possible iridium pass or what?

PhilipLardner wrote:

BTW - How long was it visible for and how fast was it moving (roughly)?

It was going quite slowly and we saw if for about 20 seconds (in the car) before it entered a high cirrus cloud, it reappeared for about another 10 seconds (saw the last 5 seconds of it out of the car) were I'd swear it was now 2 very close objects heading south west.
Still dazzlingly bright, I remembered to consciously look for the sun and it was there, high in the blue sky.
The fact that it got my attention at all is shocking to be honest. I remember seeing Venus in broad daytime in the past, you have to consciously look for it and its easy to loose it if you're not careful, I tried loosing this and could see it clearly while not looking directly at it. I wish I could have gauged its speed, the clouds were rapidly heading east at the time, the clouds were moving very fast and we just didn't see it long enough to make out definitive movement.
I wonder could it have been a bright meteor that happened to be heading roughly towards my direction thus not showing alot of motion ? I think this is the best candidate.

Sounds like a bolide, especially if you saw two parts.
I wouldn't rule out a rocket/space junk re-entry either.

Defiantly sounds like a boldie heading your direction all right.
You should send in a report to Space Weather.com
you'd never know, someone somewhere may have caught a
look at it also.

Hmm... 30 seconds is a long time for a bolide to be visible - unless it was entering the atmosphere at a very shallow angle. Not impossible though. Certainly 'twern't the shuttle - that's only coming down later today. Hmm...

Phil.

Would it have been a low flying airliner on approach with its headlights on full beam? When there was work going on on the main runway at Dublin Airport there was another runway being used at night and the approach vector was right over Bray Head and Bray. Airliners every 2 or 3 minutes some nights. Boy did they have powerful headlights even at dusk.

A bolide possibly, but my bets are on a big meteor entering the atmosphere at a very steep angle, this thing certainly didnt cross the sky.