During the summer of 1999, I joined thousands of like-minded people traveling to Cornwall to see the eclipse on 11th August. Whilst that was a memorable experience, the following nights observations will remain equally fixed in our minds.

With the intention of watching a meteor shower from an area where minimal light pollution would limit our view we headed towards Watergate Bay, arriving at 11pm, and parked on a stretch of road which was only occasionally illuminated by the headlights of a passing car. We were also aware of an easily identifiable laser light which scanned the sky from the direction of Newquay. The meteors were clearly visible, some exceptionally bright.

At approximately 11:30pm my daughter observed, directly above us, a bright, stationary light, high in the sky. She saw it flash on three times, then remaining very bright. My son and I noticed it only seconds later. It was as bright as Jupiter which was clearly visible over to our left as we faced the direction of the Bay. Three of us then saw it move a short distance towards Jupiter, but still more or less above us. It then moved an equal distance 90° to the right, remained stationary for approximately ten seconds, and then 'tacked' rapidly across the sky in the direction of Jupiter where it faded from view.

At the time of the sighting the sky was clear although within the next half hour it had clouded over and we left the site.

Many people must have been watching the meteor shower in that area on the 12th August 1999 and I would be very interested in hearing from anyone who might have seen anything unusual.

If you think you could help with this investigation please contact Eileen Shaw e-mail:   eileenshaws@yahoo.co.uk