I met Keith Pugh in the late 80's, and was aware that he was party to the awesome Russian spacecraft exhibit I visited -In Ft. Worth, I think. He was a quality guy.
I took my wife out tonight to try to spot the Starlink Satellites tonight. On the way to a poor local Viewing spot here in the city, we realized it was now overcast, and after arriving, we discovered we Could see only a single star in a small hole in the hazy clouds at about 69 degrees, the max elevation and about Right azimuth in the sky. Sure enough, we got a show, but completely different from the videos shown In various places on the net, including Spaceweather.com. Thanks to N2YO.com for the predix.
We saw 9 very bright sats fly out of the deeper cloudiness and suddenly appear in the "hole" near the star, one after another, moving fast. Most were spaced 6 or so seconds apart, the latter ones much more, but all Very bright, at least first mag or more, And shining through a thin haze before they met the thicker edge of the hole on the other side and disappearing just as suddenly. They traversed the hole in perhaps 1.5 seconds or so, no more than two.
I wondered if THESE in the group were flaring, and therefore so much brighter. It also appeared that a few Of them were not in the same trajectory , but very close to it. I'd read that engines were being fired to raise their Orbits now.
Keith would have enjoyed seeing them. Fair winds...
My condolences to his family; I know they will miss him.
73,
Steven Bienvenu W5ZA
Shreveport, La.