Light turbulence made photography very difficult, but otherwise the target was easily visible and could be photographed from the ground with ease using a modern digital camera. I think binoculars would have been spectacular for the first few minutes! It is interesting to note that winds aloft in the upper part of the atmosphere distorted the train very quickly. The unique 1100 km observation also allowed a view from various perspectives, however conditions were not ideal for a 3D image. Never-the-less, the time lapsed ".gif" sequence allows for an interesting animation (below).

"By total chance in the cruise at 32,000 feet, while looking for other aircraft, I noticed a white star-like light similar to a rear "Nav" light. I knew there were no stars of this brightness where I was looking and so I assumed it was routinely another aircraft cruising above us, but there were no other official flashing lights. It was stationary, but I suspected it was moving just a little relative to us, so I kept my eye on it. Then it started to veer to my left, like a satellite. Well, satellites don't just change speed like that so it alerted my attention. By coincidence my camera was at my side and I took my first photo before I really knew what was it was. Then it flared up brightly and left a short little luminous cloud. It was like watching glowing magic ferry-dust, like gun powder in a fire works, but small and very far away which lasted over a minute. However, it then started to expand and simply never went away and was easily visible as a small streak for many minutes. After only a few minutes it quickly started to distort and become more diffuse in the extreme upper atmospheric winds. A half hour later I could directly see that some patches were the same brightness as the Milky Way. But of interest, it never vanished from sight in the hour I was able to view it." 11 July 2012. Far-east Asia. Brian Whittaker