genuine. I get derided lots on here when I match an ISS known pass to a sighting of a steady white light that appears to zig-zag but it really does show how the brain plays tricks! Perhaps two thirds of the time I perceive the trajectory to do subtle dog-legs tooit really does happen to us all, and even once someone is aware of it, (i.e. by watching satellites regularly), the illusion, particularly, when the conditions are right is unavoidable. It'll be good to know what you think, espacially if you get to see the ISS again when it is again -3.3, (n.b. -3 is brighter rhan -2, -2 is brighter than -1, and 1 is brighter than 2 when talking about brightness). Heavens-Above.com has a button just for the visible ISS passes, so if you get a moment you could always see if you can get outside when there's a similar pass and compare it to what you saw, (n.b. It's a similar brighness on a cuple of occasions in the next day or two, then generally gets a little less bright over the next 10days with only a few times when it was as bright as on the 2nd). Kindest regards, Warren